📋 Input Fields Guide

Used to calculate your current age and the exact year each life-stage event occurs (retirement, Social Security eligibility, life expectancy endpoint).

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.

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.

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%.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

Annual employer contributions. For Australian Super this is the Superannuation Guarantee (11%+ of salary). Stops at retirement.

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.

Current estimated market value of the property.

Outstanding principal. Monthly payments reduce this (the model uses a simplified principal reduction — enter actual payoff date via Planned Sale Year for accuracy).

Expected annual property appreciation. US residential long-run average is ~3–4%. Australian capital cities have historically averaged 6–7% but with higher volatility.

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.

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.

Current account value and what you originally paid (cost basis). The difference is your unrealized gain, which becomes taxable when you sell.

Additional after-tax money you add each year while working. No legal limits (unlike retirement accounts).

Your household's total annual spending today in USD. This becomes the baseline for retirement expense projections.

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.

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.

Gross household income today. Used to project pre-retirement tax burden and savings rate. Split proportionally when one person retires before the other.

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.

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.