Help

Quick start guides, input reference, and tips for interpreting your results — for both calculators.

Quick start — projection in 5 steps

The fastest path: open the calculator at /accumulate, expand cards one at a time using the left panel, and results update live in the right panel.

Step 1 — Your profile

Enter your name, current age, planned retirement age, and sex. Toggle to Couple mode if you want to project both partners — each gets their own super inputs, salary, and contribution settings. Sex is used for life expectancy estimates when you hand off to the Retirement Readiness Calculator.

Step 2 — Superannuation

Enter your current super balance, salary, and employer SG rate (minimum 11.5% in 2024–25, rising to 12% from 1 July 2025). The engine projects your employer contributions forward automatically using wage growth.

If you make personal contributions, enter them under Contributions. Tick Maximise concessional to have the engine automatically top up your salary sacrifice to the $30,000 annual cap each year. Each career phase also has its own maximise toggle — use this to limit catch-up contributions to a specific period (e.g. ages 55–60 only) rather than the entire projection.

Add career phases if your salary or SG rate changes at a known future age — a promotion, a move to part-time, or a role change.

Step 3 — Assumptions

Set your expected annual return and CPI rate. Use a preset or enter a custom rate. Enable the glide path if you plan to de-risk — return rate and MC volatility interpolate from your current settings to a lower-risk rate at retirement.

Enter any unused concessional carry-forward from ATO MyGov (Super → Unused concessional contributions cap) as a per-year breakdown. The engine applies FIFO expiry — oldest year's space depletes first. Important: carry-forward space is only consumed when Maximise concessional is active — either the global toggle in the Superannuation card, or a per-phase toggle in Career Phases. A warning appears in the Carry-Forward card if amounts are entered but maximise is not enabled.

Step 4 — Additional contributions

Add lump sum contributions at specific ages (count toward the $120k NCC cap). Enable the downsizer contribution if you plan to sell a principal residence after age 55 (up to $300k per person, exempt from the NCC cap). Enable the bring-forward rule to contribute up to 3 years' NCC cap ($360k) in a single year — the engine calculates your allowable limit from your TSB at the trigger age.

Step 5 — Review and hand off

Switch on Monte Carlo in Assumptions to see a fan chart (P10–P90) of projected balances. Use the On-Track analysis card for gap analysis. When ready, click Take to Retirement Calculator — your projected balance, return assumptions, and couple details transfer automatically.

Projection Calculator — input reference

Profile

Current age
Your age this calendar year. Used as the simulation start age.
Retirement age
The age at which you stop contributing and start drawing down.
Sex
Used to set default life expectancy estimates in the handoff to the Retirement Readiness Calculator.

Superannuation

Current super balance
Your balance today — not at retirement. The engine projects it forward.
Salary
Your current annual gross salary. Used to calculate employer SG and wage growth.
Employer SG rate
Your employer's Superannuation Guarantee rate. 11.5% in 2024–25, 12% from 1 July 2025.
Personal concessional
Your salary sacrifice or personal deductible contributions per year, counted against the $30,000 annual cap.
Maximise concessional
When ticked, automatically tops up personal concessional contributions to the $30,000 cap (plus any carry-forward space) minus employer SG each year. Each career phase has its own toggle that overrides this global setting for that phase only — useful for limiting catch-up contributions to a specific period.
Personal non-concessional (NCC)
After-tax contributions per year, counted against the $120,000 annual NCC cap.
Career phases
Salary, SG rate, and contribution amounts can change at future ages. Add a phase for each transition. Each phase has its own Maximise concessional toggle that overrides the global setting for that phase only.
Div 293 — deduct from super
If income exceeds $250,000, an additional 15% tax applies to concessional contributions. Tick to model deduction from super.
Div 296 — deduct from super
Additional tax on super earnings above $3M: extra 15% on the $3M–$10M slice (combined 30%) and extra 25% above $10M (combined 40%). Effective 1 July 2026. Tick to model deduction from super.
Fund costs
Investment fee (% of balance p.a.), flat admin fee ($), and insurance premium ($). Deducted each year after return.

