Use Scenario Editor

Scenario Editor is where the financial story behind the results lives

Scenario Editor holds the people, dates, income, benefits, accounts, property, debt, spending, healthcare, goals, assumptions, and planning policy used by the reports. The purpose of the screen is not to reward complete data entry. It is to make the retirement being analyzed explicit enough that a surprising result can be traced to a real assumption.

You do not need to review every category every time you visit. Open the section connected to the fact or decision that changed. If you are only testing a possibility, make the edit in a named What-if rather than replacing Home.

Start with the assumptions that could change a decision

Household dates, retirement timing, dependable income, realistic spending, account ownership and balances, housing, and major debts usually matter first. Add finer detail when it changes timing, taxes, access, risk, or the comparison you are trying to make.

Use current statements and agreements for ownership, gross amounts, tax treatment, start and end dates, and benefit rules. An amount should not be entered merely because a field exists. An unsupported guess can give the plan more apparent certainty while making the result less trustworthy.

A material life change—job loss, inheritance, home sale, divorce, retirement, or a new care need—usually affects more than one category. Review the connected facts together so the plan does not contain half of the event.

Move through the editor by financial question

The Review by chapter overview is organized into Household & timeline, Income, Assets & liabilities, Spending & goals, and Plan settings. Use the chapter links to move through the plan, scan each compact summary, and open Show details only when the exact saved values are needed. Expand all details remains available for a complete audit or print review.

Personal Details establishes the household calendar and tax context. Its summary shows ages and milestones in a compact household view while the expanded detail retains the exact source dates. Income & Benefits describes wages, Social Security, pensions, disability income, survivor income, and temporary payments. Accounts & Holdings identifies the owner, tax character, restrictions, and investments behind savings. Property, Debt, Annual Spending, Goals, and Medical describe the claims those resources must support.

Planning Assumptions describes the economic path used for a deterministic projection. Planning Policy describes how the household intends to fund spending, maintain reserves, respond to stress, and treat legacy goals. Those settings should express a real planning choice rather than being adjusted until a preferred result appears.

Confirm the scenario switcher before editing. Use gross annual amounts unless the field explicitly requests a monthly value, percentage, balance, quantity, or date. Save the category and then reopen it when the change is consequential.

Trace every important edit into its first affected year

Open Projection after a material save. Find the income, expense, contribution, withdrawal, property event, debt payment, tax effect, or ending balance connected to the edit. Begin with the first affected year; later differences often flow from that one transition.

The Analysis snapshot at the top belongs to the last saved Stochastic Analysis for the matching plan. Rerun it after a material change rather than assuming an older probability incorporated the new input.

For a major choice, compare the change in a named What-if with unchanged Home. Review the input differences before the outcomes so an accidental second change is not credited to the decision.

Saving a value does not validate the assumption

Unsaved edits do not affect existing reports, and a successfully saved edit is not proof that its amount, tax treatment, legal ownership, or timing is correct. YARCalc applies the information supplied; it cannot inspect the source document or know what was omitted.

Use the editor to build a transparent planning model. Keep authoritative records behind consequential inputs and seek current professional guidance where legal, tax, benefit, insurance, or investment rules could reverse the conclusion.