Enter information about your salary

Notes

• Image Removed  Tips about salary start and end dates
  Salary start and end dates can be edited, but you can't delete them without deleting the salary itself.
• Image Removed  Tips about what to include under gross annual salary

  Salaries are the money you and your spouse will make from working each year. You can earn a salary both before and after retiring. You always pay income taxes on your salary. You may also pay Social Security and Medicare taxes depending on your employee status. If your salary and other income do not cover your taxes, loan payments, and living expenses in retirement, your plan will dip into savings by selling investments.

  Gross annual salary: DO include your current salary, bonuses, and commissions. DON'T include Social Security benefits, pension benefits, investment income, small business income, and income from real estate. If your salary varies, use a realistic annual average. Consider averaging your income over the last five years to find a reasonable average.

• Image Removed  Tips about estimating salary increases
  Each year this salary will increase by: A good rule of thumb for estimating salary increases is to follow the inflation rate.
• Image Removed  Tips about entering employment status information
  Indicate whether you or your spouse is a regular employee or self-employed. Your employment status affects your total tax rate and your eligibility for participation in tax-deferred savings plans.
• Image Removed  Tips about using the Social Security tax check box
  Social Security taxes are paid on this salary: Make sure that the check box is clear if Social Security taxes are not deducted from this salary. You may not have to pay Social Security taxes if you are employed by a nonprofit organization or government agency, and if you contribute to an alternative retirement plan. When you clear the check box, the Lifetime Planner automatically deducts only Medicare taxes from the salary.
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• Tips about anticipating salary changes
  Significant salary changes that you can anticipate are things like:

  • A career change from one company to another that will increase or reduce your future salary
  • A promotion that will have a major effect on your salary
  • A major bonus in addition to your salary
  • A maternity leave, a sabbatical, or other leave of absence when you will not be receiving a salary
  • A decision to start your own business
  • A decision to work part-time after retirement
• Image Removed  Currency tips
  The Lifetime Planner supports only U.S. currency. If you use non-U.S. currency accounts, their balances will be converted to U.S. dollars for planning. All currency amounts that you enter in the Lifetime Planner should be in U.S. dollars. If you have a multicurrency Quicken file and are not using U.S. dollars as your home currency, you will need to have U.S. dollars in your currency list with a current exchange rate.
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• General tips
  For general information on filling out the Lifetime Planner, see the Tips topic.

Return to Get started with the Lifetime Planner.