Rules and the contingency playbook

Rules let you write down what you'd do if something happened, and test it. The templates include:

• If investments fall 25% from their peak, pause travel and spend from the cash buffer.
• If we're short of target at 55, work part-time 2 more years.
• If a Roth conversion would push income into a Medicare surcharge tier, skip it.
• If we're 30% ahead of plan for 2 years, raise giving.
• If investments drop below a level, move to a safer mix.

Conditions can use:

• your investments or net worth, in today's dollars
• the drop from a peak
• how far ahead of or behind plan you are
• your withdrawal rate
• last year's return or inflation
• the chance of a future cut
• the year

Rules and the playbook are paid features.

Rules

Every rule is checked month by month inside every simulated future. So the results on Outlook, Scenarios and the other screens already include your rules.

• Templates lists common rules. Choose Add to use one, then adjust its numbers.
• Write my own builds a rule from a condition and an action.

Each rule shows how often it triggered across simulated futures and what it did to your results. Rules that read an account's balance are switched off, not rewritten, if you delete that account.

Contingency playbook

Our contingency playbook lists your rules in plain language: if this happens, we'll do that. It's meant to be agreed on and kept, so everyone in the household knows the plan before it's needed. Choose Print for a paper copy.

Tips

• Keep rules few and specific. A handful of clear rules is easier to follow than many overlapping ones.
• Use rules for decisions you'd really make. A rule you wouldn't follow makes your results look better than they are.
• Pair rules with guardrails. Guardrails cover spending. Rules can cover everything else, such as delaying a purchase or working longer.