Assumptions

Expected return
Pre-fee annual return on your super investments. The glide path, if enabled, treats this as the start rate.
CPI rate
Annual inflation rate. Used to deflate real-terms display and index the Div 296 threshold.
Wage growth
Annual salary growth applied within each career phase.
Carry-forward
Unused concessional cap from prior years, entered per financial year from ATO MyGov. Available if TSB < $500,000. FIFO expiry — oldest year depletes first.
Glide path
Linearly interpolates return rate and MC volatility from current setting to a lower end rate at retirement.
Monte Carlo
Produces P10/P25/P50/P75/P90 percentile bands in the fan chart. Correlated returns for super and non-super.

Additional contributions

Lump sums
One-off NCC at a specific age. Counted against the $120k annual NCC cap in that year.
Downsizer contribution
Age 55+, one-time, up to $300,000 per person. Exempt from the NCC cap. Property must have been owned 10+ years.
Bring-forward rule
Contribute up to 3 years' NCC cap in a single year. Maximum $360,000 if TSB < $1,760,000; $240,000 if TSB < $1,880,000; $120,000 if TSB < $2,000,000. NCC cap locked to $0 for 1–2 years after.
Government co-contribution
Automatic. If income ≤ $47,488 and you make NCCs, the ATO contributes 50c per $1 up to $500/year. Phases out to zero at $62,488 (2025–26 thresholds, indexed annually).

On-track / gap analysis

Target mode
Set a target balance at retirement or a target annual income (converted via your withdrawal rate).
Use Monte Carlo P50
When ticked, uses the MC median projection as the current trajectory.
Real terms
When ticked, targets are in today's dollars. The engine inflates them to retirement-year nominal for comparison.
Bridge analysis
Shows whether your non-super balance at age 60 covers spending from early retirement to preservation age.

Sensitivity Impact

What is it?
A tornado diagram showing how five inputs (return rate, personal contributions, retirement age, starting balance, wage growth) each affect your projected super at retirement. Sorted by impact — widest bar = strongest lever.
Where to find it
Bottom of the right column, below the gap analysis. Click to expand.
How to use it
Check which bar is widest — that's the lever worth focusing on first. If return rate dominates, review your fund's investment option. If contributions dominate, explore salary sacrifice options. Use the main projection (change the input directly) for precise 'what if' exploration.
Why the bars might all be similar width
If you have a long runway to retirement and a large balance, compounding amplifies every lever roughly equally. If you're close to retirement, the impact of contribution changes shrinks while market return impact grows.

Quick start — your first simulation in 5 steps

The recommended starting point is the Projection Calculator — project your super through to retirement, then click "Plan my retirement with these numbers" to transfer your balance, assumptions, and any outstanding mortgage debt in one step. Alternatively, the quick setup wizard lets you enter your retirement balance directly and pre-fill the calculator in under 60 seconds.

Step 1 — Your profile

Select Single or Couple. If couple, tick "Track partners individually" to enter each partner's super, pension, and ages separately. Enter current age, planned retirement age, and sex.

Step 2 — Super & assets

Enter your projected super balance at retirement. If you've come from the Projection Calculator this is pre-filled. Leave the Sequencing Buffer at $0 initially — a typical allocation is one to two years of spending.

Step 3 — Income streams

Enter your defined benefit pension (PSS, CSS, MSBS, DFRDB, or annuity) as the annual after-tax amount at retirement. Add other retirement income under Other Net Income. Enable Age Pension and enter your homeowner status and assessable assets outside super.

Step 4 — Spending

Enter your expected annual spending. Include groceries, utilities, transport, insurance, entertainment, and regular travel. Exclude mortgage payments, aged care, and large one-offs. The "Find sustainable spending" tool solves for the maximum your portfolio can sustain.

Step 5 — Run and review

Select a test scenario in the right column. Start with Constant Return at 5% to understand the basics. For probabilistic analysis, switch to Historical Monte Carlo (recommended) or Parametric Monte Carlo, then click Run.

