Step 10 is your investment plan. Split contributions between tax-advantaged and taxable accounts, set your retirement age and risk profile, and watch the Wealth Savings Rate panel respond.
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Growth & Income is where money you're not spending or paying down debt gets a job. Two input blocks: "Tax-advantaged" (401(k), RRSP, Roth IRA, TFSA, FHSA, HSA) and "Taxable" (brokerage, general investing). Fill the match-captured tax-advantaged buckets first, then taxable.
The retirement age slider and risk profile selector (conservative / balanced / aggressive) feed the inflation-adjusted projection. Conservative assumes a lower long-run return; aggressive assumes a higher one. The projection is shown in today's dollars, so the number is comparable to what you spend now.
Good to know
The Wealth Savings Rate panel on the right shows what percentage of take-home is going to wealth-building (investments + extra debt paydown + emergency fund). 10% is a start, 20% is solid, 30%+ puts early retirement on the table.
Tip
Don't skip the risk profile. An aggressive profile at 25 becomes inappropriate at 55. If you're within 10 years of retirement, shift toward balanced.
Step 9 lets you choose Snowball or Avalanche. Both use the same monthly budget — only the order of attack differs.
The Safety Net step sets your emergency fund target and tells Payday Audit how much to allocate each income deposit.
Step 8 helps you track workplace investing and employer match amounts that are already handled before your take-home income arrives.