Change Log
New features, enhancements, and bug fixes.
Marketplace income planning
Estimate the income a Marketplace application may count
The planner now turns the retirement plan into a year-by-year Marketplace income estimate and can compare a lower-income account-withdrawal order before the user applies it.
New
- Each Marketplace coverage year shows a middle estimated income amount and the range produced by the tested market paths.
- Optional detail explains how interest, dividends, gains sold, traditional-account withdrawals, Roth conversions, Social Security, pensions, work, and other entered income build the estimate.
- A current-reference check distinguishes the premium-credit range, the Silver-plan range where deductible and copay savings may be available, and income below the usual federal credit range.
- An optional comparison tests the same market paths using cash, qualified HSA withdrawals, and eligible Roth withdrawals before creating additional taxable investment gains or traditional-account income during Marketplace years.
Calculation detail
- The comparison does not suppress income already being paid and does not avoid required withdrawals.
- The alternative withdrawal order is never applied automatically. The result also shows estimated lifetime taxes, retirement funding success, and the middle ending portfolio so users can see the tradeoffs.
- Before age 60, the comparison does not move Roth accounts ahead of taxable and traditional accounts because the planner does not know whether an early Roth withdrawal is qualified.
Marketplace premium entry
Copy two monthly numbers instead of translating Marketplace terms
The healthcare planner now accepts the price and savings exactly as they appear on the second Silver plan, then performs the yearly calculation automatically.
Improved
- Users enter only “monthly price after savings” and “monthly savings shown.”
- The planner adds the two numbers and converts the result to a yearly household premium.
- The same household price is counted only once when both spouses need Marketplace insurance.
- A short check confirms that the quote came from the second Silver plan after sorting by monthly price.
Calculation fix
- Marketplace premiums are now treated as one household quote instead of being repeated for every covered spouse.
- If only one of the quoted household members remains covered in a later year, the estimate uses a proportional share of the household price.
Lifetime expense timeline
Start with realistic retirement phases instead of one unchanging expense
Step 2 now builds an editable lifetime timeline from the household's retirement ages, Medicare timing, mortgage payoff, and later-retirement years.
New
- A guided timeline begins with suggested periods for active retirement, the years before and after Medicare, a possible mortgage payoff, and later retirement.
- A compact table lets experienced users scan and edit several periods at once, while the guided view reveals one period at a time.
- Each life period can open the monthly expense builder or connected healthcare planner with the period name and ages visible.
Calculation detail
- Mortgage-free years remove only the entered principal-and-interest payment. If that amount is unknown, the starting estimate uses half of Housing and keeps the other half for property tax, insurance, and maintenance.
- The later-retirement estimate lowers travel by 25%, transportation by 10%, and food and daily living by 5%. All suggested amounts remain editable.
- New periods inherit the previous period's expense details. Changing routine healthcare updates compatible period estimates without overwriting a period that the user customized separately.
Healthcare stress test
Test a difficult healthcare period without changing the regular estimate
The connected healthcare planner can now add one clearly defined medical setback while keeping routine care, insurance premiums, and Medicare premiums separate.
New
- An optional fifth planner step can test one high-cost medical year, several years of expensive care, or long-term help with daily living.
- The user chooses the person, starting age, yearly cost, and duration. A long-term-care test can also subtract entered insurance benefits or household expenses that would stop.
- A review summary shows the selected person, ages, yearly added cost, and total added cost before anything is applied.
- The interactive healthcare lesson now includes a visual cost-shock exercise and plain-language explanations of out-of-pocket limits and long-term care.
Calculation detail
- The selected extra cost is added as a healthcare expense, increased using the healthcare inflation assumption, and included in every tested market path.
- The cost follows the selected person's age and modeled lifetime. No medical setback is added unless the user explicitly selects one.
Connected healthcare planner
Build a healthcare estimate without counting the same cost twice
Step 2 now offers an optional guided planner and a connected visual lesson while keeping the original single Healthcare amount available for a quick first pass.
New
- A four-step planner identifies how many people the estimate covers, then separates routine care, insurance before Medicare, possible cost-saving programs, and regular Medicare premiums.
- An optional lower-cost review explains how Marketplace premium help, Medicaid, CHIP, qualifying Silver plans, and Medicare may apply to different household members.
- A five-part interactive Education lesson uses household, income, program, and yearly-review visuals to explain the same decisions without crowding the planner.
- Current workplace coverage and former-employer or union retiree coverage are now distinct choices.
- A high-cost-year reserve can be based on the health plan's family out-of-pocket maximum without automatically treating that limit as an annual bill.