Retirement Readiness Calculator — input reference

Your profile

Household type
Single or Couple. Controls Age Pension means test thresholds and rates.
Age turning this year
Used to calculate years to retirement and Age Pension eligibility.
Retirement age
When you plan to retire. Age Pension eligibility begins at 67 regardless.
Sex
Sets the default modelled death age from ABS 2020–2022 life tables.
Modelled death age
The age the simulation runs to. Defaults to ABS life expectancy for your sex and current age.
Variable death age in MC
Each Monte Carlo run samples a different death age (normal distribution, SD = 10 years around ABS expectancy).

Super & assets

Super balance at retirement
Your projected total superannuation balance at retirement. Use the Projection Calculator or your fund's tool.
Sequencing buffer
A separate cash/defensive account to fund spending during downturns. Typical: one to two years of spending.
Non-super investments
Investment portfolio outside super. Enter balance at retirement and post-tax return rate. Configure drawdown order.
CPI / inflation rate
Applied to spending and pension indexation. Australian long-term average: 2.5%.
Cash / buffer return rate
Annual return on the sequencing buffer and cash account. Default 3%.

Income streams

Defined benefit pension (after tax)
Annual pension from PSS, CSS, MSBS, DFRDB, or annuities — after tax, from retirement. CPI-indexed automatically.
Income test deductible amount (optional)
Services Australia reduces your assessable DB pension income by this amount before applying the income test — calculated from your personal contribution history. Entering it gives a more accurate Age Pension estimate. Leave at $0 if unknown (result will be conservative). Fixed in nominal terms.
Other net income
After-tax income from part-time work, rental, dividends, interest. Counted in the Age Pension income test.
Work Bonus eligible
Tick for employment/self-employment income. Exempts up to $7,800/year per partner aged 67+ from the income test.

Age Pension

Include Age Pension
Models Centrelink payments from age 67 with full means testing.
Own home
Homeowners have lower asset test thresholds. The family home is not counted as an asset.
Assessable assets outside super
Illiquid assets affecting the means test but not drawn down: investment property equity, vehicles, collectibles.

Spending

Base annual spending
Groceries, utilities, transport, entertainment, travel, insurance, rates. Excludes mortgage, aged care, and one-off expenses.
Spending pattern
Constant Real keeps spending flat in real terms. J.P. Morgan Curve applies gradually declining real spend (1% p.a. years 1–10, 1.5% years 11–20, 0.5% years 21+).
Splurge spending
Additional spending for a defined period — travel, renovation, lifestyle upgrades.

Withdrawal strategy

Forgo inflation adjustment
Nominal spending stays flat in years following a negative portfolio return. (Morningstar 2025: lifts safe withdrawal rate from 3.9% to 4.3%.)
Guardrails (Guyton-Klinger)
Adjusts spending when withdrawal rate drifts from initial rate. (Morningstar 2025: supports 5.2% starting safe withdrawal rate.)

Understanding your results

Display modes

Nominal $ shows values in future dollars. Real (Retirement year $) removes inflation — a flat line means flat purchasing power. Real (Today $) converts to current purchasing power. All three are presentation layers only — success rates are unaffected.

Display modeBalance at retirementBalance 20 yrs later
Nominal $$1,000,000$900,000
Real (Retirement year $)$1,000,000$553,000
Real (Today $)$878,000$486,000

Monte Carlo success rate

  • 90%+ — Excellent. Well-buffered.
  • 85–90% — Very good. Most planners consider this acceptable.
  • 75–85% — Moderate. Small spending adjustments can shift this significantly.
  • Below 75% — Needs work. Material changes required.

Portfolio Balance chart

In Monte Carlo mode, P10 is the worst 10% of scenarios, P50 is the median, P90 is the best 10%. Plan against P10, not P50.

Annual Spending Breakdown chart

Stacked bars showing how spending is funded each year. A healthy plan shows pension and Age Pension covering a growing share as super depletes.

