Product changelog
New features, accuracy improvements, and fixes to the calculator and guides. We ship often, this is the running log. Everything here is live at the calculator.
July 2026
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Fixed
New Jersey's retirement exclusion now models the income phase-outPro
New Jersey's $75,000/$100,000 retirement income exclusion is not a flat allowance: it steps down to 50% and then 25% as your New Jersey gross income rises past $100,000, and disappears entirely above $150,000. We were applying the full exclusion at every income level, which understated New Jersey tax in exactly the years that matter most, like a large Roth conversion. A married couple converting $100,000 on top of $30,000 of Social Security and $30,000 of IRA income now sees $2,501 of New Jersey tax instead of $420. The exclusion also now covers pension income alongside IRA withdrawals, as New Jersey intends, and correctly leaves Social Security out of the income test.
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New
New guide: Is a Roth conversion taxable by state?
Most conversion advice quotes a federal rate and stops there, but your state gets a vote worth anywhere from nothing to nearly 10% of the amount you convert. The guide sorts all 50 states and DC into what actually happens to a conversion: nine can't tax it, four exempt it outright, 22 shelter part of it behind a retirement exclusion, and 16 tax every dollar. It also covers two things that catch people out, the states that already taxed your contributions on the way in, and the rule that lets you convert after a move without your old state reaching back.
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New
New guide: Retiring at 55 vs 65
A head-to-head look at what those ten years actually cost. We ran the same person and the same portfolio at both retirement ages: at 55, with no Social Security or Medicare bridge and a 40-year horizon, the money runs dry at 92; at 65 it never depletes and keeps compounding. The guide walks through why, healthcare, Social Security timing, and the lower safe withdrawal rate a longer retirement demands.
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Improved
Projection charts now read in age, not calendar year
All four charts on the Projection tab now share a single age-based timeline, so you can line up the same moment across them at a glance, "what's my spending need at 75" next to "what are my assets at 75" without doing the math in your head. Hover any point and the tooltip shows both, like "Age 73 (2039)", so the calendar year is still there when you want it.
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Fixed
Guide section-nav stays with you on mobile
On phones, the “jump to section” bar at the top of every guide now stays pinned as you scroll, so you can move between sections anytime on a long read. Previously it slid away after the first section and never came back.
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Improved
A funding ratio that rewards tax efficiency
Funding ratio now reflects your after-tax funding and leftover legacy, so a more tax-efficient plan scores higher, not lower. Previously, holding more in a taxable brokerage account could make the number go down even though your plan was better funded. The updated figure appears everywhere the ratio is shown, including the Compare tab and the PDF and Excel reports.
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Improved
Scenario comparisons that explain the results Pro
When you compare two saved scenarios, the Compare tab now interprets the numbers instead of just listing them. You get a "What's different" summary of the inputs that changed, new efficiency figures (your effective tax rate and what each plan leaves at the end), and a plain-language "Bottom line" that says which plan wins on which goal, warns when the two aren't an apples-to-apples comparison, and marks the age one plan pulls permanently ahead. Each scenario now carries its own color across the table and chart, so it's easy to tell them apart at a glance.
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New
Guide: Die With Zero, the spend-to-zero strategy
A new guide on the "Die With Zero" approach to retirement spending: drawing your savings down toward zero over your lifetime instead of leaving a large balance behind. It shows why the 4% rule can leave millions unspent, how to find your own spend-to-zero withdrawal rate, the longevity risk that comes with it, and how to model the whole thing in the calculator. Free, and no account needed.
June 2026
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New
Charitable giving from your RMD Pro
If you give to charity after RMD age, you can now model a Qualified Charitable Distribution: send part of your required minimum distribution straight to a charity and it never counts as taxable income. Add one or more gifts in the new Charitable Giving section, each with its own amount, start age, and optional yearly repeat, and watch them lower your AGI, your Medicare (IRMAA) surcharges, and the tax on your Social Security, all at once. Your spending is still covered, and the projection table shows exactly how much of each year's RMD was donated.
