Simulation start date

[fotto]

Hi,
Thanks for this great tool. It has been very helpful to me planning for retirement. I do have one question regarding the start of simulation vs. calendar year. Does the simulator model based on actual date or default to Jan 1 start for the year? I update my account balances regularly and resimulate. Would like to know if I update and run in June for instance, the result is modeling based on the 6 months remaining vs. 12 for the year I'm in.

[jimr]

Does the simulator model based on actual date or default to Jan 1 start for the year? I update my account balances regularly and resimulate. Would like to know if I update and run in June for instance, the result is modeling based on the 6 months remaining vs. 12 for the year I'm in.

The simulation models based on the actual day it's run rather than on January 1st. So whether you run the planner in January or in June, the first year of your plan will be 12 months long.

In reality, the simulation runs based on the passage of time rather than on calendar dates. Logically, the start date for the plan is the date the planner is run.

The only real connection between the passage of time and calendar dates is that some output views assign the first year of the plan to the current year (eg 2020) and then assign subsequent plan years to subsequent years. (for example, in the detailed view table).

[fotto]

Thanks for answering. That makes sense.