How the Decision Lab math works
What the calculator compares, the defaults it shows — including 2.5% inflation — and what it leaves out on purpose.
Methodology
How the Healthy Money tools work.
The marketing site explains the tools. The Decision Lab is where a comparison actually runs. Both are education. Neither one is advice, and neither one is a prediction.
Open the Lab
The full checklist for a run sits next to the inputs, including the advanced assumptions. If this page and the screen ever disagree, the screen you are using is the one that produced the numbers.
What “compare two ages” means
You pick two retirement ages. You supply one set of savings, contributions, spending, and a Social Security amount. The Lab applies the same assumptions to both ages so you can see the age choice without a second, hidden change in the model.
Results are hypothetical and deterministic. They step year by year. They are not a Monte Carlo simulation, not a guarantee, and not a recommendation to retire, claim, save, or invest a certain way.
Plus, when you are using it inside the Lab, prints that comparison and adds illustrative dials. The public purchase of Plus is coming soon. The math page is the same either way.