Accounts, homes and the mortgage

Net worth & accounts holds what you own and owe. It’s shared by every scenario, so a change here changes them all.

Updating balances

What you do (every three months or so; your action items remind you):

1. Open Net worth & accounts.
2. Type each account’s current balance in Balance.
3. Set Balances as of at the top right to today’s date.

+ Add an account adds one; ✕ removes one after asking. The Type decides how withdrawals are taxed: traditional IRAs and SEP-IRAs as income, Roth IRAs not at all, taxable accounts on the gain only.

Cost basis

For a taxable account, Cost basis is what was paid for what’s in it. The difference between the balance and the cost basis is the gain that’s taxed when something is sold. A short note under the figure says where it came from; point at it for the whole note. An empty box means the planner assumes three quarters of the balance.

What you do when you have a better figure (most brokerages show it on the account’s positions page, usually in a column called Cost Basis):

1. Open Net worth & accounts.
2. Type the account’s total cost basis in Cost basis.
3. Click anywhere outside the box. The note changes to the date you entered it.

To go back to the planner’s assumption, clear the box.

The advisor’s fee

If an investment advisor manages some of your accounts for a percentage fee, the planner takes that fee out of those accounts every year. Two places on this page set it up:

• The Advisor column in Investment accounts: check each account the advisor bills.
• The Advisor’s fee card below the accounts: the fee schedule. Each rate applies to the part of the billed accounts’ combined value inside its range, the way most advisors bill. Underneath, On today’s balances shows what that comes to in a year.

What you do when the advisor’s billing statement changes:

1. Open Net worth & accounts.
2. In Advisor’s fee, type the new limit in Value up to or the new rate in Rate, % a year.
3. Check or uncheck accounts in the Advisor column so they match the statement’s list.

To see a scenario without the advisor, turn off Take the advisor’s fee off each year under Advisor’s fee on Plan settings. The schedule stays for the other scenarios.

Homes and the mortgage

Each home has its value and how fast it grows. The SF home’s mortgage shows its balance (and the date it was read), the interest rate and the monthly payment of principal and interest. Last payment is worked out from those three, so it’s always consistent with them; the date the loan was scheduled to end is shown underneath for comparison.

What you do when the lender’s page shows a new balance:

1. Type the new Mortgage balance. The date beside it changes to today.
2. Check Last payment.

If you start paying extra toward principal, change Payment / month too. The payment counts as spending through its line under Housing: SF home in Living expenses, so change that line to the same amount, and its To year to the new last payment.

Property tax has its own line in Living expenses, from your latest tax bill.

A home held in euros shows its value in euros, with the dollar figure underneath at today’s exchange rate. Type a new euro value to change it; the dollar figure follows the exchange rate by itself.