- A visual review shows the insurance periods entered for each household member and calls out ages with no separate insurance premium.
Improved
- A brief check before the first analysis calls out likely omissions—such as unreviewed healthcare, missing Social Security, or unchanged housing costs—without forcing every optional input.
- Dependent coverage guidance now separates children under age 19, young adults ages 19–25, and people age 26 or older instead of using one ambiguous “Children” label.
- When Marketplace coverage spans more than one period, the review says the premium varies by year rather than adding unrelated yearly premiums together.
Calculation detail
- Routine care continues through retirement using the healthcare inflation assumption.
- Before-Medicare premiums apply only to the person and ages entered. Medicare and supplemental-plan premiums begin at the age entered for each person.
- Income-related Medicare additions and estimated Marketplace savings remain calculated separately so they are not included twice.
Health-insurance setup
Ask about insurance before Medicare while the plan is being built
People retiring before age 65 no longer need to discover the healthcare planner after seeing their results.
Improved
- Step 2 now identifies every household member with years between retirement and Medicare and shows exactly which ages still need an insurance plan.
- People choose the insurance source first; premium, timing, and Marketplace benchmark fields appear only when relevant.
- A visible reminder separates insurance premiums from deductibles, copays, prescriptions, and routine healthcare expenses to reduce double counting.
Calculation detail
- The entered premium is included in every applicable market path. Marketplace household income continues to include taxable investment income, gains sold, traditional-account withdrawals, Roth conversions, and taxable Social Security.
- No separate pre-Medicare insurance premium is assumed for a missing year; Step 2 now warns about that omission before the first analysis.
Personalized changing portfolio
Let different parts of the portfolio reflect when the household may need them
The guided starting portfolio now sizes its stable and growth portions from entered required expenses, retirement income, one-time amounts, household timing, and the near-term reserve need.
New
- A visible start-to-later path shows whether the stock share stays steady or changes gradually after Social Security, pension, annuity, or QLAC income begins covering most required expenses.
- The Results comparison tests the personalized path beside fixed Conservative and Growth benchmarks using the same life plan and market paths.
- The starting mix is translated into an estimated tax-aware placement across the accounts already entered before market testing begins.
Calculation changes
- The later stock increase is allowed only when at least ten modeled years remain, qualifying retirement income covers at least 70% of required expenses across the review window, and no reviewed year falls below 50% coverage.
- The income-coverage review now follows the full household horizon and stops person-owned income at that person's plan-through age.
- When stocks rise gradually, the easy-access reserve and gold stay fixed while the Treasury and TIPS share becomes smaller.
Improved
- The portfolio screen explains the order clearly: total the accounts, apply the plan-specific mix, place the mix across account types, and only then test possible market paths.
- Plain-language labels distinguish the personalized changing portfolio from the two fixed reference portfolios.
Household integration audit
Keep both people aligned through taxes, healthcare, survivor years, and reports
A calculation and reporting audit now follows each person's age, account ownership, income, Medicare timing, and healthcare coverage through the same calendar-year household model.
Fixed
- Health-insurance periods for two different people no longer appear as an invalid overlap simply because their ages coincide.
- Automatic Roth-conversion estimates now protect Marketplace coverage and Medicare income limits based on the household member actually affected—not only the primary person's age.
- Household-level income entered in the yearly view remains available in survivor years; person-owned Social Security continues to follow the applicable person.
Improved
- The printable report and Markdown export now show both timelines, account owners, survivor-spending treatment, and household-specific Medicare handling.
- Tax limitations now call out the assumed spouse rollover treatment, still-working workplace-plan exception, and filing-status cases that require separate review.
Healthcare before Medicare
Build each person's path to Medicare one decision at a time
The before-Medicare healthcare planner now starts with a visual household timeline and reveals cost, timing, and Marketplace details only when they are relevant.
Improved
- A two-person coverage bridge shows who still needs an insurance plan before Medicare and which ages are missing or overlap.
- People now choose the insurance source first, then enter only the yearly premium and expected care costs.
- Coverage dates, benchmark Silver premiums, and Marketplace household settings remain collapsed until someone needs the additional detail.
- Household costs and Marketplace warnings remain connected to the most recent full analysis.
Calculation detail
- No healthcare calculation changed in this release. The same person-specific premiums, expected care costs, Marketplace estimates, taxes, and investment income continue to be calculated inside every tested market path.
Household Social Security
Compare two Social Security start dates together
A married household can now compare both people's start ages, see an estimated spouse-benefit top-up, and understand what may remain for a survivor.
New
- A household comparison shows both benefit start years, monthly income after both people file, and the larger worker benefit that may remain for a survivor.
