How Your Example Monthly Goal Breakdown Works

This feature is intended to help you determine the scaffolding of your budget, based on your desired savings rate.

Its calculations are based on your Post-Tax Income in your Estimated Monthly Breakdown table, and it takes into account what you’ve already saved via paycheck contributions to employer-sponsored accounts.

  1. Select your Goal Overall Savings Rate—what percentage of your post-tax income do you want to aim to save? The table will calculate the savings goal for you.

  2. Next, it’ll subtract anything you’ve already saved, and tell you how much of your take-home pay you should aim to save each month to hit your goal.

  3. The guideline figures provided for Housing, Transportation, Living Expenses, and Discretionary Spending are generated based on a dynamic version of personal finance best practices that proportionally reallocates money away from these categories as you save more.

“How is this table used in the rest of the Planner?”

It’s not! This table is solely intended to help you determine the big picture of your budget based on your ideal savings rate, but it’s not connected to your Spending or Saving Plans below, so you’re still free to enter whatever you’d like.

Other Useful Reminders

  1. Be careful not to cut & pasting cells. This can create #REF errors. (Copy & paste is fine.)

  2. Only change data in the white cells. Colored cells have formulas in them to make the Planner work!

  3. Avoid adding or deleting rows & columns. (Hiding rows and columns is fine.)