Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions people actually ask. Each links to the fuller explanation.

Why did my numbers change in September 2026?

Because an independent audit of the app's math found errors in the tax tables and we fixed them: the 2025 standard deduction was out of date, a $6,000 deduction for each person 65 or older (2025–2028 under current law) was missing entirely, and Medicare IRMAA surcharges were understated. If you have tax modeling on, your projected tax — and possibly your run-out date — moved without you touching anything.

For most plans the first two lower the near-year tax bill; for a higher-income household on Medicare the third raises it. Your saved plan wasn't altered. The full list, including a change that can put a run-out date at the very end of a plan that used to read "On track", is in What's new (September 2026).

Why did my numbers change in August 2026?

We shipped a round of accuracy improvements — correlated investment accounts in the simulation, inflation-indexed tax brackets, capital-gains tax, per-owner RMD ages, randomized lifespans, and Medicare surcharges. Some plans' odds went down (the simulation stopped flattering multi-account plans), some tax bills went down (brackets now grow like real ones). Your saved plan wasn't touched — the projection just got more honest. The full list, and the five-minute review worth doing, is in What's new.

Why is my Monte Carlo (odds of success) 0%?

Because your plan already runs out of money in the normal projection — so nearly every randomized run runs out too. A 0% isn't a glitch; it means you're spending more than income plus savings can support, and better market luck can't close a large, permanent gap. The fix is more income and/or less spending, not more simulations. See Odds of success.

Why do the spending numbers look different in different places?

Because the same category is measured several ways — your Plan (what you expect, today's dollars), the Projected future figure, this month's Actual, any Override you set for a single month, and the trailing average. Each carries a small badge telling you which is which. Full walkthrough: Understanding your numbers.

My credit-card purchases imported as income — why?

It's a sign problem. On most statements, spending is negative and deposits are positive. On many credit-card exports it's flipped — purchases show as positive numbers. If you import a card file as if it were a bank file, purchases can land on the wrong side and look like income.

The fix: re-import the file and, on the import screen, toggle the Purchases are positive amounts checkbox (checking or unchecking it) so the signs read correctly. Preview the rows before confirming — spending should show as spending.

Why does it say "Not ready to judge" instead of telling me if I'm on track?

Because the app can see something in your plan that would change the answer, and it would rather say so than show you a confident green verdict over figures it knows are incomplete. There are only four triggers: everyone in the plan has already passed the life expectancy entered for them (so there's no time left to project), your planned spending is far below what your imported transactions show you actually spend, there's no healthcare cost in the plan and you're 50 or older, or you hold a 401(k)/IRA with tax modelling switched off.

The message names which one applies and gives you a Fix button. Everything else — your projection, charts, and month detail — keeps working meanwhile. Full detail in when the app won't give a verdict.

Why did my run-out date get earlier after I turned on taxes?

Because taxes are a real expense the plan wasn't counting before. With tax modeling on, some of your withdrawals and income go to taxes instead of covering living costs, so your savings drain a little faster and the run-out date moves earlier. That's the plan getting more realistic, not a mistake. See the glossary for tax terms.

How is my spending averaged?

Over the last 12 complete calendar months. The current, still-running month is deliberately left out — otherwise a recurring bill that hasn't posted yet would drag the average down and make you look thriftier than you are. That's the trailing average; see Understanding your numbers.

My spending looks doubled — what happened?

You're almost certainly double-counting a credit card. If you import both your card purchases and the bank payment that pays off the card, the same money is counted twice — once as the purchases, once as the payment.

The fix: exclude the card payments. Mark those payment transactions as Excluded / transfer so they drop out of the math, leaving just the real purchases. See the glossary entry on Excluded / transfer.

I got money back on a purchase — why isn't it income?

Because it isn't. A refund is the reversal of something you bought, so the app files it against the category you bought it in and reduces what that category cost you. $800 of groceries with a $120 return really cost $680. It shows as a green credit (+$120), and it never changes your plan.

You can record one yourself: Record a payment I already made on the Spending tab, with Type: Refund (money back). On import, the app only reclassifies a credit when the wording is unmistakable — a tax refund, interest or a returned cheque stays as income for you to file, because guessing wrong there would corrupt a category's totals. See Refunds and credits.

The app says my changes aren't being saved — have I lost them?

No. Two different messages can appear, and neither loses your work:

• "Not saved — this plan needs a correction." The server refused the plan itself, so a red note above the tabs names the value to fix. Everything you've entered is still on screen and still queued: correct the value under My Plan and the whole session's work saves at once, usually within a second. Wait for Saved before closing the tab.
• "We couldn't read your saved plan — nothing is being saved." Your stored plan can't be opened, so saving is switched off to protect it — nothing has been written over it. What's on screen is the starter sample, not your figures. Reload once; if that doesn't help, Start a fresh plan (keeps the old copy) keeps the unreadable one aside in this browser.

Full detail: How your work is saved.

Why does my life expectancy have to be a whole number?

The projection is built month by month from your birth month, and a fractional year doesn't land on a month it can count to. The field rounds what you type to whole years. If a plan you saved earlier held a fraction, the app corrects it as the plan loads and tells you what it changed — nothing else is touched. See Profile & assumptions.

Is this financial advice?

No. Retirement Forecast is an educational estimate to help you think through your own numbers. It isn't financial, tax, or investment advice, and it isn't a substitute for a qualified professional. For decisions that matter, talk to one. See Privacy and security.

Where is my data, and is it safe?

If you have an account, your data is stored privately to that account and synced; passwords are kept hashed (never in plain text); your financial figures aren't sold or shared; and the team keeps secure, regularly-tested backups. In local mode (no account), your data lives only in your browser. Full details: Privacy and security and Accounts and billing.

How do I fix a bad import?

Use Undo on the import. Each import comes in as a batch, so you can undo the whole batch, correct the file or the import settings (like the Purchases are positive amounts checkbox), and import again cleanly. Because of duplicate detection, re-importing a corrected file won't create doubles of rows the app already has.

Don't see your question? The glossary defines every term, and the stress-test overview covers the analysis tools.