Modeling methodology
Educational retirement planner — not tax, legal, or investment advice. Disclaimers.
Social Security
Claiming ages 62–70 with SSA reduction/credit factors. Married households use spousal deeming and survivor benefits. WEP/GPO do not reduce benefits (Fairness Act); non–SS pensions are income only. The SS Optimizer ranks claim ages using longevity-weighted NPV minus estimated lifetime IRMAA; taxable Social Security varies by scenario while other MAGI follows your active plan.
Medicare, IRMAA, and ACA
IRMAA uses CMS tier tables with a two-year MAGI lookback. Pre-65 coverage uses simplified ACA, COBRA, employer, or VA paths from your profile. Monte Carlo Medicare costs may differ from the deterministic timeline.
Tax and portfolio
Federal brackets, standard deduction, taxable Social Security, long-term capital gains (including 0% bracket headroom and harvesting in Tax Plan), and simplified state tax including state long-term capital gains where applicable (flat, bracket stack, partial exclusion, or WA threshold). Withdrawals follow your order (taxable → traditional → Roth). RMD start ages follow SECURE 2.0 by birth year. Year-by-year Tax Plan edits persist until reset.
Real estate and pensions
Primary home: sell, hold, or downsize with §121 exclusion. Up to two rental properties with simplified depreciation and sale tax. Private and government pensions support survivor percentages after the first death.