- Simple presets compare the entered ages, both people starting at full retirement age, and the person with the larger benefit waiting until age 70.
- The retirement money-flow visual separates income belonging to you, a spouse or partner, and the household.
Important calculation changes
- When the household estimate is applied, an estimated spouse-benefit top-up begins only after both people have filed.
- If one modeled life ends, the analysis removes the spouse top-up and uses the larger eligible worker benefit instead of adding both Social Security checks.
Important boundary
- The comparison warns when someone plans to work before full retirement age but does not estimate temporary benefit withholding under the Social Security earnings test.
- It is an educational estimate, not an SSA eligibility or claiming calculation.
Two-person household planning
Model two retirement timelines within one household
Couples can now describe each person's timeline, work income, retirement income, healthcare years, and account ownership while keeping one shared household plan.
New
- Independent birth, retirement, Medicare, Social Security, pension, annuity, and other-income timelines for both people.
- The income schedule now separates You, Spouse or partner, and Household/shared income without displaying three long forms at once.
- If one person continues working after household withdrawals begin, the planner can include that person's pay, employee workplace savings, and employer contributions through their own retirement date.
- Account ownership can be assigned to you, a spouse or partner, or jointly when the account type permits it.
- Pre-Medicare healthcare periods can be entered separately for each person.
- Survivor planning can reflect how household expenses, pensions, and annuities may change if one person deceases during the plan.
Calculation changes
- Work income is included in gross income for tax estimates. Employee workplace savings reduce spendable pay and are added to that person's Traditional or Roth 401(k); employer contributions are added separately.
- Work income and workplace savings stop automatically at the applicable person's retirement age.
- Required withdrawals, QLAC purchases, retirement income, and healthcare timing now follow the applicable person and account owner.
- QLAC validation checks the selected owner's eligible traditional retirement accounts rather than the household total.
Important boundary
- The two-person tax estimate currently supports married filing jointly. Separate-return households are identified clearly instead of being silently combined into an inaccurate estimate.
Fixed
- Editing either person's timeline no longer causes a page error.
- Partner work-status choices now show only the timeline and income fields relevant to that person.
- Spouse income start ages are translated to the correct calendar year when the two people have different birth years.
- Older saved plans that entered spouse income on the primary person's age timeline are converted automatically, preserving the original calendar year.
Housing what-if
A guided sell-and-downsize estimate
The housing What-if now walks from the current home through estimated sale proceeds, a replacement home, and the amount that may remain for retirement.
Improved
- Current home value, sale age, and a prefilled 3% growth estimate calculate an expected future sale value.
- Prefilled 6% selling costs, the mortgage expected at sale, and an optional tax estimate show the cash that may remain after the sale.
- The replacement-home section includes its expected purchase price, moving costs, and ongoing housing costs—including property taxes, insurance, HOA fees, maintenance, utilities, and any mortgage payment.
Calculation detail
- Future sale and purchase amounts are translated back to today's purchasing power before they enter the retirement analysis, keeping them consistent with the rest of the plan.
- Only net proceeds after the home sale and replacement purchase are added; the gross home value is never counted as investable retirement money.
Decision workflow
Move from a test to an updated plan
What-if comparisons, savings before retirement, and the investment path now connect more directly to the plan a person can review and rerun.
New
- Supported What-if results can be applied to the saved plan and fully reanalyzed without clicking back through every planner step.
- A one-page action sheet gathers the headline result, retirement savings, investment path, near-term reserve, strongest tested lever, and professional-review checklist.
- The personalized portfolio is shown as a visible start-to-later path when dependable income and the remaining time support a gradual change.
Improved
- The pre-retirement savings calculator now supports separate account balances, personal and employer additions, yearly increases in savings, and account-specific return assumptions.
- Working-longer comparisons extend entered savings and employer additions through the later retirement date instead of always holding the retirement portfolio unchanged.
Important boundary
- Market-crash tests, healthcare stress tests, housing scenarios, and ladder examples remain temporary when applying them automatically would hide important implementation choices.
- The savings projection is still an estimate: taxes, fees, contribution limits, salary changes, and pre-retirement withdrawals require separate review.
Model review 2026.08
Healthcare, Social Security, taxes, and a more practical stable reserve
This release makes several real retirement decisions visible inside the same plan instead of treating them as disconnected educational notes.
New
- A pre-Medicare healthcare planner maps insurance and expected costs for every age before 65.
- A Social Security start-age comparison estimates how a worker benefit changes from ages 62 through 70 using the benefit shown at full retirement age.
- The stable-reserve builder estimates how much early retirement spending may need protection from stock-market swings.
