About
ProjectionLab is a comprehensive financial planning tool designed for individuals pursuing financial independence, early retirement (FIRE), or simply better long-term money management. Unlike traditional retirement calculators, ProjectionLab captures nuanced life details—milestones, part-time work transitions, travel sabbaticals, rental income, and more—to build rich, realistic financial models. At its core, the platform runs Monte Carlo simulations to gauge the probability of achieving your goals and supports historical backtesting to stress-test plans against real market data. Its Sankey diagram cash-flow visualization and detailed tax analytics help users understand how money flows and how to minimize tax burdens over time. Estate planning tools allow users to model net legacy and estimate estate taxes. ProjectionLab is deeply privacy-conscious: it requires no connection to real financial accounts. Users can choose between cloud sync via Google Firebase, browser-local storage, or manual import/export of flat files. The platform supports international scenarios for users in Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and more. A free tier is available for ad-hoc retirement projections, while the Premium tier unlocks data persistence, advanced tax estimation, and richer visualizations. A Pro version is available for financial advisors, and employers can offer ProjectionLab as a financial wellness benefit. Whether you're calculating your FIRE date, modeling Roth conversions, or planning a home purchase, ProjectionLab provides the depth and flexibility most calculators simply cannot match.
Key Features
- Monte Carlo Simulations: Run thousands of scenario simulations to gauge the statistical probability of achieving your financial goals and surviving various market conditions.
- Cash-Flow Visualization with Sankey Diagrams: Visualize how money flows through your financial life each year with intuitive Sankey diagrams, making it easy to spot inefficiencies and opportunities.
- Tax Analytics & Optimization: Get detailed tax estimates for each simulated year and automate advanced strategies like Roth conversions and 72(t) SEPP distributions throughout your plan.
- Estate Planning: Model your net legacy and estimate estate taxes, helping you plan what you leave behind and optimize wealth transfer strategies.
- Privacy-First Data Storage: No link to real financial accounts. Choose cloud sync, browser-local storage, or manual file import/export to keep your data exactly as private as you want.
Use Cases
- Planning for early retirement (FIRE) by simulating savings, investment growth, and safe withdrawal rates over decades
- Optimizing tax strategy with Roth conversions, 72(t) SEPP distributions, and year-by-year tax estimates
- Modeling estate planning scenarios to estimate net legacy and minimize estate taxes
- Comparing rent-vs-own decisions and the long-term financial impact of buying a home
- Financial advisors building detailed, interactive retirement and financial independence plans for clients
Pros
- Privacy-Friendly Architecture: ProjectionLab never connects to your real bank or investment accounts, giving users full control over how and where their financial data is stored.
- Depth Beyond Basic Retirement Calculators: Covers FIRE planning, Roth conversions, rental income modeling, historical backtesting, estate planning, and international tax scenarios in a single platform.
- Free Tier Available: Ad-hoc retirement projections are available for free, making it accessible to anyone exploring their financial future without an upfront commitment.
- International Support: Supports tax presets and account types for multiple countries including Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Cons
- Premium Required for Full Features: Data persistence, advanced tax estimation, and rich visualizations are locked behind the paid Premium tier, limiting free-tier users to session-only planning.
- Manual Data Entry: Because ProjectionLab doesn't connect to financial accounts, all account balances and transactions must be entered manually, which can be time-consuming to keep current.
- Primarily U.S.-Focused Defaults: While international scenarios are growing, the platform's deepest feature set and tax logic is optimized for U.S. users, and international coverage remains limited.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ProjectionLab free to use?
Yes, you can run ad-hoc retirement projections for free without signing up. To save your data between sessions and unlock premium features like tax estimation, Sankey diagrams, and advanced visualizations, you'll need to upgrade to the Premium plan.
Does ProjectionLab connect to my bank or investment accounts?
No. ProjectionLab is intentionally designed with no link to your real financial accounts. You enter your data manually, and you choose how it's stored—via cloud sync (Google Firebase), browser localStorage, or manual file import/export.
Can ProjectionLab help me plan for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)?
Absolutely. ProjectionLab was built with FIRE planning in mind. It can calculate your FIRE date, model early retirement scenarios, simulate part-time work transitions, and estimate cash flow during the accumulation and drawdown phases.
Does ProjectionLab support users outside the United States?
Yes, ProjectionLab supports a growing list of international scenarios with country-specific tax presets and account types for Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and more.
Is there a version of ProjectionLab for financial advisors?
Yes, ProjectionLab offers a Pro version specifically designed for financial advisors, with additional tools and workflows suited for client planning. Employers can also offer ProjectionLab as a financial wellness benefit for employees.
