Enter your own numbers for the car, the add-on policies, the remodel, the advisor fee, and the impulse purchases. See what each costs over the years, and how much room that frees up for the splurges that matter.
Not financial advice. This is a simplified, illustrative model in today's dollars with a constant real return and fixed withdrawals. It ignores taxes, market swings, inflation differences between categories, Social Security, and your own situation. Use it to compare choices, not to predict your future. Talk to a fee-only fiduciary advisor or CPA before acting.
Leaky path ends with
$438,306
Balanced path ends with
$689,592
Balanced is ahead by
$251,284
Your numbers
Defaults are the couple from the video. Change anything.
Portfolio
$300k$3M
$20k$150k
0%7%
1035
5075
The five cuts
$20k$120k
$10k$100k
03 (every 10 yrs)
$0$400
$0$150k
0%100%
03 (every 10 yrs)
0%2%
$0$10k
$0$1,000
0%100%
The two splurges
$0$30k
020 years
$0$30k
BALANCED PATH VS THE LEAKY PATH
—
Leaky path
—
All five leaks, no splurge budget
Balanced path
—
Five cuts made, two splurges funded
All-cut path
—
Everything cut, nothing splurged
What each path leaves at the end
Leaky pathBalanced pathAll-cut path
Path
Ending balance
Total spent beyond base
Runs out
Balanced vs leaky
—
Price tag of the splurges
—
Average yearly cash freed by the cuts
—
Average yearly splurge
—
The leak ledger
Leak
Per year (avg)
Cost by the end
Verdict
Before you act
1Keep what protects you from a loss you couldn't absorb: health, home, liability. Cut the plans on things you can afford to replace.
2Ask your advisor for the all-in cost in dollars over the next 25 years, then decide what the service is worth.
3Put every non-essential purchase over $50 on a 30-day list. Ask once: am I still glad I want this?
4Name your two splurges now, while the window is open. A trip at 62 is not the same product at 82.
Get the cut-or-splurge checklist, the math behind each of the five cuts, and the 30-day pause worksheet.
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Illustrative estimate only, not financial, tax or legal advice. All figures are in today's dollars with a constant real return; withdrawals are taken at the start of each year, then the balance grows. The leak ledger shows each item's cost grown at the same return, ignoring the other items, so the five numbers will not add up exactly to the gap between paths. Per-item costs are approximations; the path balances are the full simulation. Real markets, taxes and prices vary. Confirm decisions with a fee-only fiduciary advisor or CPA.