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Every amount you enter is in dollars of your plan’s first calendar year. CoastMath projects in future dollars: each year’s amounts are what they would be in that year after the growth and inflation you set. Today’s $ converts each year’s results back to first-year dollars by dividing by the plan’s cumulative inflation up to that year.
The choice changes only what you see. It never changes a saved input or the projection itself.
An income or expense is entered in first-year dollars even if it begins decades later. Its growth setting then decides how it moves in future dollars:
| Setting | In future dollars | In Today’s $ |
|---|---|---|
| Rises with plan inflation (the expense default) | Rises with plan inflation each January | Stays at the amount you entered |
| Custom rate per year | Compounds at your rate from the first year, so a later expense is carried forward to its start | Rises by roughly your rate minus inflation |
| Fixed nominal amount, or an income growth rate of 0 | Stays at the amount you entered | Shrinks each year by inflation |
An income with a blank growth rate follows the wage growth assumption if one is set, otherwise plan inflation. Social Security with a blank rate follows the Social Security COLA assumption, otherwise plan inflation.
Today’s $ in a year=Future dollars in that yearInflation factor for that year
The inflation factor is 1 in the plan’s first year. Each January it grows by that past year’s plan inflation rate, a full step even after a partial first year.
The factor is the same one that raises inflation-linked entries, so an expense that rises with plan inflation shows the same amount every year in Today’s $.
| Amount entered, in 2026 dollars | $60,000 | |
|---|---|---|
| × | Inflation factor for 2036 (1.03 for each of 10 years) | 1.3439 |
| = | Future dollars in 2036 | $80,635 |
| ÷ | Inflation factor for 2036 | 1.3439 |
| = | Today’s $ in 2036 | $60,000 |
- Future dollars
- Today’s $ (2026)
Plan inflation of 3% a year. A payment that doesn’t rise with inflation buys less each year, so it declines in Today’s $.
Show data
| Year | Future dollars | Today’s $ (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $24,000 | $24,000 |
| 2027 | $24,000 | $23,301 |
| 2028 | $24,000 | $22,622 |
| 2029 | $24,000 | $21,963 |
| 2030 | $24,000 | $21,324 |
| 2031 | $24,000 | $20,703 |
| 2032 | $24,000 | $20,100 |
| 2033 | $24,000 | $19,514 |
| 2034 | $24,000 | $18,946 |
| 2035 | $24,000 | $18,394 |
| 2036 | $24,000 | $17,858 |
| 2037 | $24,000 | $17,338 |
| 2038 | $24,000 | $16,833 |
| 2039 | $24,000 | $16,343 |
| 2040 | $24,000 | $15,867 |
| 2041 | $24,000 | $15,405 |
| 2042 | $24,000 | $14,956 |
| 2043 | $24,000 | $14,520 |
| 2044 | $24,000 | $14,097 |
| 2045 | $24,000 | $13,687 |
The rate is your plan’s Inflation assumption, 3% unless you change it. With an age-based inflation curve, each year uses the curve’s rate at your age that year. Federal tax brackets and similar thresholds use the published 2026 amounts and then rise with plan inflation, so in Today’s $ they stay roughly level; see Federal brackets, deductions and indexing.
| View | Basis |
|---|---|
| Overview: net worth chart, year panel, tax chart | Follows the setting; labeled with the first year, such as “2026 dollars” |
| Exports: annual table, printable report, CSV and JSON downloads | Follows the setting |
| Overview: cash-flow diagram | Always future dollars; marked “nominal” when Today’s $ is on |
| Success odds | Future dollars |
| Historical Stress Test, Tax tools, Track actuals | Future dollars |
The first year is the same on both bases. For how each view is read, see Read the overview and net worth and Exports and printing.