📋 Input Fields Guide

This page explains every input in the retirement planner and how it affects your projections.

👥 People

Birth Year
Used to calculate your current age and the exact year each life-stage event occurs (retirement, Social Security eligibility, life expectancy endpoint).
Retirement Age
The age at which you plan to stop working. Employment income stops, and the model begins drawing from retirement accounts to cover the expense gap. Each person can retire independently.
Life Expectancy
How far the projection runs. We recommend planning conservatively — 90–95 is a common target. The model tracks "dying with zero" against your target end balance.
Social Security Age US
Age at which you claim Social Security. Full Retirement Age (FRA) is typically 67 for those born after 1960. Claiming at 62 reduces benefits ~30%; delaying to 70 increases by ~24%.
Social Security Monthly Benefit US
Your estimated benefit at your chosen claiming age, in today's dollars. You can find this on your SSA.gov statement. The model inflates this at 2.3% annually (COLA assumption).

🏦 Retirement Accounts

401(k) / Traditional IRA US
Pre-tax contributions reduce taxable income today. Growth is tax-deferred. Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) begin at age 73 (not yet modeled — coming soon).
Roth IRA US
After-tax contributions. Growth and qualified withdrawals (age 59½+) are completely tax-free. No RMDs during your lifetime. An excellent vehicle post-move as Australia generally respects the Roth's tax-free status.
Australian Superannuation AUS
Australia's equivalent of a 401(k). Employer must contribute 11% of salary (Superannuation Guarantee). Contributions taxed at 15% in-fund. Tax-free withdrawals after age 60 (once you meet a condition of release). As a US citizen, your Super is a foreign grantor trust for US tax purposes — consult a tax advisor familiar with US-AU dual-filing.
Account Type
Determines the tax treatment and enforces the correct country and currency automatically — you cannot change country/currency for type-locked accounts:
Contributions to Date (Corpus / Basis) Roth & IRA only
The total after-tax dollars you have personally contributed to this account so far (not counting employer contributions or investment gains). Must be ≤ current balance.

Why it matters — Roth early withdrawal: Roth contributions can always be withdrawn without penalty at any age. Only the gains portion (balance minus contributions) faces the 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½. The model uses this split automatically.

Year-by-year tracking: The model increases this value each year by your annual contribution and reduces it proportionally as withdrawals are made, so the corpus/gains split stays accurate over time.
Annual Contribution
How much you personally contribute each year. Contributions stop when you retire. The model enforces no contribution limits warnings — ensure yours comply with annual IRS/ATO caps.
Employer Match
Annual employer contributions. For Australian Super this is the Superannuation Guarantee (11%+ of salary). Stops at retirement.
Expected Growth Rate %
Nominal annual return assumption (before inflation). Historical US equity markets have returned ~10% nominal, ~7% real. A common planning rate is 6–7% for a balanced portfolio. This is applied gross — consider your actual allocation.
Withdraw From Age
The age at which the model begins drawing from this account to cover retirement expenses. Default is 59½ for US accounts (the IRS penalty-free threshold) and 60 for Australian Super (condition of release). You can adjust for Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (72(t)) or other early-access scenarios.
Value at Move Date
Computed automatically — you do not enter this. When the projection reaches your Australia move year, the model records the account balance at that point as the FMV on residency date. This value is used for Australian deemed-acquisition CGT rules (brokerage) and as context for foreign-income tax treaty calculations (401k / IRA). Super accounts do not require this as they are already Australian assets.

📊 Account Tax Treatment Detail

Each account type carries its own tax rules. The model applies these automatically — this section explains exactly what happens in the projection for each event type and each country.