Scenario Comparison

What it shows
Total portfolio balance trajectories for up to 4 named scenarios on the same chart. All lines show super + non-super combined, in your selected display mode (nominal/real).
Quick add presets
One-click scenarios: Spend $20k more/less, ±1% return, Live to 100, Bear market year 1 (−20% return in year 1 then reverts). Available presets hide once added.
Custom scenarios
Click + Custom… to set a specific spending amount, return rate, longevity target, or starting balance change (±%). Name it or leave blank for an auto-generated label.
Why the current settings line may differ from the main chart
The Scenario Comparison runs a deterministic (constant-return) baseline with spending fixed at your configured level and stochastic non-recurring expenses excluded. This ensures all scenario lines start from the same point. The main chart uses the full simulation including stochastic features.
Line ends before death age
The portfolio depleted at that age. The summary table below shows the depletion age for each scenario.
Bear market year 1
Shows as a dashed line. Applies −20% in year 1 then reverts to your selected return rate — the worst-case sequence of returns at the point of retirement.

Warnings and alerts

Early portfolio depletion
If your portfolio depletes within the first 5 years, a red banner appears. Spending is fundamentally unsustainable.
MC results stale
When you change inputs after running Monte Carlo, the Run button turns orange. Re-run to update.
Transfer Balance Cap
A warning appears if super exceeds $2.0M (Transfer Balance Cap 2025-26, rising to $2.1M July 2026).
Insufficient accessible funds
In couple mode, appears when accessible super is insufficient before the second partner retires.
NCC cap lockout (Projection)
When a bring-forward contribution is active, the NCC cap is locked to $0 for 1–2 following years. A confirmation banner shows the lockout.

Quick reference — what am I looking at?

I see…What it means / what to do
Success rate < 75%Material risk. Adjust spending, retirement age, or income before finalising your plan.
Success rate 75–85%Moderate. Small adjustments can move this to the green zone. Try reducing spending by 5–10%.
Success rate > 90%Comfortable. Check whether P10 is also positive — if yes, consider whether you could spend more.
P10 runs out before 85Sequence-of-returns risk is real. Add a buffer, enable guardrails, or reduce spending.
A1 stress test failsBase spending too high. Highest-priority problem to fix.
A1 passes but B1/B2 failSequence-of-returns vulnerability. Add buffer or guardrails.
Projection on-track gap shows extra NCC neededYou need after-tax contributions to hit your target. Check carry-forward cap availability first.
Bring-forward lockout years shownExpected — NCC cap is $0 in the 1–2 years after a bring-forward contribution.
Age Pension grows strongly mid-retirementWorking as designed — income floor rising as super depletes. Healthy pattern.
Very large ending balanceYou may be under-spending. Try 10–15% higher spending and check the results.
Wide fan (P90 vs P10 very far apart)High sensitivity to return sequence. Focus on P10. Consider defensive strategies.
Cliff edge patternPortfolio holds steady then drops sharply. Check that Age Pension is enabled.

