What's New

Updated to the finalized 2027 ACA numbers

IRS and CMS finalized the 2027 ACA subsidy and out-of-pocket schedules, and ThunderHarbor now uses them instead of a flat prior-year table. The premium tax credit table moved modestly, up 2-3% across every income bracket. The maximum out-of-pocket ceiling on a standard Silver plan moved a lot more, up from $10,600 to $12,000 for an individual (13.2%), and from $21,200 to $24,000 for a family. Every ACA-eligible year in your projection, the ACA Income Lever, and the Full Report now reflects the correct year-specific numbers instead of one flat table applied to every year. We also fixed a subtle bug in how the federal poverty level itself was indexed to each coverage year, which had been overstating FPL by about 3% across the board and slightly overstating everyone's ACA subsidy as a result.

SSDI income now bridges to your regular Social Security benefit

If you're currently on SSDI, you can now enter that benefit directly instead of working around it. SSDI has no minimum age and no claiming-age choice, so it's modeled differently from regular Social Security: it's active immediately, taxed the same way regular benefits are, and converts automatically to your FRA-computed retirement benefit once you reach Full Retirement Age, with no action needed. Set it in the Income step of onboarding (or from your profile), where it replaces the claiming-age question with your current SSDI amount. The projection, Roth Strategy, Full Report, My Situation timeline, and the in-app chatbot all reflect it.

Early Medicare for SSDI, ESRD, and ALS

If you qualify for Medicare before 65 because of Social Security Disability, End-Stage Renal Disease, or ALS, you can now set the real age your coverage starts instead of the plan assuming 65 for everyone. The whole projection follows that age from there: Medicare and IRMAA costs begin early, the healthcare bridge section stops showing a coverage gap that does not exist, ACA subsidy eligibility adjusts, and the standard reminder to enroll near 65 is skipped since SSDI and ALS enrollees are auto-enrolled. Set it for either spouse in the Healthcare step of onboarding, or later from your profile. The Full Report and Tax Cliffs tab both reflect the real start date.

Full Report redesign with table of contents

The Full Report now opens with a table of contents you can jump to any section from, and leads with the same at-a-glance summary used in the shorter Plan Summary, so both stay consistent with each other. Sections are reordered to follow the shape of an actual plan review, and the closing section, now called Where I'd Focus, moved to the end so it reads as a wrap-up instead of a warning label.

Site-wide search

A search box in the header now searches across every calculator, guide, blog post, and What's New entry at once, so you can jump straight to what you're looking for instead of digging through menus.

Future income streams and one-time events

You can now model income sources that start in a future year or happen only once, directly inside your retirement projection. Recurring streams cover rental income, consulting, bridge employment, or any income that runs from a start year through an end year, with an optional inflation-adjustment toggle. One-time events cover home sales, inheritance distributions, pension lump sums, and business sales. Each source is classified into one of three tax buckets: ordinary income, capital gains, or tax-free but MAGI-counted. The bucket determines how the amount flows into your tax bracket, IRMAA calculation, ACA subsidy, and Roth conversion headroom. Home sale entries display a note about the primary residence exclusion and ask for the taxable gain rather than the gross sale price. Ordinary income streams reduce Roth conversions by the same dollar so your total MAGI stays flat, which is the correct behavior. The Situation tab shows a summary card with all active sources when any exist. The Tax Cliffs MAGI breakdown adds a dedicated Streams and Events column. The Projection Table adds an Other Income column. Add or edit everything in On Track, under Future Income at the bottom of the page.

Military and veterans benefits: VA disability, military retirement pay, and TRICARE

ThunderHarbor now handles the three main benefit streams for military retirees and veterans. VA disability compensation gets its own income line. Enter your annual amount, toggle on COLA, and the projection treats it as fully tax-free: excluded from federal income, state income, IRMAA, ACA MAGI, and Social Security provisional income. No workarounds needed. Military retirement pay is recognized separately from other pensions. The projection applies the correct state exemption automatically. More than 30 states fully exempt military retirement pay. Georgia, California, New Mexico, and others provide partial exclusions. The right rule for your state is applied without any extra setup. TRICARE replaces ACA marketplace estimates in pre-Medicare years, using 2026 Select and Prime rates. At 65, TRICARE for Life takes over automatically alongside Medicare. The Projection Table adds a VA Disability column, and the Full Report includes VA disability in the lifetime income breakdown. Enter everything under Income, in the Military / veterans benefits section.

