Five forecast refinements that just landed

Last week we sharpened the math behind your forecast in five specific places. None of them are new features - they're rules from the IRS and SSA that we now follow more precisely. Most of you won't see your numbers change. But if your situation matches one of the five below, your plan refreshed quietly the next time you opened it.

Your past wages need to be indexed to a particular year before they turn into a benefit estimate, and the SSA's official rule uses the year you turn 60. We now line your earnings up against that specific year. If you have an earnings history on file, your projected benefit may sit a few dollars different from what it showed before.

The IRS only treats Roth withdrawals as fully tax-free once the account has been open for at least five years. We now track that clock per person. If you're planning withdrawals from a young Roth before the five-year mark, those amounts now show up as taxable in your forecast - the way the IRS would actually treat them.

Each annuity payment is partly your own principal coming back tax-free, and partly taxable income. The IRS calls the split the exclusion ratio. We now apply that ratio so only the taxable portion of each payment counts in your forecast. In years where annuity income is significant, your projected tax bill may sit a touch lower as a result.

Head-of-household filers get a different standard-deduction bump at 65 than single filers do. We now use the head-of-household number specifically. If you file as head of household, your taxable income at and after 65 is slightly lower in the forecast.

The IRS lets couples with a 10+ year age gap spread required withdrawals over both lifespans, using a joint-life table rather than the single-owner one. We now apply the joint-life table whenever the age gap qualifies. Required withdrawals at and after the older spouse's RMD age are smaller as a result, and so is the tax that comes with them.

That's the whole list. No new features, no UI changes, no settings to flip. If none of these five describe you, your plan looks the same as it did last week. If one or more do, you'll see slightly different numbers next time you open it - sometimes a touch higher, sometimes a touch lower. Accuracy goes both ways.

Open your plan to see the updated numbers.