Cashflow Projection

A year-by-year forecast of money coming in and going out over the life of your financial plan. It shows how your surplus or shortfall is likely to change as incomes grow, costs rise, tax applies, and life events unfold.

Each year typically builds from a few moving parts. Income is projected forward with growth assumptions - for example, a salary of $100,000 in year 1 with wage growth of 3.7% becomes about $103,700 in year 2. That income is then taxed, so what actually flows into your cash position is closer to after-tax take-home pay, not the headline gross amount.

Expenses are projected separately and usually rise with their own indexation - often inflation, such as 2.5% a year - so today's living costs, insurance, and other outgoings are higher in future dollars. Debt repayments, investment contributions, and other plan choices also sit in the yearly picture.

Put together, each year's cashflow is roughly: projected income (grown) - tax - expenses (indexed) - other outflows. What's left is a surplus; what's missing is a shortfall. As circumstances change - a new job, buying a home, retiring, kids leaving home - those inputs shift, and the projection updates to show how the surplus or shortfall evolves over time.