Goals-Based Investment Portfolio
Household
Who we're planning for, and how long the plan needs to last.
Balance sheet
Every account, by who owns it. Retirement accounts are individually owned, so joint and trust registration don't apply to them.
| Account | Client | Co-client | Joint | Trust | Total |
|---|
| Account | Client | Co-client | Joint | Trust | Total |
|---|
| Asset | Client | Co-client | Joint | Trust | Total |
|---|
| Debt | Client | Co-client | Joint | Trust | Total |
|---|
| Client | Co-client | Joint | Trust | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | ||||
| Total liabilities | ||||
| Net worth |
Income
Enter gross, pre-tax income. Taxes are calculated on the next step and subtracted before any spending. Each source runs from its start age to its end age, growing at its own rate; ages prefill from the household but you can override any of them.
| Source | Annual $ | Start | End | Growth % | FICA |
|---|
| Source | Annual $ | Start | End | Growth % | FICA |
|---|
| Source | Annual $ | Start | End | Growth % |
|---|
Property they own together. Start and end ages follow the client.
| Gross household income, year one | $0 |
Budget
Non-discretionary spending is what the Security & Maintenance bucket has to cover. Discretionary spending is what the Lifestyle bucket funds. Click a tag to move a line between them.
| Expense | Type | Monthly $ | Annual $ |
|---|
| Contribution | Client | Co-client | Total |
|---|
Contributions run until each person’s retirement age and grow with income. The employer match is not a cash outflow — it never leaves the household’s pocket — but it does count toward savings. Pre-tax contributions reduce taxable income on the next step.
| Essential (non-discretionary), annual | $0 |
| Lifestyle (discretionary), annual | $0 |
| Total living expenses | $0 |
| Total living expenses | $0 |
| Savings out of pocket — excludes employer match | $0 |
| Total cash outflows, before taxes | $0 |
Taxes come off on the next step. Cash outflows plus tax is what income has to cover before a dollar of it becomes surplus.
| Emergency fund need | $0 |
| Employer match — not an outflow | $0 |
| Deliberate savings, year one (incl. match) | $0 |
Current buckets — optional
These are assumptions, not facts. Checking, savings and money market balances default to Liquidity; Roth balances default to Aspirational, since Roth money is usually the last dollar a household intends to spend. Lifestyle is the plug — it absorbs everything left over, so the four buckets always tie to the investable assets on the balance sheet. Type over any figure to override it. The plan itself doesn't depend on any of this; only the moves below do.
Moves to get there
| Bucket | Current $ | Recommended $ | Change $ |
|---|
Taxes
Federal tax is computed from the 2026 brackets, with thresholds and the standard deduction inflated forward at CPI. Filing status follows the household: single if there’s one person, married filing jointly if there are two.
Inputs
Turnover alone can’t determine a tax bill — selling $100 of stock is not $100 of gain. Realized gain each year is the taxable account × turnover × embedded gain. Set embedded gain to 100% to treat every sale as pure gain.
Year one
| Earned income | |
| Interest & ordinary dividends | |
| Qualified dividends | |
| Realized capital gains | |
| Less pre-tax contributions | |
| Less deductible half of SECA | |
| Adjusted gross income |
| Less deduction | |
| Taxable income | |
| taxed at ordinary rates | |
| taxed at capital gains rates |
| Federal — ordinary | |
| Federal — gains & qualified dividends | |
| State & local | |
| FICA / SECA — payroll | |
| Total tax |
| Effective rate on AGI | |
| Marginal ordinary bracket | |
| Marginal capital gains rate | |
| Cash available to spend |
This is a planning estimate, not a tax calculation. Portfolio income counts toward taxable income: interest and non-qualified dividends are taxed as ordinary income, while qualified dividends and realized long-term gains are stacked on top of ordinary income and taxed in whatever capital-gains band they land in. A flat state rate is applied to all taxable income, since most states tax gains as ordinary income. Dividends and realized gains are assumed to stay in the portfolio — the tax on them is paid out of cash flow. It does not model AMT, NIIT, the QBI deduction, credits, phaseouts, tax-loss harvesting, Roth conversions, RMDs, or the tax character of individual holdings. Have a tax professional review anything that matters.
The portfolio
What the money is for, how much each purpose needs, and what it would take to get there.
—
Assumptions & detail
Everything feeding the portfolio above. Change an assumption here and the recommendation moves with it.
Return & inflation
Bucket equity targets
These drive the implied equity percentage of the whole portfolio.
No changes needed if you wish to stick with the default settings.
Check or uncheck to override the defaults. Security & Maintenance is funded by future savings unless the household is within 10 years of retirement — inside that window there isn't enough runway to lean on earnings that haven't happened, and essentials fall to the portfolio. Lifestyle is off by default.
What income covers
| Goal | Total need (PV) | Funded by income | Funding required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal — essential | |||
| Market — lifestyle | |||
| Tax not covered by income — gap years | |||
| Total |
| Need | Funding required | Future savings | Today's portfolio | Shortfall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency reserve | ||||
| Security & maintenance | ||||
| Lifestyle | ||||
| Total |
Recommended allocation
| Bucket | Recommended $ | % of total | Equity target | Equity $ |
|---|
Balance sheet summary
| Non-retirement | |
| Retirement | |
| Total investable portfolio | |
| PV of future savings — memo, not portfolio dollars |
| Other assets | |
| Total liabilities | |
| Net worth |
Year-by-year cash flow
| Year | Client | Co-client | Gross | Retirement savings | Tax | Spendable | Essential | Lifestyle | Surplus | Total saved |
|---|