01 / Build it · Data
Who are you planning for? When might work change? How far ahead do you want to look? A retirement structure begins with the people it needs to support.
Plan Configuration
Christina is planning for herself. Cindy and Bob, a married couple in our example, are planning together.
Individual starts with seven Profile fields. Joint gives each person five of their own, then brings them together with two shared fields.
Choosing Joint creates a shared planning structure. It does not establish marriage, tax-filing eligibility, or entitlement to a partner’s benefits.
Individual
Joint
Architect Profile / dates
Christina wants to retire in 2041. Cindy is considering 2036, followed by Bob, in 2041. A date has its own meaning for each person.
Date of birth connects that shared calendar to each person’s age. Retirement and plan-through dates mark the span the model will examine.
The three timelines use the same calendar scale. They show time, not balances, life expectancy, or the affordability of retirement.
Joint / two retirement dates
For five years, Cindy is retired while Bob is still working. Their retirement does not begin all at once.
With Cindy retired first, the current retirement cash-flow model begins at her date. Bob’s remaining pay can support the shared plan until his own retirement date or an earlier plan-through date.
Pay is not the same as spendable cash. The modeled cash flow also reflects taxes, payroll deductions, and the other assumptions supplied.
Five years together, in different stages.
Current modeling boundary: the retirement timeline begins at whichever person retires first, so it would begin the same way if Bob were the one who stopped working first. In the years Bob keeps working, his take-home pay is modeled, but his account contributions and employer match are not: contributions stop when the retirement timeline begins.
Plan-through / a consequential assumption
For Christina, the plan-through date ends her planning horizon. In a Joint plan, the two dates also shape a household transition.
Cindy’s selected horizon ends in 2066; Bob’s runs to 2071. The current model treats those last five years as a one-person household.
In the current Joint model: a person’s plan-through date is not only the end of their planning horizon. If the other person’s horizon continues, it also starts a modeled one-person period. That is an assumption about the household—not a prediction of death.
Cindy and Bob’s selected horizons both continue.
Bob’s selected horizon continues after Cindy’s ends.
The current baseline-spending assumptionThe one-person period starts from 75% of the two-person baseline, before any spending-policy adjustment. Healthcare is modeled separately. This is a model assumption, not a recommendation about what one person will need.
The transition applies survivor rules to modeled Social Security and healthcare (a survivor benefit only under a married filing status); pension changes depend on the pension inputs and elections. Filing status becomes Single. These are model rules: Joint selection does not verify legal or benefit eligibility.
Pay / filing / place
Cindy’s salary belongs to Cindy. Bob’s belongs to Bob. Their account contribution and employer-match settings supply the next part of the picture.
One filing status and one retirement state apply to their shared plan. Those choices help frame the tax assumptions; they do not determine eligibility or settle a tax return.
Location coverage continues to be added and refined. Check the assumptions available for your state; selecting a location does not mean every state or local rule is included.
Her gross annual salary
His gross annual salary
A shared tax assumption, not two independently filed returns.
A shared location assumption, not a moving schedule or two separate residences.
Salary does not automatically become a contribution. Account-level amounts and frequency establish contributions. Employer-match calculations also need the relevant salary, match terms, and vesting settings.
Data / the starting point
We now know who the plan is for, when work may change, and how far its calendar reaches.
We do not yet know what retirement can support. The accounts, income sources, property, debts, and spending still need their place in the Estate.
At the drawing desk / field reference
Seven types of input. In Individual, each appears once. In Joint, the first five appear for each person; filing status and retirement location are shared.
How old will you be at the dates in your plan?
Your birth date connects calendar dates with your current age, retirement age, and plan-through age. Age also provides timing context for separately entered benefit assumptions.
It does not establish benefit eligibility, supply a Social Security estimate, or predict how long you will live.
When do you want regular work to change into retirement?
The earlier of the two retirement dates anchors the retirement cash-flow timeline used in the Floor’s stress tests and the Monte Carlo Range calculations, whichever person it belongs to. A second person working beyond it can contribute modeled wages until their own retirement date or earlier plan-through date, subject to salary and pay-growth settings.
This is a current modeling boundary, not an affordability verdict. Account contributions and employer matches stop when the retirement timeline begins, including for a person who keeps working, and this field alone does not model a gradual reduction in work.
How far ahead do you want this structure to be examined?
Individual ends at that horizon. Joint runs to the later calendar horizon. When modeled years remain after the earlier horizon, they form a one-person period: baseline spending starts at 75%, benefit and healthcare rules change, and filing status becomes Single.
This is not a life-expectancy forecast. A survivor benefit from the other person’s Social Security is modeled only when the filing status is Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. The model reads that selection as the household being married; it does not establish spousal eligibility. Unmarried partners keep only their own benefit in the one-person period.
What is your annual pay before taxes and deductions?
Salary supplies the pay context for the Estate, salary-based employer matches, and eligible second-person wage years in the retirement model. The annual pay rise also affects relevant projections.
Gross pay is not take-home pay or an amount saved. Contributions need account-level amounts and frequency; matches also depend on match terms and vesting. Salary alone does not provide Social Security benefits.
How do you expect your pay to change from one year to the next?
The rise is read against the inflation assumption. Pay that keeps pace holds its value; pay that falls behind loses a little purchasing power each year. It shapes how contributions grow during the working years and, in Joint, the second person’s pay in years they keep working after the first person retires.
It is a steady planning assumption, not a forecast of promotions, bonuses, or job changes. It does not create contributions on its own.
Which tax-filing assumption should the model use?
The selected code is used in modeled tax treatment. The selector offers Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Head of Household, and Qualifying Surviving Spouse in both planning modes.
A selectable option is not a finding of eligibility or complete tax coverage. Joint uses one shared code, including when Married Filing Separately is selected; it does not construct two separate returns. For two people, the model applies the selected status to the household’s combined income: Married Filing Jointly matches how such a couple files, while Single, Married Filing Separately, or Head of Household calculated this way can overstate the household’s tax. The modeled survivor period changes the code to Single.
Which state should frame the retirement tax assumptions?
The selected state is passed into modeled state-tax treatment. Coverage varies by state, income type, and filing status. Unsupported cases can produce coverage disclosures or a refusal rather than a complete state-tax calculation. Location coverage continues to be added and refined. In some states and filing statuses our tax tables are still being completed, and the state tax shown may be lower than you will owe.
One state cannot describe two residences or a future move. It does not establish residency, include every local rule, or serve as a comprehensive cost-of-living estimate. Review applicable exclusions before relying on a comparison.
About the illustrations. Example dates are January 1976 for Christina and Cindy’s births, January 1978 for Bob’s; retirement and plan-through years are shown beside each timeline. Timelines use calendar years. The working model derives ages from entered dates and uses annual periods for the household transition.
The seven and twelve counts refer to core Profile fields. They do not include additional controls such as account contributions, employer matches, or benefit elections. This guide explains the method and its modeling assumptions; it is not individualized financial, tax, or legal advice.
For the full sequence, return to the Method. For the principles behind it, read the Philosophy.
Data sets the starting point. Architecture brings the accounts, income, assets, and obligations into the same picture.
Establish your baseline in Studio Continue through the Method →