Show HN: I made a simulator for personal finance and financial independence

Wow, if I had known just how popular a feature this would be I would have done it already! It's going to the top of the list now. And yeah I think the planning process does have an educational element to it, and the way you can quickly experiment with different ideas can help to discover and quantify trade-offs. I'm sure the prefilled template/scenario options would enhance that educational aspect further.

*Incredible* product. I signed up for the monthly membership and, if all goes well, I will likely stick around or buy the lifetime membership.

I currently use Undebt It[0] to manage my debts. It supports all kinds of debt payment plans like snowball, avalanche, cash flow index[1], etc. One feature I love is the "extra debt payment" that basically throws an addition X dollars at the highest interest debt (or whatever debt is prioritized by the selected repayment plan). When that debt is paid off, the amount rolls over to the next debt on the list. This helps a person to pay off debts faster and reduce total interest paid across the lifetime of the debt(s). For a family with a few credit cards, a car payment or two, and a mortgage this can save them tens of thousands of dollars.

Three suggestions:

1. Create an "extra debt payment" feature that goes towards my prioritized debt(s). This amount is in excess of the total minimum payment amounts. It could be towards the highest interest rate, lowest balance, split across all accounts, etc. When a debt is zeroed out the payment automatically adjusts to target the remaining debt(s). Example: two debts, each of $500/mo and an additional $100 "extra" per month for a total outflow of $1100/mo. When the first $500/mo is paid off then new outflow is $600/mo.

2. For each debt "account" add an option to "roll over" the monthly payment when the debt is paid off. This amount would then target the next prioritized debt amount. Example: two debts, each of $500/mo for a total outflow of $1000/mo. When the first $500/mo is paid off the "extra" $500/mo targets the second debt, for an unchanged outflow of $1000/mo.

Combining #1 and #2 example: two debts, each of $500/mo and an "extra" payment of $100/mo for a total outflow of $1100/mo. When the first $500/mo is paid off the "paid off" $500/mo targets the second debt (as well as the "extra" $100/mo), for an unchanged outflow of $1100/mo.

3. Stack the icons on the chart. The vertical scaling of the chart is wonky when adding a 10+ items all in the same year - this makes the chart seem squashed and difficult to parse.

Again - GREAT work. Definitely sent this to a few friends. If you don't respond I will shoot you an email in a few days. I'm sure you're very busy with the new release. Good luck!

[0] https://undebt.it/ [1] https://undebt.it/blog/cash-flow-index-cfi-debt-payoff-metho...

This is super useful but the results were screwed up for me because of the default house maintenance estimate. For HCOL areas, 2.5% in yearly maintenance is HUGE.

I'm planning on buying a $2M house in the SF Bay Area and didn't realize this tool was allocating $50K a year just for upkeep. Just a point of feedback :)

This is really neat! We've been hacking on a version of this at Compound http://withcompound.com/ , built specifically for folks who have illiquid assets like startup equity. Similar tools that help you model out your finances/taxes.

May find useful!

That's a good point regarding historical data, index fund availability, and investing fees. I suppose the current Monte Carlo mode is closer to saying "what might happen in the future assuming index funds remain accessible and given similar overall returns, dividends, inflation, etc., to what was seen historically (but perhaps without some of the other context like you mention)". When you think about what you would want from a probabilistic planning tool, which are the insights you care most about, and are there changes you would recommend to the current methodology? Or perhaps additional variables?