What this tool does
Compares three retirement strategies side by side using your numbers. Inputs for your situation are blank by default. Modeling assumptions are prefilled and editable.
Recent accuracy update: ROR-year US pension withholding is now tracked as visible cash drag instead of disappearing from the table. Today's-dollar Social Security, present-value wealth at 75 and 80, India marginal relief, ACA-aware Roth conversions, and Social Security during working years are included.
Your personal inputs
- Current age + Years to target defines retirement age. Projection runs through at least age 85.
- Filing status sets US tax brackets and standard deduction.
MFJ uses $32,200. Single uses $16,100. - Base retirement spend / yr is entered in today's dollars and inflated yearly. For Split Life, exclude seasonal housing, storage, transport, and travel add-ons entered in the Split section.
- Household income / yr and Savings / yr drive working-year contributions.
- Account balances can be blank or 0 if you do not have that account.
What the three paths do
- Path A - Status Quo: maxes 401k first during working years. Retirement pulls from taxable, cash, then 401k.
- Path B - Asset Location Pivot: contributes only enough for the match, routes the rest to taxable, then uses taxable/cash bridge years before heavier 401k draws.
- Path C - NRI Timing Strategy: same working-year pivot as Path B, then uses income stacking, ACA guardrails, RNOR years, and ROR tax-stress rules based on the selected goal.
Important limits
- ACA is a rough premium-pressure test, not real subsidy modeling.
- RNOR is estimated from years outside India only. Real status depends on actual facts.
- India ROR tax is a stress estimate. Treaty treatment, FTCs, Form 1116, and Section 89A are not modeled.
- IRMAA uses current-year modeled MAGI as a proxy. Real IRMAA usually looks back two years.
- Roth India treatment is a stress test, not final advice.