Disclosures & methodology

Next Dollar is educational software. It is not a registered investment adviser, a broker-dealer, or a tax-preparation service, and using it does not create an advisory or fiduciary relationship. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any specific security or to adopt any particular strategy. Your situation is unique; consider consulting a qualified fiduciary advisor, CPA, or attorney before acting.

Any tickers shown (for example total-market or S&P 500 index funds) are illustrative examples of common low-cost fund categories, chosen to make the idea concrete. They are not a recommendation to buy a specific fund, and comparable options exist at every major brokerage. Always read a fund's prospectus and check current fees before investing.

The plan applies a widely used prioritization framework to the answers you provide, in roughly this order: capture any employer match, build a cash emergency fund, pay down high-interest debt, then fund tax-advantaged accounts (HSA, IRA / backdoor Roth, max 401(k), mega-backdoor Roth where available), then a 529 if you're saving for school, then a taxable brokerage for the overflow, with lower-interest debt last. The order and dollar amounts are derived purely from your inputs. No human reviews your answers.

• Contribution limits, catch-up amounts, and income thresholds use 2026 figures and are simplified. Real rules have additional nuances (phase-outs, plan-specific limits, state taxes) we do not model in full.
• Growth projections use assumed long-run nominal returns by asset class. Where shown, an “in today's dollars” figure discounts for an assumed long-run inflation rate of about 3%/year.
• Contributions are assumed to grow modestly over time based on your expected income trajectory, rather than staying flat or jumping immediately.
• Tax-savings estimates use an approximate marginal rate inferred from your income (you can adjust it). They ignore many real-world details and are directional only.

Markets are uncertain. Actual returns will vary, can be negative, and past performance does not predict future results. The projected balances and retirement income figures are simplified models to illustrate the relative value of tax-advantaged investing, not promises of any particular outcome.

Next Dollar runs entirely in your browser. The answers you enter are not transmitted to or stored on any server. Your plan is saved in your browser's local storage so you can return to it, and you can clear it anytime by choosing “Start over.” If you copy or email a plan link, note that the link itself encodes your answers, so share it only with people you trust.