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Improved
Set a duration on repeating major expenses Pro
Repeating major planned expenses can now run for a set number of years instead of continuing to the end of your plan. Add a "Duration" to any recurring expense, for example a new car every 5 years but only for 20 years, and leave it blank to keep the old behavior of repeating for life.
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Improved
Easier-to-read projection table
We tightened the yearly projection table so the year and age now sit together as a compact pair instead of drifting apart. And when you expand a year to see its breakdown, that detail now appears inside a clearly outlined card, so it's obvious at a glance which row you're looking at. Free, and no account needed.
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Improved
Clearer projection table, with Social Security taxes broken out
The yearly projection table now splits each row into two labeled sections, your year-end balances and that year's activity, so it reads cleanly across the page. Expand any year to see how much of your Social Security benefit is actually taxed, which is the heart of the tax torpedo. Free, and no account needed.
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New
IRMAA cliff warnings in the projection table
The projection table now flags any year your income lands within $5,000 of an IRMAA threshold, the income cliffs that quietly raise your Medicare premiums two years later. Hover the flag to see how far over or under you are, so you can spot a year worth trimming a withdrawal or Roth conversion. Free, and no account needed.
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New
Methodology & Sources page
A new page laying out exactly where every tax figure, Social Security rule, and Medicare surcharge comes from, with direct links to the IRS, the SSA, and each state's tax authority. It also explains how that data is verified each year and the assumptions behind every projection. You'll find it in the footer under Methodology & Sources.
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New
Guide: choosing a retirement drawdown calculator
A new honest comparison guide weighing Drawdown Arc against Boldin, ProjectionLab, Pralana, and the free tools — by what each actually models in the withdrawal years: account sequencing, RMDs, Social Security taxation, and 50-state tax. Read it under Guides.
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Improved
Cleaner dollar figures across charts and reports
Chart tooltips and headline numbers — and the figures in your downloadable PDF report — now show exact whole-dollar amounts, like $1,234,567, instead of rounded shorthand like $1.23M. Compact axis labels keep the charts readable at a glance.
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New
Strategy Optimizer Pro
A new tab that finds your lowest-tax plan automatically. It sweeps Roth-conversion amounts and withdrawal order, scores each option by lifetime tax, ending estate, or IRMAA exposure, then recommends the winner, with a one-click Monte Carlo stress-test on the result and an "apply to dashboard" button.
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New
Social Security timing optimizer Pro
See every claiming age from 62 to 70 side by side, with break-even ages and the effect on your full plan. Couples get a joint-claim optimizer and a survivor-benefit model that shows what the surviving spouse keeps.
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Improved
More accurate survivor benefits
When the higher earner claims Social Security early, a surviving spouse is now correctly floored at the SSA widow(er)'s limit, so the projection no longer understates survivor income later in life.
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Fixed
Engine accuracy pass
A thorough review of the projection engine corrected a set of edge cases in the tax gross-up, the capital-gains and Social-Security interaction, and IRMAA for couples with an age gap. Numbers across the board are now tighter.
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New
New guides
Added nine "Can I retire at 60 with $1M?"-style guides covering common portfolio sizes at ages 60, 62, and 65, plus deep dives on the Rule of 55, 72(t) SEPP, the 0% capital-gains bracket, and a 10-years-to-retirement countdown.
Earlier in 2026
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New
Monte Carlo simulation Pro
Stress-test your plan against thousands of randomized market paths: success rate, median depletion age, sequence-of-returns risk, and a maximum-sustainable-spending solver.
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New
State income tax for all 50 states + DC Pro
Model state tax on Social Security, pensions, and account withdrawals, with the right exemptions, age gates, and caps per state. Paired with a state-by-state comparison hub and 51 individual guides.
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New
IRMAA Medicare surcharges
Medicare Part B income surcharges are now modeled on 2026 thresholds by filing status, including the two-year lookback that makes age 63+ income decisions matter.
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New
Dark mode & shareable links
A light/dark theme toggle across the whole site, plus read-only share links so you can send a projection to a spouse or advisor.