Initial ISA balance
GBP 15,000Starting ISA value used as your compounding baseline from period one. Compounding is path-dependent, so a materially wrong starting balance can distort long-horizon outcomes and lead to poor contribution decisions.
Training Guide
User-focused training reference for each card and each setting. Includes why each control matters, when to review it, and common usage errors to avoid.
Primary controls for contribution size, timescale, and expected growth.
Why Use This Card
This card controls the assumptions that drive every downstream ISA projection output.
Recommended Workflow
Starting ISA value used as your compounding baseline from period one. Compounding is path-dependent, so a materially wrong starting balance can distort long-horizon outcomes and lead to poor contribution decisions.
Planned contribution amount in monthly or yearly cadence mode. This is usually your highest-control lever for progress, so set a value you can sustain rather than an optimistic number that may break after a few months.
Recommendation
start with an amount you can maintain for 12 months without relying on variable income.
Switch between monthly and yearly contribution planning behavior. Cadence affects allowance interpretation and planning rhythm, so ensure contribution amounts are equivalent when comparing scenarios.
Number of years used for forward projection. Horizon length changes sensitivity to return and inflation, so keep timeline consistent when comparing options.
Recommendation
set this to the date of your real financial goal first, then test +/- 5 years.
Annualized growth assumption before inflation adjustment and volatility stress. Even small changes compound strongly over time, so use a conservative baseline and only then test optimistic variants.
Recommendation
start with a cautious mid-range baseline (for example around 4% to 6% nominal) and test +/- 1%.
Premium inflation benchmark and manual override controls.
Why Use This Card
Inflation assumptions are central to real-return planning and purchasing-power awareness.
Recommended Workflow
Official References
Reference benchmark used to seed inflation assumptions with published data. This improves consistency over time and avoids purely arbitrary assumptions.
Recommendation
keep the benchmark default and avoid manual overrides until you run scenario tests.
Near-term inflation assumption for the initial projection horizon. This can materially change real return in early years, especially when inflation is volatile.
Recommendation
anchor to the latest published CPI/CPIH rate and stress-test with +/- 1%.
Outer-year inflation assumption used beyond the short-term horizon. Long-run purchasing power is highly sensitive to this value, so review it as part of annual planning updates.
Recommendation
start with a stable long-run range assumption and check how results change with +/- 0.5% to 1.0%.
Core nominal and real-value outcomes from your selected assumptions.
Why Use This Card
This card translates assumptions into actionable metrics for contribution and target decisions.
Recommended Workflow
Estimated end-period nominal value under current assumptions. This is the headline figure most users check first, but it should always be read alongside inflation-adjusted value.
Total capital personally added over the full projection period. This helps separate plan quality driven by savings discipline versus market assumptions.
Projected return component above contributed capital. Use this to understand how dependent your plan is on market conditions rather than contribution effort.
Estimated purchasing-power equivalent of the end value. This is usually the most practical figure for future lifestyle planning.
Illustrative annual and monthly drawdown estimate from projected end value. Treat this as a rough planning signal rather than a guaranteed income rule.
Premium probability-based outcomes with volatility and correlation controls.
Why Use This Card
Range-based planning improves decision quality when market and inflation uncertainty are high.
Recommended Workflow
Official References
Distribution width assumption for annual market returns in simulation. Higher volatility increases both downside and upside spread and changes planning confidence.
Recommendation
start near the default and only increase after testing downside tolerance.
Distribution width assumption for annual inflation paths. This materially affects real-value downside risk in long-horizon planning.
Recommendation
keep a moderate default and test a higher value for risk-aware planning.
Assumed co-movement between return and inflation in simulation paths. Correlation changes how frequently difficult market and inflation conditions happen together.
Recommendation
keep a modest positive value and test sensitivity at lower and higher levels.
Conservative/base/optimistic percentile outputs from simulated paths. Use these as planning bands for cautious, expected, and stretch outcomes.
Right-column summary zone for operational planning checks.
Why Use This Card
Aggregates decision-critical checks so users can avoid missing constraints.
Recommended Workflow
Short orientation text explaining what this summary area contains. It helps users remember this panel is a synthesized estimate view.
Tracks planned contributions against UK ISA allowance boundaries.
Why Use This Card
Regulatory contribution limits are hard constraints and should be visible in every plan.
Recommended Workflow
Official References
Contribution amount currently consumed within annual allowance. This is a hard constraint check before increasing contribution assumptions.
Unallocated contribution capacity for the current tax year. Use this to manage planned top-ups and avoid over-limit assumptions.
Indicator showing remaining allowance headroom or over-limit status. It provides an immediate go/no-go signal for contribution assumptions.
Recommendation
keep a safety buffer below the full allowance rather than planning exactly to the limit.
Milestone snapshots to make long-horizon projections easier to interpret.
Why Use This Card
Intermediate checkpoints surface timing risk and momentum quality.
Recommended Workflow
Selected year snapshots showing value, contributions, and growth mix. These milestones help users judge trajectory quality rather than only final-year outcomes.
Sensitivity comparisons for real-value outcomes under alternate assumptions.
Why Use This Card
Real-value scenario checks prevent overconfidence from nominal growth.
Recommended Workflow
Official References
Cross-matrix of return and inflation offsets to compare real-value outcomes. This is one of the best tools for resilience testing against macro uncertainty.
Model boundary and interpretation guidance.
Why Use This Card
Makes model limitations explicit and improves decision hygiene.
Recommended Workflow
Reminder that results are illustrative estimates and not financial advice. Use it as a final interpretation check before acting on any projection.