401(k) — Pre-Tax Employer Plan US only
Traditional employer-sponsored retirement plan. Contributions are made pre-tax (reducing current taxable income). All growth is tax-deferred. The penalty-free withdrawal age is 59½.
US Tax Treatment
ContributionsNot taxed (pre-tax deferral)
GrowthTax-deferred (not taxed until withdrawal)
Withdrawal ≥ 59½100% ordinary income, no penalty
Withdrawal < 59½100% ordinary income + 10% IRS penalty
AU Tax Treatment (post-move)
ContributionsNo AU event
GrowthNo AU event (tax-deferred)
Withdrawals100% taxable as foreign income at ordinary AU rates
Penalty10% penalty is a US IRS mechanism only — no AU equivalent
The US–Australia tax treaty (Article 18) may exempt 401(k) distributions from AU tax, but this is not yet modelled. The current treatment is conservative — it assumes full AU taxability. FITO (Foreign Income Tax Offset) partially corrects for double taxation by crediting US income tax already paid against the AU liability.
Traditional IRA — Pre-Tax Individual Account US only
Individual Retirement Account funded with deductible (pre-tax) contributions. Tax rules are nearly identical to a 401(k). The penalty-free withdrawal age is 59½.
US Tax Treatment
ContributionsNot taxed (deductible contribution assumed)
GrowthTax-deferred
Withdrawal ≥ 59½100% ordinary income, no penalty
Withdrawal < 59½100% ordinary income + 10% IRS penalty
AU Tax Treatment (post-move)
ContributionsNo AU event
GrowthNo AU event (tax-deferred)
Withdrawals100% taxable as foreign income at ordinary AU rates
PenaltyNo AU equivalent — IRS mechanism only
Like the 401(k), Article 18 treaty treatment is a known limitation — full AU taxability is assumed as the conservative case. FITO applies.
Roth IRA — After-Tax Individual Account US only
Funded with after-tax dollars. Qualified withdrawals (age 59½+) are entirely tax-free under US law. The Contributions to Date (corpus) field is essential for accurate early-withdrawal modelling — it tracks the after-tax dollars you have put in, separate from investment gains.
US Tax Treatment
ContributionsAfter-tax (already included in taxable income)
GrowthTax-free
Withdrawal ≥ 59½Entirely tax-free, no penalty
Early — contributionsAlways tax-free and penalty-free (basis recovery)
Early — gains only10% penalty on the gains portion; gains are NOT added to ordinary income
AU Tax Treatment (post-move)
ContributionsNo AU event (after-tax corpus already taxed)
GrowthNo AU event
Withdrawal — corpus portionTax-free (not a new income event in AU)
Withdrawal — gains portionTaxable as foreign income at ordinary AU rates
Australia has no equivalent of the Roth IRA. The model splits each Roth withdrawal into corpus (contributions) and gains using the ratio of your current contributions balance to account balance. The corpus fraction is treated as a return of after-tax capital (not new income in AU). Only the gains fraction is assessed as foreign income for AU tax purposes. The US early-withdrawal 10% penalty is calculated on the gains fraction only and does not affect AU treatment.
Australian Superannuation — Compulsory Super Fund AUS only
Australia's national compulsory retirement savings system. Employer contributions (Superannuation Guarantee, currently 11.5%) and voluntary concessional contributions are taxed at a flat 15% within the fund. Earnings are also taxed at 15% during accumulation. Tax-free access begins at age 60 once you meet a condition of release.
AU Tax Treatment (in-fund)
Concessional contributions15% contributions tax withheld in fund
Earnings / growth15% earnings tax within the fund
Withdrawal ≥ 60Tax-free (condition of release met)
Withdrawal < 6020% simplified tax rate applied (plus Medicare — not yet modelled separately)
US Tax Treatment
All eventsNot modelled — returns zero to avoid double-counting
Known limitation: US tax treatment of Australian Super is highly complex. The IRS treats Super as a foreign grantor trust, which can trigger FBAR, Form 8938, and Form 3520 reporting obligations and may make Super earnings taxable in the US annually — not just on withdrawal. This model does not attempt to model the US side of Super. If you are a US citizen with Australian Super, consult a cross-border tax specialist familiar with both IRS and ATO requirements before making decisions based on this projection.

🏠 Properties

Current Value
Current estimated market value of the property.
Mortgage Balance
Outstanding principal. Monthly payments reduce this (the model uses a simplified principal reduction — enter actual payoff date via Planned Sale Year for accuracy).
Appreciation Rate %
Expected annual property appreciation. US residential long-run average is ~3–4%. Australian capital cities have historically averaged 6–7% but with higher volatility.
Cost Basis US
Your original purchase price plus capital improvements. Used to calculate taxable capital gain on sale. Primary residence exclusion of $500K (MFJ) applies if lived in 2 of last 5 years.
Planned Sale Year
If you plan to sell the property, enter the year. The model will calculate after-tax proceeds and remove it from the balance sheet. Leave blank to hold indefinitely.

📈 Brokerage Accounts

Balance & Cost Basis
Current account value and what you originally paid (cost basis). The difference is your unrealized gain, which becomes taxable when you sell.
Annual Contribution
Additional after-tax money you add each year while working. No legal limits (unlike retirement accounts).

💰 Expenses & Income

Current Annual Expenses
Your household's total annual spending today in USD. This becomes the baseline for retirement expense projections.
Retirement Expense Ratio %
What percentage of pre-retirement spending you expect in retirement. Common planning assumption is 70–85%. Mortgage payoff and commuting costs reduce it; healthcare often increases it.
Australia Expense Ratio % AUS
Your expected Australian living costs as a percentage of your US baseline. Set below 100% if Australia is cheaper for your lifestyle, above 100% if more expensive. Applied from the move year onwards, compounded on top of the Retirement Expense Ratio. Expenses are then inflated using the Australian CPI rate from the move year forward.
Target End Balance
The "die with zero" buffer. Set to $0 for true zero-based planning. Setting $50K–$200K provides a buffer for unexpected late-life expenses and estate intentions.
Combined Annual Income
Gross household income today. Used to project pre-retirement tax burden and savings rate. Split proportionally when one person retires before the other.

🌏 Australia Move

Move Year Slider
Drag to set the year you relocate to Australia. This is a key scenario variable — the model switches tax regimes and inflation rates at this point. Try different years to see the impact.
Inflation Rates (US & AUS)
Separate rates for each country. US CPI has averaged ~2.5% long-run. Australian CPI has averaged ~2.5–3%. After the move, Australian inflation applies to living costs. The model uses the active country's rate to inflate expenses.