The detail behind the plan

Every state's rules, not a flat rate.

Many planners apply one "effective tax rate" forever. Walk Me Through It works out each year's taxes from the rules, so a raise, a move, a home sale or a Roth conversion changes the tax the way it would in real life.

• Federal income tax, capital gains, deductions and credits, with itemizing when it saves more.
• The income tax rules of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including exemptions, retirement income exclusions, how each state treats Social Security, and local income taxes.
• Required minimum distributions, early-withdrawal penalties and higher Medicare premiums at higher incomes.
• Tax figures that grow with inflation where the law says so, and fixed figures that lawmakers update from time to time.

Your benefit, worked out from your pay.

Social Security depends on decades of earnings, and most people don't have those numbers handy. You don't need them to start.

• Enter your current or last salary and Walk Me Through It works back through your past pay using your expected raises and promotions, then estimates your benefit from it.
• For better accuracy, enter your actual earnings history year by year, or the benefit amounts from your Social Security statement.
• See your benefit at every claim age from 62 to 70.
• Future pay grows with yearly raises and the chance of a promotion, and both vary from one possible future to the next.

The big purchases, tracked into the future.

Homes, cars and loans are where long-range plans usually go vague. Here each one has its own timeline, with the costs that come with buying and selling.

• Buy, sell, rent or keep a second home, with down payments, closing costs, transfer taxes, selling fees and the tax on a gain.
• Mortgages, home equity loans, car loans and student loans paid down over time, with extra payments and refinancing.
• Cars that lose value and get replaced on a schedule. Your commute counts, so a long drive to work means a new car sooner.
• Pay for each car in cash, finance it or lease it, with sales tax, fees and the trade-in included.

Children, now and later.

• Plan for children you have and children you're expecting.
• Daycare and college costs in the years they happen.
• Child tax credits, and family health coverage that changes as children grow up.

The right account pays the right bill.

Health savings accounts, dependent care FSAs and 529 plans each come with tax breaks for specific costs. Walk Me Through It uses them the way you would.

• HSA: pre-tax contributions, plus your employer's, grow over time and pay your medical costs and Medicare premiums first.
• Dependent care FSA: pre-tax pay set aside for daycare and other child care, up to the legal limit, in the years you have young children.
• 529 plans: each child's college costs come out of their 529 first, before your other savings.
• Whatever these accounts don't cover is paid from your other cash and savings as usual.

See what a move really changes.

Moving changes more than your income tax. Walk Me Through It adjusts your own spending for the new state's prices: groceries, housing, utilities, gas, insurance, car taxes and sales tax. That lets you weigh a lower-tax state against the cost of living there. The optimizer can also try a move for you.

The costs that change with age.

• Health plan premiums that follow who is on the plan.
• The cost of your own coverage if you retire before Medicare.
• Medicare premiums, supplement plans and out-of-pocket costs from 65.

Lots of options, judged by the long run.

Small choices compound over decades. Explore them one at a time or let the optimizer search many together. Nothing in your plan changes until you choose to apply a result.

• Roth conversions, backdoor Roth contributions and charitable gifts from an IRA.
• When each of you claims Social Security, and which accounts you draw from first.
• How much to put in your 401k, Traditional versus Roth, and where extra cash goes.
• Filing jointly or separately, and moving to another state.
• Find the earliest age you could retire and stay on track, or try a range of values for any single input.
• Pick your attitude to risk (growth-leaning, balanced or cautious), and every option is tested against the same set of possible futures, so the difference comes from the choice, not from luck.

Comparisons and the optimizer are part of Pro.

Hundreds of futures, not one straight line.

Your plan runs hundreds of times, each with its own market returns, inflation, raises and healthcare costs. The spread of results shows how much luck matters, and the chance your money lasts sums it up in one number. Results can be shown in today's dollars, so a number 30 years out still means something.

What your heirs actually keep.

The final number accounts for estate and inheritance taxes and the income tax your heirs would pay on inherited retirement accounts, so plans are compared on what's really left.

Start simple. Go deeper when you want.

Choose how much detail to enter. Start with a few basics and one monthly spending number, then add homes, cars, loans and the finer points when you're ready. The guided walkthrough asks one plain question at a time.

Detailed, not perfect.

• It covers the United States only, with one stated year of tax law carried forward.
• Some rules are simplified. For example, marketplace (ACA) premium tax credits aren't modeled yet.
• Projections are estimates from the numbers and assumptions you enter. Real results will differ.