Complete a quarterly plan check-in

A check-in asks what changed—not whether every field was touched

The quarterly check-in is a disciplined pause to compare the saved Home plan with the household as it exists now. It is meant to catch material changes in balances, work, spending, benefits, retirement timing, health coverage, property, debt, or family responsibilities before old assumptions become invisible.

Completing a check-in does not certify that every number is exact. It records that you considered the prompted areas and updated what no longer describes the plan. If nothing important changed, confirming that conclusion is a valid check-in; unnecessary editing does not make a plan more accurate.

Decide whether the change belongs in Home

A new statement balance, a permanent spending change, a revised retirement date, a benefit election, a property transaction, or a change in household structure normally belongs in Home because it changes the plan you intend to maintain. A possibility that has not been chosen—retiring next year, moving, helping a child, or selling the house—usually belongs in a What-if.

Ordinary market movement by itself is not a reason to redesign the strategy. First update the balance consistently and ask whether the change affects liquidity, taxes, funding, or the plan’s resilience. The check-in should help separate a new fact from an emotional reaction to a recent market move.

Review immediately after a major life event rather than waiting for the next scheduled quarter. The calendar is a reminder, not a rule about when information becomes important.

Work from evidence to the affected section

Read each prompt and compare it with a current source: account statements for balances, pay or benefit records for income, bills or a spending review for expenses, and actual decisions for dates or goals. Open only the Scenario Editor section connected to the change, save it, and return to the check-in.

Medical-cost changes belong on the Spending step and open Annual Spending, where those costs are modeled. Social Security estimate changes remain on Benefits and open Personal Details for the correct person. Pension and annuity changes remain on Income.

Use one sensible as-of date when updating several balances. When a changed amount has a different owner, tax treatment, start year, or end year, keep it separate rather than folding it into an unrelated total. The goal is to preserve the cause of the change so it can be understood later.

After a material edit, rerun the Projection or analysis you rely on. A saved plan and a saved analysis are different artifacts; the check-in does not silently recalculate every result.

Confirm both the update and its consequence

Reopen the edited section and confirm the value, owner, date, and treatment remained after saving. Then return to the Dashboard and check that the review date and any balance date are the ones you intended.

In Projection, inspect the first year affected by the change. If a new benefit was added, confirm when it starts and stops. If spending changed, look at the portfolio withdrawal and tax consequence—not merely the expense row. If only balances changed, distinguish the new starting point from a change in the plan’s policy.

A check-in is complete when the saved plan again describes the household well enough for the decisions being considered. It is not complete merely because every prompt was dismissed.

A review rhythm is not a guarantee of freshness

A plan can become stale the day after a check-in if a major event occurs, and it can remain useful beyond a quarter when nothing material changes. YARCalc cannot verify that a source document was complete or that an unreported life change did not occur.

Do not use the check-in as a performance score or as a reason to make frequent strategy changes. Its value is the record of thoughtful review and the connection between a real change, a saved assumption, and the analysis that depends on it.