We’re excited to announce the launch of Projections, a new feature in Bonsave that answers the long-term financial planning questions other tools get wrong. Using the accounts you’ve already connected to Bonsave, we trigger hundreds of simulations month by month based on real stock market history going back to 1928, giving you the earliest age you could stop working. You can commit to that plan, and Bonsave then tracks whether you’re running ahead of it or behind it.
What other calculators get wrong
Most retirement calculators use oversimplified equations based on a single number: the 25x rule. If you want $80,000 a year in retirement, you need $2 million invested. The math is simple: $80,000 × 25 = $2,000,000. The rule is easy to remember and easy to apply, but it’s better as a rough guideline than a plan based on your actual finances. Using this rule often results in either overconfidence or unnecessary pessimism, because it ignores the timing of your retirement and the sequence of returns you might experience along the way. Both are critical, especially if you’re planning to retire early.
It runs on your real numbers and everything that life throws at you
The starting balances come from your connected accounts. What you save each month is derived from your income and your categorized spending, no guesswork required. You can also add in events that you’re planning for, like a wedding or buying a new home. It allows you to plan for guaranteed income sources like Social Security and pensions. It even supports the possibility of you starting to coast ahead of retirement by working part-time or taking on a side hustle. All of these factors are considered in the simulations, which run hundreds of times to give you a realistic range of outcomes.
Commit to a plan, then watch it
All calculators can give you a rough date for retirement. What’s more useful than that is committing to that plan and tracking how you’re doing as time goes on. Bonsave’s Projections does just that. It shows you a glidepath of your net worth over time, based on the plan you commit to. You can see how your actual net worth compares to the projected path, and it will tell you how far ahead or behind you are in dollars. This ties into the daily insights Bonsave provides. Imagine waking up one day and the insight says, “You’re $5,000 ahead of your plan.” That’s a tangible way to measure progress and make informed decisions about your finances.
Try it out
Check out Bonsave Projections on the web app. If you already have accounts connected, it will have something to show you immediately. If you want the longer explanation of the model first, the early retirement planner page walks through how the simulation works, what it costs, and what it can’t tell you.
Want to look around first? The live demo runs the real thing on sample data, with no account and no signup. Move the retirement age, add a life event, and watch the projection redraw. If all you need is a quick estimate, our FIRE calculator and Coast FIRE calculator are free too, though they use the same 25x shortcut other calculators do.