Frequently asked questions

Does RetireConfident store any of my data?
No. All calculations happen in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server. Scenarios saved are stored in your browser's localStorage only.
How does the handoff from the Projection Calculator work?
Click "Take to Retirement Calculator" in the Projection Calculator's right panel. Your projected super balance, return assumptions, couple details, and non-super balance transfer automatically. You'll still need to enter income streams, spending, and Age Pension settings.
How do I model a PSS or MSBS pension?
Enter your annual pension (after tax) under "Defined benefit pension (after tax)" in the Income Streams card. The model treats it as a guaranteed, CPI-indexed income stream for life. Once you enter a pension amount, an Income test deductible amount field also appears — entering your deductible amount (available from Services Australia or your fund) makes the Age Pension income test more accurate. Leave it at $0 if you don't know it; the result will be a conservative estimate.
What is the income test deductible amount for a DB pension?
When Services Australia applies the Age Pension income test to a defined benefit pension, they reduce your assessable income by a deductible amount calculated from your personal contribution history. Without it, the calculator assesses your full pension against the income test and tends to understate your Age Pension entitlement. Services Australia calculates your specific deductible amount when you apply for the Age Pension — you can also request it in advance. Enter it in today's dollars under the pension income field.
What's the difference between carry-forward and bring-forward?
Carry-forward lets you use unused concessional cap space from the prior 5 years — extra pre-tax contributions above the $30k annual cap (if your TSB is below $500k). Bring-forward lets you front-load up to 3 years of non-concessional cap ($360k) in a single year, locking the NCC cap to $0 for the following 1–2 years.
I've entered carry-forward amounts but the projection isn't using them — why?
Carry-forward space is only consumed when Maximise concessional is active. Enable it in the Superannuation card (applies every year) or on a specific Career Phase (applies to that period only). A warning appears in the Carry-Forward card if amounts are entered but maximise is not enabled anywhere. Also note: if you hold a defined benefit pension (PSS, CSS, MSBS), your ATO total super balance includes the notional value of that pension — typically annual pension × 16 — which may push your TSB above the $500k carry-forward threshold even if your accumulation account is small.
Monte Carlo shows different results each time — is that a bug?
No — expected. Each run uses a new set of randomly generated return sequences. Small variation is normal. For reproducible results, use a Historical period or Formal Stress Test.
Can I save my scenario and come back later?
Yes. Use the Save/Load button in the toolbar. Auto-save also preserves your inputs automatically. For permanent backup, use the JSON export feature.

Something missing or incorrect? Found a bug? Email us.

Quick start — your first session in 5 minutes

Open /manage. The page is a two-column layout: input cards on the left, projection results on the right.

Step 1 — Profile

Enter your name, current age, sex, and homeowner status. Toggle Include partner if applicable and add their details. The Manager assumes you are already retired; there's no separate retirement-age field.

Step 2 — Accounts

Replace the two default accounts with your real ones. Click + Add account, give each one a label ("Bill's HostPlus ABP", "ING savings"), pick the kind (ABP / Super accumulation / Cash / Shares non-super), and enter the current balance. You can have multiple of any kind. The total assets row at the bottom of the card sums them.

Step 3 — Spending and Age Pension

Enter your current annual spending and your essential floor (the minimum acceptable). Open the Age Pension card; default mode is Project (engine means-tests forward). If your most recent Centrelink statement shows a different rate than the engine's estimate, switch to Pin and enter your fortnightly amount.

Step 4 — Other income (optional but important)

If you have a defined-benefit pension (PSS, CSS, MSBS, DFRDB), an annuity, or any other recurring income, add it under Other income. Set the start age, end age (0 = lifetime), CPI vs fixed indexation, and partner attribution. These show up in the cashflow plan as "Other income".

Step 5 — Run the recommendation

Scroll to the right column. The recommendation panel starts with a placeholder showing your current spending; click Compute to run the goal-based solver (~1–3 seconds). Without goals defined, the solver targets "portfolio survives horizon at 85% confidence." Add goals under the Goals card to constrain it more tightly.

The cashflow panel below the recommendation shows your year-1 plan: which dollar amount comes from each account. The summary tiles show final balance and depletion age.

Input reference — every card explained

Profile

Name, age (current age, no separate retirement age), sex (used for life-expectancy estimation in MC mortality), homeowner status (drives the AP assets-test threshold), include-partner toggle and partner details if on.

Accounts

Add/edit/remove accounts. Four kinds: ABP (subject to legislated min drawdown), super accumulation (no min drawdown), cash (drained first for spending), shares non-super (drained last; subject to tax drag).

Spending

Current annual spending — your headline target. Essential spending floor — the solver never recommends below this. Spending curve — CPI flat keeps real spending constant; JP Morgan / Blanchett applies a declining curve that reflects observed retiree behaviour. Splurge — toggle to add a temporary boost (extra spending for N years, ramping down over R years).

Age Pension

Project — engine means-tests every year. Pin year-0 — overrides year 1 with your Centrelink figure (in fortnightly dollars), then reverts to means-testing from year 2. Survivor pension is estimated from the couple-each ratio; if you've already received a survivor entitlement letter, update your Other income streams accordingly.