- Maturity-year examples now compare U.S. Treasury, TIPS, Vanguard corporate, and iShares corporate bond funds without treating any ticker as a recommendation.
- An advanced QLAC input records a contract purchase and later taxable income instead of treating it like a normal pension.
- An existing IUL or other cash-value life-insurance policy can be recorded conservatively, while education explains why policy value is not automatically spendable retirement money.
- A public What's new page records future material features, calculation changes, and important fixes.
Improved
- The stable-reserve estimate uses entered expenses, recurring retirement income, estimated taxes, and separately entered pre-Medicare healthcare costs.
- The reserve is compared with the cash-like, Treasury, and TIPS portions of the portfolio actually tested in the analysis.
- The tax pathway now gives clearer explanations of Marketplace insurance, Roth conversions, required withdrawals, and Medicare's two-year income review.
Important calculation changes
- Estimated federal tax, required withdrawals, investment income, Marketplace premium assistance, and income-related Medicare additions are calculated within each tested market path.
- The analysis applies the recommended or selected portfolio before testing it rather than treating the starting account holdings as the final investment mix.
- When a QLAC is entered, its purchase amount is removed from traditional retirement accounts before portfolio allocation, market testing, and required-withdrawal calculations. Contract payments begin at the entered age and are included in tax and Medicare-income estimates.
Fixed
- Missing and overlapping pre-Medicare coverage years are now shown instead of being silently treated as complete.
- Spouse pension and Social Security income are included in plain-language summaries and report exports.
Portfolio and tax modeling
Test the recommended portfolio—not the starting account mix
The planner now separates what someone owns today from the investment mix being tested for retirement.
Calculation change
- The selected recommended or custom portfolio is applied before market testing.
- Returns are based on the tested allocation rather than the percentages implied by today's account balances.
New
- A tax-aware placement view shows how the tested mix could fit across traditional retirement, Roth, and taxable accounts.
- A Roth conversion estimate considers federal tax-bracket room, Marketplace health-insurance assistance, and future Medicare premium thresholds.
Improved
- The advanced tax journey now leads with the practical conclusion, then lets people open the year-by-year detail.
- Taxable cost basis and Roth conversions have clearer explanations and larger, more readable controls.
Portfolio mechanics
What-if testing and more faithful portfolio behavior
The planner moved beyond one headline result and began showing why a plan changes under difficult markets.
New
- The What-if Lab compares retirement timing, spending, savings, stock-market declines, relocation, and downsizing without overwriting the saved plan.
- Historical testing replays complete retirement periods, and a separate history-remix test joins real five-year market chapters.
- A visual portfolio-design lesson explains income gaps, timing risk, stable reserves, useful investment risk, and diversification.
Important calculation changes
- Stocks, Treasuries, TIPS, near-term reserves, and gold receive separate returns instead of moving as one undifferentiated portfolio.
- Retirement withdrawals use the near-term reserve first. A poor stock year does not sell stocks merely to refill that reserve.
- The first-year stock-decline test changes the stock portion—not the entire portfolio—then resumes normal modeled returns in later years.
Improved
- Results now show annual portfolio withdrawals, life-period changes, important events, ending-portfolio ranges, and the years most exposed to market timing.
- Temporary spending controls compare full planned spending with reductions limited to flexible expenses after a difficult market year.
Income and planning timelines
See how expenses and retirement income change over time
A visual retirement timeline connected entered life periods, recurring income, Medicare age, and the amount investments may need to supply.
New
- The retirement income timeline shows each expense period rather than collapsing the plan into a few generic stages.
- Year-by-year tax, required-withdrawal, Medicare, healthcare, and stable-reserve planning views were introduced.
Fixed
- Expense changes at every life-period boundary now carry into the timeline and analysis.
- Spouse income and Medicare eligibility are labeled in the years in which they begin.
Improved
- Tax-table columns now include plain-language help explaining what each number means and why it may matter.
- The planner provides a return path from historical stress tests to the What-if Lab.
Portfolio engine
Model each part of the portfolio separately
The retirement engine began treating stocks, near-term reserves, Treasuries, TIPS, and gold as different parts with different jobs.
Calculation change
- Each portfolio category receives its own modeled return instead of the entire portfolio moving as one number.
- Retirement spending draws from the near-term reserve first, while later rebalancing follows explicit rules.
New
- Results explain which portfolio part funded spending after an opening market decline.
- The What-if Lab expanded to test more retirement levers without changing the saved plan.
Improved
- The guided portfolios were simplified and their assumptions were made easier to review.
- Contextual help and rerun prompts make it clearer when a change requires a fresh analysis.
