Retirement Projection

Using retirement projection software is a valuable baseline analysis tool when planning for your financial future. But how reliable is it? What is it actually telling you? What assumptions is it based on—and how trustworthy are those?

Understanding the Purpose Behind Retirement Projections

I generally start this part of the retirement planning process by reminding clients that nothing we’re about to look at is likely to happen exactly as shown. There are simply too many moving pieces—and too many static assumptions built into the software. Life, the markets, and your goals all change over time.

That said, it is a valuable tool to start with.

Why It Still Matters

Retirement projections help you:

• See long-term financial patterns

• Understand how sensitive your plan is to changes (like income, expenses, or investment returns)

• Watch how your plan shifts year over year

• Discover why those outputs are changing

These insights are especially important if you're near to or in retirement and need to make informed decisions about your income, savings, and lifestyle.

A First Step—Not the Final Answer

Using projection tools is an important step in high-level financial planning, but it’s only the beginning. It gives us a foundation to build on—and a flexible starting point to adjust as your life evolves.