Before You Use This Tool
This calculator is for educational cash-flow projection only. It is not financial, investment, tax, legal, medical, or retirement-planning advice. Results depend entirely on the assumptions you enter, including inflation, Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, CCRC fee increases, investment return, and the number of years projected.
This tool projects the period you expect to remain in the independent living level of a retirement community or Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). It does not estimate assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, health care, tax effects, refundable entrance-fee provisions, or future care-level changes.
Age is not required because the calculation is based on the year you expect to enter the independent living level and number of years you expect to stay at that level. Before making a major decision, review your numbers with qualified financial, tax, legal, and family advisers.
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How the Projection Works
Enter the first year of the projection, the number of years you expect to remain at the independent-living level, and the investments/cash equivalents you expect to have after selling your home and paying the CCRC independent-living entry cost. Then enter monthly income sources, expected monthly non-housing expenses, and the expected monthly CCRC fee.
The report keeps pension income fixed unless you choose to apply a pension COLA. Asset drawdowns may be increased by the general inflation assumption, Social Security may be increased by the Social Security COLA assumption, non-housing expenses may be increased by inflation, and CCRC fees may be increased by the selected CCRC fee-increase assumption.
Projection Summary
Yearly Cash Flow Report
The chart compares Total Income and Total Expenses by year. Ending Assets are shown as a broad line with yearly markers.
| Year | Pension | Asset Drawdowns |
Social Security |
Total Income |
Non-Housing Expenses |
CCRC Fees |
Total Expenses |
Yearly Surplus / Deficit |
Ending Assets |
|---|
Underlying Calculations
- Pension: fixed yearly pension unless “Apply pension COLA” is selected.
- Asset drawdowns: prior year amount × (1 + inflation rate), shown as cash available for expenses and also subtracted from assets.
- Social Security: prior year amount × (1 + Social Security COLA).
- Non-housing expenses: prior year amount × (1 + inflation rate).
- CCRC independent-living fees: prior year fee × (1 + CCRC fee increase).
- Yearly cash flow: total yearly income − total yearly expenses.
- Ending assets: max(0, (starting assets + pension + Social Security − non-housing expenses − CCRC fees) × (1 + investment return)). Asset drawdowns are included as cash available, but they are not counted as outside income because they come from the retiree’s own assets.
- Estimated maximum starting monthly CCRC fee: estimate of the highest starting monthly independent-living CCRC fee that may be sustainable for the selected projection period without projected investments and cash equivalents being depleted to zero, based on the assumptions entered.