Rental real estate income modeling with IRS passive activity loss rules

You can now enter gross rental income and total rental expenses (including depreciation) in your profile. The projection applies full IRS passive activity loss rules automatically: if your rental is a net loss, up to $25,000 is deductible against ordinary income for active participants, phasing out between $100,000 and $150,000 MAGI and suspended above $150,000. The effective net rental amount flows into your MAGI, tax bracket, and Roth conversion headroom calculations year by year. The Roth Strategy tab shows a dedicated line in the MAGI breakdown, and the Risk Analysis tab surfaces context on how your rental position affects the numbers.

Tax-exempt interest income field

Municipal bond interest and similar tax-exempt income can now be entered separately. It does not count as ordinary income for federal tax purposes, but it is included in IRMAA MAGI, ACA MAGI, and Social Security provisional income calculations, which is where it creates real planning friction. The field makes that exposure visible without overstating your taxable income.

Taxable interest and dividend income field

Interest and dividends from brokerage accounts, CDs, money market funds, and similar sources can now be modeled as a recurring annual amount. This income raises your MAGI each year, affecting your tax bracket, Roth conversion room, ACA subsidy eligibility, and IRMAA tier. It is treated as ordinary income throughout the projection.

Bucket strategy comparison in Sequence of Returns chart

The Risk Analysis tab now shows two lines for each historical crash scenario (2008, 2000, and 1929 Great Depression): one without a bucket strategy where withdrawals come proportionally from the portfolio every year, and one with a 3-year cash buffer that pays expenses from cash in down-market years and refills from stocks in up-market years. The gap between the two lines shows how much damage is avoided simply by not being forced to sell at a loss. The Three Bucket Planner tab also has a new explainer card walking through the year-by-year mechanics, including the math: a $100k withdrawal during a 37% decline costs $159k in future value, while the same withdrawal after a 20% recovery costs only $83k.

My Situation redesign with personalized insight cards

The My Situation tab now leads with a set of cards built from your specific numbers: your funded status at a glance, your current tax picture and bracket, your Roth conversion window, any healthcare coverage gap before Medicare, what stage of retirement you are in, and what changed since your last update. Each card links straight to the tab that explains it in depth.

Ask: an AI assistant for your plan

A chat assistant is now available from every tab. Ask it what a number means, why a chart looks the way it does, or how a specific topic like Roth conversions, RMDs, SEPP, or ACA subsidies applies to your plan, and it answers using your actual numbers, not generic advice.

Calendar sync and retirement milestone reminders

Settings now has a Calendar tab that tracks the important dates in your plan, including Social Security start, RMD start age, Medicare enrollment, and any custom events you add. Subscribe to it from Google, Apple, or Outlook so it stays current automatically, or download it as a one-time .ics file. You can also opt in to email reminders as key dates approach.

Income & Balance Flow chart

A combined view of where your spending money comes from each year (Social Security, withdrawals, part-time income) alongside how each account balance grows or draws down over time, so you can see the full cash-flow picture in one chart.

Tax Rate Curve in the Planner

Visualizes your effective and marginal tax rate across a range of income levels, with IRMAA tiers and bracket thresholds marked, so you can see exactly where the next dollar of income (or Roth conversion) lands.

Pension Survivor Benefit Comparison

For households with a pension and a surviving-spouse scenario, Settings now shows a side-by-side comparison of three elections: full survivor benefit, half, and none, each with the resulting portfolio depletion age. Useful for seeing when self-insuring with the portfolio beats paying for a survivor reduction that is often priced conservatively.

In-app feedback and check-in survey

Premium users can now send feedback directly from the account menu, tagged as a feature request, bug, data issue, or general note, with the option to paste in a screenshot. Replies show up as notifications in the app. A short check-in survey also appears from time to time asking about your retirement stage and planning focus, which shapes what gets built next.

