Imagine Projections

Three rows of buttons drive a chart. It is a scenario tool for playing with, not a plan you configure.

This is the thing most worth knowing before you read the number: the projection starts at zero and only ever counts the money you set aside from here on.

It does not include your current balances, your holdings, your retirement accounts, your property, or anything else you already own. It is not a forecast of your future net worth. It is a picture of one habit compounding on its own.

Your selections are not saved. Leave the tab and come back and it is back to its defaults, which is deliberate - these are scenarios to play with, not settings to configure.

Average extra is what you typically have left over: your income minus your expenses and annual budget spending, averaged across the last three complete months. The current month is left out while it is still running, since a part-month would drag it down.

This month uses the current month’s leftover instead, which is useful for seeing what an unusually good or lean month would mean if it were the norm. Custom hands you a slider so you can try any figure.

If a month’s spending exceeded its income, the leftover is treated as zero rather than a negative. If you do not have enough history yet, the tab simply offers the slider and starts you at a round figure.

The chart has two bands. The green one is Cash - the money you actually put in, which is just your monthly amount multiplied by the number of months. The purple one is Growth - everything above that, which is what the assumed rate adds. Both figures are spelled out underneath, and the headline above gives the combined total in your target year.

Growth is compounded monthly, with each contribution treated as arriving at the end of its month. The projection has no view on inflation, taxes or fees, and does not model taking any money back out.

Below the projector you may see up to four cards, each naming a category and showing what trimming your spending in it could grow into over the same timeline.

These only appear for discretionary categories - dining out, subscriptions, shopping - where you are spending a larger share of your income than average for your region and household size. The comparison comes from a reference table of published spending averages, adjusted for your income and household size. Each card shows the overage, what percentage less that would be, and how your share compares.

The cards are informational and there is nothing to tap. If none of your categories are above average, or there is not enough history to compare, the section does not appear at all. That is not an error.

The Turn Into Goal button at the bottom opens the goal form with the monthly amount already filled in, as a Monthly Saving goal you can rename before saving.

The timeline and growth rate are not carried over. A goal tracks what you actually set aside, so attaching an assumed return to it would turn an illustration into a promise. What you get is the habit - an amount per month - which is the part you control. See Goals for how it tracks from there.

Nothing in particular. Imagine is on every plan, does not require connected bank accounts, and works from the income and spending totals you already have. With little history it still works - you will just be typing in the monthly amount yourself rather than having it suggested.

• No bank connection required.
• No minimum history, though three complete months unlocks the suggested amount.
• Available on every plan.