The Language: "Before we look at the math, we need to agree on where we're going. We’re assuming here that you want to maintain about 70% of your pre-retirement lifestyle—that’s roughly $100,000 a year in today's dollars. Is that a legitimate number for you, or are we being too optimistic?".

Add "Go-Go" Years: "I've also included a separate travel budget for your early 'go-go' years, because we know you aren't just going to sit home the day you stop working".

The Language: "The system is pulling in your social security, your pension, and your 401(k). It’s assuming that while assets are sitting there, they are earning a conservative 5% net of taxes and fees. We call this 'driving 55'—we hope to go faster, but we want to know if the plan works at a safe speed".

The Language: "Right now, your GPS says you’re 87% funded. You aren't lost, but you might arrive a little late or with less gas than you'd like. To get that to 100%, we have a few levers we can pull: we can save more today, work a few years longer, or seek a slightly higher return on that capital we found earlier."

Safe Testing: You can change any number inside a Target-Map—such as selling a business, lowering a return, or retiring earlier—without changing the data on the client’s Asset-Map.

One-Way flow: Data flows from the Asset-Map to the Target-Map.

The "Unlinking" Effect: If you manually edit a funding source inside the Target-Map (e.g., changing a 401k balance), you break the link to the Asset-Map. That specific item will no longer update if you refresh the Asset-Map data later. To restore the link, simply edit the line item in the Target-Map What you have page. Delete your manual entry and type the value that is currently on the client's Asset-Map. Conveniently, it will appear as gray numbers for you to type over.

The Logic: instead of showing a $100,000 IRA that belongs 25% to the government 20 years from now, the system deducts the tax now. It shows you the $75,000 that is presumed to belong to the client.

The Math: Mathematically, deducting the tax upfront results in the same future spendable value as deducting it at the end (assuming the same growth and tax rate), but it provides immediate clarity on whether the client is funded today.

Asset-Map Expenses: The specific "Expense" cash flow tiles you create on an Asset-Map (e.g., Living Expenses, Taxes, Utilities, etc.) do not automatically flow into a Retirement Target-Map.

Target-Map Logic: By default, the Retirement Target-Map estimates future needs as a percentage of current Gross Income (e.g., 50% or 70%), defined in your Target-Map Preferences.

Why: This creates a quick "retirement spending" dollar value. If you want to model specific expenses (like a mortgage that ends at 5 years into their retirement), you may add them manually using the "Add Desired Cash Flow" button on the What you want page.

The "Barrel" Analogy: The system asks: "How much money would I need in a barrel today, earning X%, to recreate that future pension dollar sum?".

The Impact: If you increase this rate (e.g., from 6% to 7%), your assets grow faster, and the amount of capital you need today decreases, illustrating what the client needs to do today to meet their future needs.

Treatment: In a Target-Map, future contributions (savings) are treated as pre-retirement Cash Flow Sources. Contributions are found on the cash flow table in the What you have page.

Taxation: Just like assets, the system calculates the spendable (after-tax) value of these future contributions upfront to prevent overestimating liquid cash.

To apply this as a funding source, make sure you check the box associated with contributions.

Year-by-Year Breakdown: The page provides a granular, year-over-year spreadsheet view. It shows the math starting from the present day (adding up current after-tax assets) and projecting forward. It illustrates how net capital grows or depletes annually based on the "Expected Net Return" and cash flow needs and displays it in the EOY (End of year) Net Capital Balance column.

Three Core Columns: The report breaks down the logic into three expandable sections that mirror the Target-Map structure:

Visualizing the "Run Out" Date: It is used to visually identify the specific year a client runs out of money ("in the red").

Editing Capabilities: You can expand the columns and edit line items directly from this page without navigating back to the main tabs.

Tax & Contribution Verification: You can use it to verify the impact of tax assumptions (Loss to Tax) and contributions. For instance, it shows the future value of a savings strategy taxed upfront versus the future value of an untaxed account.

Plan year: comes from the What you want page.

Age of member: comes from the What you want page.

Pre-retirement years contributions net of taxes: comes from the What you have page.

Often the first pre-retirement contributions are added to the client's nestegg of assets. Comes from the What you have page.

Then, your net rate of return is applied to produce an End of Year (EOY) Net Capital Balance.

Capital Requirements from the What you want page display the client's spending desires each year (impacted by inflation if a COLA is applied).

Cash flows change from pre-retirement saving contributions, to pension incomes like Social Security. Remember that these values include COLA and are net of taxes. Please click for a larger image.

If the available cash flow does not fully cover capital requirements for the year, the Net (Withdrawal) value will be deducted from the retirement savings, which will continue to grow at the rate of return.

The Target-Map starts at the default retirement age defined in the Retirement Target-Map Preferences.

The start age is anchored on the older member, which helps define the project’s duration. That can be adjusted directly in the Target-Map.

By default, the Duration of Contributions field shows the number of years until the defined retirement age.

The Add Target-Map selection can display members:

The template estimates funding needs by applying the percentages in your Retirement Target-Map Preferences to the annual income on the client's Asset-Map.

Renaming Descriptions: Click the Edit icon (Pencil) or the Description link to customize line item descriptions.

Adding Requirements: Use the Add Desired Cash Flow button for extra funding requirements, especially if there is a significant age difference between members.

Use the Start Age field only for one-time funding requirements—leave the end age blank on the What you want page.

To refresh the Duration of Contributions, click the refresh icon (curved arrow) after changing a requirement's age. This will align the earliest retirement start age on the What you want page with the client's current age.