Tools directory and improved header navigation

All free calculators (SEPP, IRMAA, Cliff Indicator, RMD, Social Security, and Roth conversion) are now listed on a single /tools page. Quick links to Tools, Blog, Guides, Pricing, and What's New appear in the top navigation on every page.

Guide library fully updated

All six planning guides have been rewritten with formula-accurate tables, updated figures for 2026 tax brackets and IRS factors, and expanded coverage of every new feature added since the guides were first published. Guides now reference the specific ThunderHarbor tab that handles each planning decision.

Tax Cliffs tab

Shows your projected income against four critical thresholds simultaneously: the ACA subsidy cliff, IRMAA tiers, the Social Security 85% taxation crossover, and the Net Investment Income Tax boundary. Charts them year by year from now through your 90s, so you can see whether a Roth conversion or large withdrawal pushes you across a costly line before you act.

SEPP Planner for early retirees

Models Section 72(t) Substantially Equal Periodic Payments inside your full retirement projection. Compare all three IRS-approved calculation methods, see the required payment and commitment period, and understand how the SEPP income affects your ACA subsidies and IRMAA exposure during the bridge years before 59½.

Inherited IRA Analyzer

Shows the year-by-year depletion schedule for a traditional IRA inherited by a non-spouse beneficiary under the SECURE Act 10-year rule. Calculates the estimated tax cost at different income levels so you can see what your heirs would actually keep, and how much Roth conversions during your lifetime would reduce that bill.

CSV export and import

The Projection Table now has an Export CSV button that downloads your full year-by-year projection, every account balance, tax figure, and income source, as a spreadsheet. On Track can also import a CSV of your actual spending and balances using a downloadable template, so you can bulk-enter real numbers instead of typing each one by hand.

What-If Workshop

Test the financial impact of major life decisions like a large home purchase, a one-time expense, a market downturn, or a change in spending, without touching your main plan. Each scenario runs the full year-by-year projection so you can see the effect on portfolio longevity, tax exposure, and RMD trajectory.

Compare Scenarios

Put two versions of your plan side by side with different retirement ages, Social Security claiming ages, or contribution strategies, and see how they diverge on portfolio balance, lifetime taxes, and monthly income. Designed to make trade-offs concrete rather than abstract.

Monte Carlo Risk analysis

Runs your plan through hundreds of randomized market sequences to show the probability that your portfolio survives to your target age. Displays the range of outcomes (optimistic, median, and stressed) so you can see how much cushion you have and where the vulnerabilities are.

Life & Spending tab

Models how spending changes across retirement phases: the active early years, the slower middle years, and later life when healthcare costs typically rise. You can set different spending rates for each phase and model healthcare cost growth separately from general inflation.

Legacy Planning tab

Projects the estate value passed to heirs under different scenarios, accounting for account types, Roth conversion strategy, and the 10-year inherited IRA rule. Shows how much of your wealth is preserved versus absorbed in taxes depending on how your accounts are structured at death.

Life Design tab

A planning canvas for mapping the non-financial shape of retirement, including geographic moves, second careers, major experiences, and life goals, alongside the financial projection. Helps connect the numbers to the life you are actually planning for.

Concern-aware summary report

Generates a personalized PDF that highlights the specific risks in your plan, including underfunded years, IRMAA exposure, large RMD spikes, and ACA cliff proximity, rather than printing a generic projection. Designed to be useful whether you read it yourself or bring it to a fee-only advisor.

Social Security optimizer for both spouses

Models every combination of claiming ages for both spouses simultaneously and charts the lifetime income for each pair. Break-even crossover points are shown directly on the chart. The higher earner's claiming age affects the survivor benefit, and the tool makes that impact visible across every combination.

RMD Analyzer extended to age 95

Shows forced withdrawal amounts year by year from age 73 to 95 alongside your tax bracket and IRMAA tier for each year. The table makes visible how RMDs accelerate as the IRS life expectancy factor shrinks each year, something that surprises most people who have not modeled it.