Other income

Defined-benefit pensions, annuities, or any other recurring income stream. Per-stream: label, annual amount in today's dollars, indexation (CPI or fixed nominal), start age, end age (0 = lifetime), partner attribution + survivor fraction.

Goals

Drive the solver. Each goal has a type, target balance (ignored for 'don't run out'), target age, and a confidence threshold (% of MC paths that must satisfy). Pause a goal with the ⏸ button without deleting it; edit with the ✎ button.

Non-recurring expenses & windfalls

One-off expenses (new roof, dental implants, wedding) at a specific age. Windfalls (inheritance, sale proceeds) at a specific age — added to the cash bucket. Both flow through the engine and affect the projection.

Market assumptions

Expected return, volatility, inflation, fee, and a separate cash return rate. Shares tax drag % is subtracted from the gross return on shares-non-super accounts (see Learn → Manager → Shares tax drag).

Recording end-of-FY actuals

The actuals ledger is in the right column, below the projection. Click + Record FY actuals to open the form.

What to enter

  • Financial year — pre-filled with the just-finished FY (e.g. "2025-26" if today is between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027). Edit if you're backfilling.
  • Your age at 30 Jun — usually your current age.
  • End-of-year balance per account — pre-filled from the live Accounts panel; adjust to your actual closing balances.
  • Actual spending this FY — your real total spending. Pre-filled from currentSpending; adjust.
  • Actual Age Pension received (annual) — total dollars from Centrelink for the FY. Leave 0 if not eligible.
  • Notes — optional context (e.g. "sold investment property").

What happens after you save

The new row appears at the top of the table marked used with a purple background. The projection above immediately re-runs starting from those balances — so your recommendation, cashflow plan, summary tiles, and chart all reflect the new starting state. The recommendation goes stale (orange warning); click Recompute to refresh the binding-goal calculation.

Editing or deleting rows

Click the ✎ button on any row to edit it in place — the form opens above the table with the row's current values pre-filled. The FY field is read-only when editing (changing the FY string is effectively a delete + re-add — use the ✕ button if that's what you want). The trend chart at the bottom updates whenever the ledger changes.

Reading the recommendation

The headline number

The big purple number is the maximum annual spending (in today's dollars) that satisfies all your enabled goals at their stated confidence levels. With no goals, it's the maximum that keeps the portfolio above zero at horizon with 85% probability.

Essential / discretionary split

The bar below the headline shows what fraction is essential (= your essential floor) vs discretionary (= recommended − floor). Useful for understanding how much wiggle room you have if income drops.

Goal outcomes

If you have goals enabled, each one is listed below with its achieved probability and a ✓ or ✗. The diamond ◆ marks the binding constraint — the goal that's tightest at the recommended spending level. To spend more, you need to relax that specific goal (or accept lower confidence on it).

Stale recommendation

An orange "Inputs have changed" warning appears whenever any solver-affecting input changes (account balances, spending, returns, goals, actuals, etc.). Click Recompute to refresh. The displayed number is preserved between clicks so you can compare before/after.

Reading the cashflow plan

Year 1's cashflow is split into three sections: Income, Account outflows, and a reconciliation row.

Income — money flowing in that doesn't deplete a balance

Age Pension and Other income (DB pensions, annuities). These cover the first portion of your spending need.

Account outflows — money you must or should pull out

ABP min drawdown is broken out separately because the law forces it. ABP additional, super accumulation, cash, and shares follow. Each row is the dollar amount the Manager recommends you actually move out of that account during the year. The order reflects the engine's default priority: cash before super, super before non-super.

Spending and surplus / shortfall

Below the outflows is your total spending need. If income + outflows exceed spending, the surplus is shown — typically because the legislated ABP minimum is more than you actually need. The surplus accrues in your cash float for next year (it doesn't disappear). If outflows can't cover the gap, a shortfall warning appears in red — usually means your accounts can't fund your stated spending.

