Plain English
What the planner does
The planner starts with the household facts a retirement map needs: age, target retirement age, savings, spending, state, filing status, income streams, home details, risk choice, and dreams. It then redraws the road from the current age through age 95. The output is not a verdict. It is a transparent read of what the current numbers are saying.
The math
The core calculation
Base yearly spending
Monthly spending times 12, adjusted for inflation and any spending tier.
Income offset
Social Security, pension, annuity, rental, work, and other income are counted before savings are drawn.
Dream spending
Dreams are modeled as separate yearly costs by default, not hidden inside basic monthly spending.
Savings draw
The engine draws against taxable, tax-free, and pre-tax buckets, then accounts for taxes created by the draw.
Taxes
Federal brackets, Social Security taxability, state tax, RMDs, and Medicare surcharge checks are estimated year by year.
Plan odds
What the market test means
Plan odds are the share of 1,000 tested futures where savings never reach zero before age 95. Each path uses randomized annual returns, randomized inflation, the selected risk level, the household income streams, taxes, required withdrawals, Medicare surcharge checks, and any extra dream spending. The same inputs produce the same result because the random test is seeded.
Paths tested
1,000
Plan end age
95
Success test
Savings stay above $0
Assumptions
The defaults currently used
Data sources
Where the outside numbers come from
Social Security Administration
Social Security claiming rules
Claim age, full retirement age, and benefit timing
Reviewed quarterly and when SSA publishes changes
Annual tax-year update
Reviewed quarterly and when IRS tables change
Medicare and CMS
Medicare premium and IRMAA figures
Medicare surcharge checks in later retirement years
Annual Medicare update
State tax agencies and TRA engine table
State income-tax treatment
State-level retirement tax estimates
Reviewed quarterly and during state-law updates
Stress points
How the cliffs are named
The planner names stress points in plain words. These are not predictions. They are places where the road deserves attention because a common retirement pressure can change what fits.
Road runs short
The plan identifies the age when savings first reach zero before age 95.
A long illness later
The plan uses a care-cost stress point so later-life care does not stay invisible.
A rough first market
The plan calls out the early-retirement years because weak early returns can matter more than weak late returns.
One of them alone
For married households, the plan names the survivor issue because one Social Security check may go away.
Prices rising faster
The plan shows inflation pressure because everyday spending gets first claim.
Review cadence
How the page stays current
Answer pages are reviewed quarterly and whenever SSA, IRS, Medicare, CMS, or state tax updates change a calculation. Annual figures, including federal tax brackets, Medicare premiums, IRMAA brackets, and contribution or distribution thresholds, are updated when the official source publishes the new year.
Current methodology version: v1.0 · Data stamp: May 29, 2026
This plan is educational. It is not personalized financial, tax, or insurance advice. Projections illustrate the math, they do not predict the future. Talk to your own licensed financial professional before acting on any of it.