Common questions about how these tools work
No. These are educational and planning tools. Please speak with a licensed financial professional before making any financial decisions.
It depends on the tool. The Wealth Calculator and Retirement Success Calculator both include a tax overlay that estimates federal tax using the actual 2026 IRS bracket structure — but it's informational only and doesn't reduce the amount tested against your portfolio. State tax, other income, and deductions beyond the standard deduction aren't included, so treat the suggested rate as a starting point, not a final answer.
The Wealth Calculator supports tax schemes for a number of countries beyond the U.S. For the others, a few things are worth knowing: the historical market data behind the Retirement Success Calculator is U.S.-based (S&P 500 and 10-year Treasuries), and inflation is based on U.S. CPI — both may not reflect your own country's history. Figures are also shown in USD throughout.
Yes — the underlying datasets are updated as new full-year data becomes available, typically in the following year.
Real (inflation-adjusted), unless a specific figure is explicitly labeled nominal.
No. A 100% Success Rate means your plan held up against every historical sequence tested — it's a strong signal, not a guarantee, since the future isn't guaranteed to resemble the past. Worth double-checking: are all your real expenses accounted for, including healthcare? Is your retirement length realistic? Have you also run the numbers with taxes and RMDs factored in?
Different calculators use different data sources and different underlying methodology, even when they look similar on the surface. This is normal — we'd encourage comparing results across a few tools rather than relying on just one.
Project My Wealth is free to use, with no signup and no ads.