Education
A learning hub organized around real life
Education moved out of dense planner screens and into shorter lessons people can explore when relevant.
New
- A life-stage education hub introduces concepts from school and a first job through retirement.
- Layered lessons cover account types, insurance, taxes, Medicare, college savings, and estate-planning basics.
- Contextual guides connect planner questions to deeper explanations without crowding the main workflow.
Improved
- Financial terms are introduced in plain language, with optional detail for people who want the exceptions and trade-offs.
- The personalized portfolio estimate now runs the full analysis before comparing it with the 4% shortcut.
Family planning
College planning and more realistic retirement expenses
Expenses and income became a year-by-year life plan instead of one annual number.
New
- A connected children's education planner estimates college costs, dedicated education savings, and the remaining amount the household may need to pay.
- Expenses can be entered as one flat amount, life periods, or a yearly itemized schedule.
- Recurring income supports separate start and end ages, and one-time expenses or income can be assigned to a specific year.
Important calculation changes
- Dedicated 529 and education savings are used for college first and are excluded from general retirement assets so the same dollars are not counted twice.
- Only college payments that overlap the retirement years are added to the retirement analysis.
- Required and flexible expenses are kept separate so later spending-control comparisons do not cut essential costs.
Improved
- Healthcare can grow faster than general inflation while every input and result remains expressed in today's buying power.
- Life-period boundaries, income start dates, and one-time amounts now appear in results and report inputs.
Results and spending flexibility
Turn a result into practical next steps
The results journey began explaining what the percentage means, what changed it, and what someone could examine next.
New
- Spending controls compare the full plan with temporary reductions limited to flexible expenses after difficult market years.
- Analysis history preserves prior runs so changes to retirement age, spending, savings, and investments can be compared.
- A period expense builder lets someone adjust a familiar expense list and apply the total to one life period.
Improved
- Results navigation separates overview, comparisons, market stress, action plan, and plan details.
- Success percentages are described as the number of tested market paths that funded every scheduled retirement year.
Privacy and portability
Move a plan between devices without creating an account
The planner added clearer privacy controls and a way to continue a plan on another browser.
New
- Plan-transfer JSON files can be downloaded on one device and imported on another.
- A public privacy page explains browser storage, exports, ordinary connection data, and how to remove saved information.
- Plan results can be exported to PDF or Markdown for discussion with an adviser or another planning tool.
Improved
- The six-step journey separates timeline, expenses and income, one-time plans, financial accounts, portfolio selection, and results.
- Inputs and results now explain today's buying power more consistently.
Fixed
- Moving between steps now returns to the top of the next page.
- Field-level checks catch invalid amounts and overlapping life periods before analysis.
Guided journey
Start with a question, then add detail only when useful
The planner gained a public introduction and a clearer path from a first estimate to deeper analysis.
New
- A public landing page explains the five retirement questions the planner is built to answer.
- Target-based planning shows whether the current plan reaches the goal and which change appears most useful when it does not.
- Guided and custom portfolio controls are separated so one choice never silently overrides the other.
Improved
- The retirement timeline, expense selection, and portfolio journey use progressive disclosure to reduce the amount shown at once.
- Mobile text, input controls, and navigation were enlarged and simplified.
Historical testing
Compare possible futures with real difficult markets
The planner added historical evidence alongside modeled market paths and made the familiar 4% shortcut a comparison—not a requirement.
New
- Historical retirement tests replay complete market sequences, including difficult starting years.
- A history-remix test samples aligned five-year chapters of stocks, bonds, bills, gold, and inflation.
- The 4% shortcut is compared with a personalized estimate based on entered expenses, income, timing, and portfolio choices.
Improved
- Historical stress results explain whether the portfolio ran out, when it ran out, and what the ending balance represents.
- Portfolio customization moved after the recommended baseline so people can compare rather than configure blindly.
Initial public release
The first public retirement planner
The initial release connected lifestyle goals, retirement income, account balances, an investment mix, and uncertain markets in one educational workflow.
Included at launch
- A guided planner for retirement timeline, annual expenses, recurring income, assets, goals, and portfolio selection.
- Testing across thousands of possible market-return paths with lower, middle, and upper ending-portfolio outcomes.
- Guided conservative, balanced, and growth investment mixes plus a custom allocation.
- Plain-language results, portfolio withdrawal pressure, and educational explanations of Monte Carlo testing and sequence-of-returns risk.
Calculation foundation
- Every dollar input is entered in today's buying power; inflation is handled internally year by year.
- A plan succeeds only when the portfolio funds every scheduled retirement year—not merely when money remains after the first few years.