Cash flow inputs

[KenK]

Hello all,
Can anyone confirm if the cash flows are to be entered in todays dollars or the actual amount when they kick in?

Say social security when I turn 67 in 5 years - do I enter Social Securities provided amount I will receive at that time and then in the start year put in the correct year? Or discount it back to present value?

On other cashflows what to enter as well? Do I enter that future value at the time the cash flow will begin and enter the future date it will begin or do I use a PV calculator to adjust it back to the present value?

I watched the Boglehead video on FRP and the cash flow entry process wasn't really covered. Early in the video it was stated everything is at present value dollars.

Get the above wrong and the results will be off rather dramatically...

Thanks

Ken

[jimr]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the estimates you get from social security are given in present value dollars, not future value dollars. As long as that's the case, you can just enter them as is into the planner. So in other words, if SS says you'll get $1k a month starting in 10 years, the actual payment you'll likely get ten years from now will be greater than $1k per month such that it keeps up with inflation.

As you mentioned, all frp values should be entered in present value dollars. For future cash flows, the key is to know how the amount will change based on inflation. Things like mortgage payments are usually fixed, so they should usually be entered as no cola cash flows. Fixed annuity payments are usually the same way. OTOH, things like social security, many pensions, and general expenses usually track inflation so they usually should be entered as such in additional inputs.