Exporting data

Export CSV ↓ — projection

What it exports
Year-by-year simulated projection: calendar year, age, account balances (ABP super, accumulation super, cash and buffer, non-super), income breakdown (DB pension, Age Pension, other income), spending, one-off expenses, withdrawals by source, aged care costs, debt, return rate, CPI rate, and guardrail status. In couple mode, partner super and pension columns are appended. A summary block shows scenario name, final balance, depletion age, and configured spending.
Values
Nominal dollars — not CPI-adjusted. Year 1 is the first year of the projection (your current age or effective age from the latest actuals).
Survivor scenario
If a survivor scenario is active (partner1-dies or partner2-dies), the export reflects that scenario. The summary block names the scenario and death age.

Export Ledger ↓ — actuals history

What it exports
One row per recorded financial year: FY label, your age at 30 June, a column for each configured account (by its label), total balance, actual spending, actual Age Pension, and notes. Blank cells indicate a balance wasn't recorded for that FY — distinct from zero.
Disabled when empty
The button is greyed out until at least one check-in row has been recorded.

Backup ↓ — full JSON backup

What it exports
The entire Manager store as JSON: all inputs, accounts, goals, income streams, expenses, ledger entries, and settings. Use for permanent backup or transferring to another device.
Restoring
Click Import (next to Backup) and select a previously exported .json file. Current state is replaced entirely.

FAQ

Why is the recommendation different from my currentSpending input?
Because the solver is computing what's actually sustainable at your goal thresholds, not echoing your input. If the recommendation is lower, your current spending is too aggressive for the goals/confidence you've set. If higher, you have headroom.
Why does the cashflow show a surplus when I'm drawing the ABP minimum?
The legislated ABP minimum is a percentage of your opening balance — once you reach age 65 it's 5%, rising to 14% at 95+. For larger ABPs, that minimum can exceed your annual spending, especially if you also receive Age Pension. The surplus stays in your cash float; it's not lost.
Why is the Compute button manual instead of running automatically?
Each compute does ~15,000 simulations (500 paths × ~30 binary-search iterations). Auto-running on every keystroke would freeze the UI. The manual button + stale flag is a deliberate trade-off.
What happens to my old check-in snapshots from the previous Manager?
They were imported automatically the first time you opened the new page — combined super went into a single ABP account, combined non-super into a single Cash account. Find them in the actuals ledger. The original data isn't deleted from localStorage; the migration is non-destructive.
The what-if comparison shows a smaller Age Pension when I spend more. Is that a bug?
No, that's correct. Higher spending depletes balances faster, but the year-1 AP figure shouldn't differ between scenarios that share the same starting balances. If you're seeing year-1 AP differ between recommended and what-if, paste the screenshot to feedback@.
Can I add a goal that says 'leave $500k to my kids'?
Yes — add an Estate target goal with target balance $500,000 and target age = your expected age at death (or 95 as a robust default). The solver will then constrain your spending so 80% (or your chosen threshold) of MC paths leave at least $500k at that age.
My DB pension stops when I die. How do I model that?
Add it under Other income. If you're the recipient, leave the "partner's income" toggle off — the engine treats your income streams as continuing through your simulation horizon. To model survivor reversion when a partner dies, toggle "This is partner's income" and set the survivor fraction (e.g. 67% for a typical CSS reversion).
How do I see what happens if my partner dies before me?
Open the Profile card in the Manager, scroll to "Survivor scenario", and select which partner dies first. Set the age — 80 is a useful default stress-test age. The projection immediately recalculates showing the survivor's finances from that point: income streams with a survivor fraction revert, Age Pension is reassessed at the singles rate, and the portfolio continues on the survivor's spending. A purple banner confirms the scenario is active. Switch back to "Both alive" to return to the baseline projection.
What's the difference between accounts.balance and the actuals ledger?
Accounts.balance is the live editable value — useful before you have any actuals recorded. The ledger is point-in-time historical records, one per FY. Once any ledger row exists, the latest one becomes the source of truth for the projection's starting balances; the live accounts.balance is reference only.

Something missing or incorrect? Found a bug? Email us.