{"id":930,"date":"2023-01-01T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/?p=930"},"modified":"2025-09-04T20:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:24:13","slug":"2025-wealth-planner-faq-financial-independence-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/2025-wealth-planner-faq-financial-independence-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Why does my Financial Independence data look different than it did last year?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot2B2024-09-262Bat2B954032BAM.webp\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"sqs-html-content\" data-sqsp-text-block-content>\n<h3 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">We improved the accuracy of the 2025 Financial Independence tab by fine-tuning two important variables:<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>In 2024, we looked at the difference between your post-tax income and your planned spending, and assumed you were saving the rest for retirement.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u274c <strong>Why this wasn\u2019t ideal<\/strong>: This estimate was a good rough projection, but many users save income for other medium-term goals (like college, down payments, etc.) that <em>aren\u2019t<\/em> going to be used for financial independence. Because of this, some users\u2019 expected annual long-term savings were inflated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u2705 <strong>How we improved this<\/strong>: In the 2025 Wealth Planner, you tell us when you fill out your Dashboard tab <em>exactly<\/em> how much money you intend to contribute to your long-term savings each month by selecting \u201cLong-Term (Financial Independence)\u201d from the timeline dropdown. This way, only savings contributions you intend to use for long-term investments will count toward your FI goal. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>In 2024, we always referenced your most recent current invested assets and added 12 months of your projected savings for the current year.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u274c <strong>Why this wasn\u2019t ideal<\/strong>: Once most of the year had already passed, the estimated end-of-year invested balance was inflated by expected contributions that had already happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">\u2705 <strong>How we improved this<\/strong>: In the 2025 Wealth Planner, only your first month\u2019s invested assets will be used as the base\u2014and the rest of the year\u2019s savings contributions will be assumed based on your goals. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>  <script class=\"TextAttributes-props\" type=\"application\/json\">[ {\n  \"type\": \"highlight\",\n  \"id\": \"2a9f68dd-77fa-45d2-b66f-caa48b0c568c\",\n  \"shape\": \"underlineCurve\",\n  \"isFront\": false,\n  \"isAnimationEnabled\": false,\n  \"animation\": \"draw\",\n  \"duration\": 0.5,\n  \"direction\": \"right\",\n  \"color\": {\n    \"type\": \"THEME_COLOR\"\n  },\n  \"thickness\": {\n    \"unit\": \"em\",\n    \"value\": 0.1\n  },\n  \"linecap\": \"square\"\n} ]<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"sqs-html-content\" data-sqsp-text-block-content>\n<h3 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">If things <em>still<\/em> look really different, be sure to <span class=\"sqsrte-text-highlight\" data-text-attribute-id=\"2a9f68dd-77fa-45d2-b66f-caa48b0c568c\">check<\/span>\u2026 <\/h3>\n<ol data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><strong>That your spending hasn\u2019t changed.<\/strong> Even a $1,000 increase in monthly spending can dramatically affect a financial independence timeline. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><strong>That your invested assets are correct.<\/strong> Remember that only assets marked \u201cLong-Term (Financial Independence)\u201d will be counted toward your balance. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>  <script class=\"TextAttributes-props\" type=\"application\/json\">[ {\n  \"type\": \"highlight\",\n  \"id\": \"185e3a70-cdfc-4bc2-a302-b72f99c49668\",\n  \"shape\": \"wave\",\n  \"isFront\": false,\n  \"isAnimationEnabled\": false,\n  \"animation\": \"draw\",\n  \"duration\": 0.5,\n  \"direction\": \"right\",\n  \"color\": {\n    \"type\": \"SITE_PALETTE_COLOR\",\n    \"sitePaletteColor\": {\n      \"colorName\": \"darkAccent\",\n      \"alphaModifier\": 1.0\n    }\n  },\n  \"thickness\": {\n    \"unit\": \"em\",\n    \"value\": 0.1\n  },\n  \"linecap\": \"square\"\n} ]<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"sqs-html-content\" data-sqsp-text-block-content>\n<h3 style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><span class=\"sqsrte-text-highlight\" data-text-attribute-id=\"185e3a70-cdfc-4bc2-a302-b72f99c49668\">Other Useful Reminders<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol data-rte-list=\"default\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Be careful not to <strong>cut &amp; pasting<\/strong> cells. This can create #REF errors. (Copy &amp; paste is fine.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Only change data in the <strong>white<\/strong> cells. Colored cells have formulas in them to make the Planner work!<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"sqsrte-large\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Avoid <strong>adding<\/strong> or <strong>deleting<\/strong> rows &amp; columns. (Hiding rows and columns is fine.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We improved the accuracy of the 2025 Financial Independence tab by fine-tuning two important variables: In 2024, we looked at the difference between your post-tax income and your planned spending, and assumed you were saving the rest for retirement. \u274c Why this wasn\u2019t ideal: This estimate was a good rough projection, but many users save [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178814,"featured_media":1379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wealth-planner-support","tag-wealth-planner-support"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why does my Financial Independence data look different than it did last year? 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