Sensitivity analysis and stress-testing for retirement strategy assumptions. Adjust inputs below to see how changes affect outcomes on the Planner page.
How this works: Values on this page are written into the shared ?state= URL and carried to the Planner page. Open the Planner after adjusting inputs here to see the impact on projections. Bookmark or copy the resulting URL to preserve the same assumptions.
Pre-Retirement
W-2 Income
Current gross annual salary from employment.
W-2 Deductions β Pre-Tax
26 pay periods = $1,040/yr
26 pay periods = $333/yr
12 months = $180/yr
TSERS pension contribution (the 6% defined-benefit pension) β 401k/457 are modeled separately and are NOT part of this %.
26 pay periods in a full year; the final payment is May 30, 2029. Repayments are outside contribution limits and return to the Roth 401(k).
Annual record-keeping / administrative fee on the 401(k) & 457(b) balances while employed (after rollover the fee drops). Real plans charge ~0.25β1.0%. 0 = no fee (keeps the default comparison stable).
Calculated Taxes
The shared engine calculates progressive federal tax once, NC income tax at 3.99%, employee payroll tax, Schedule C self-employment tax, Additional Medicare tax, NIIT, and capital-gain tax. There is no manual flat-rate shortcut.
Social Security
Leave blank to default to Planner inflation (3.0%).
62=earliest; FRA=67; max delay=70 (124% of PIA).
Post-Retirement
Healthcare Premiums β Post-Retirement
Retiree health coverage replaces the W-2 payroll deduction. DOT retiree health covers the gap years (retirement β 65); Medicare takes over at 65. Premiums are per-person in today's dollars and inflated at the healthcare rate; the spouse toggle doubles them (user + spouse).
Monthly cost (today's $) for continuing your DOT/state health plan into retirement. Per person β doubled when spouse is covered.
Age when DOT retiree health coverage begins (typically retirement age).
Part B + Part D + supplement monthly cost (today's $). Per person β doubled when spouse is covered.
Medicare eligibility begins at 65. When this starts, the DOT premium stops and Medicare applies.
Applies to both DOT retiree health and Medicare β premiums are charged for user + spouse.
Actual Predicted Spend
What the model actually predicts you'll spend
Every amount on this page is entered in today's dollars. Predicted costs are compared with the all-in spend curve ($100K β $200K β $100K defaults). The engine retains the full curve when itemized costs are lower and raises required spending when itemized costs are higher.
Monthly Expense Categories
Bare = necessary cost of living and counts toward the protected floor. Start/End ages are inclusive; blank means current age/lifelong. Healthcare-class costs inflate at 5%; other categories use general inflation.
Life Buckets
NameStartEndOrder
Ages a bucket covers (sortOrder indexes experiences). Add/rename freely; deleting a bucket used by an experience leaves that experience unassigned.
Life Buckets & Experiences
One-time costs hit in the bucket start year; recurring costs spread over their years. Zero a cost to cancel it.
Recurring Activities
ActivityEach Today$Per YrInflationBareStartEnd
Each amount is multiplied by Per Yr. For example, a $500 weekend getaway Γ 12 is a $6,000 annual budget.
Medical Debt
Balance-driven amortization stops after the partial final payment. End age is an optional payment cap.
β Saved
Source: /var/www/html/strategy-compare/robust/index.html Β· Values are carried in the URL ?state= blob and read by the Planner page on load.