← All example questions

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

What if markets fall and inflation stays high?

See how a market shock changes the plan without pretending to predict the news. The accounts, amounts, and answer below are fictional.

LSAMPLE ANSWERILLUSTRATIVE
THE SHORT ANSWER

The age-60 plan still works, but the cushion falls from about $200,000 to $45,000. The main risk is needing cash while investments are down. Keeping nine months of expenses outside the portfolio makes the plan much less sensitive to the timing of the drop.

KEY NUMBERS
Stress decline−15%
Cushion after stress$45,000
Cash target9 months
WHAT MATTERS
  • The plan is more affected by selling during a downturn than by one year of higher inflation.
  • Continuing contributions during the decline improves the recovery path.
  • A larger cash reserve protects near-term choices without requiring a prediction about markets.
POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS
  • Build the cash reserve before increasing investment risk.
  • Keep automatic contributions running through the stress scenario.
  • Revisit the retirement date only if the downturn overlaps with an income loss.
See how this use case works →

TRY IT WITH YOUR OWN NUMBERS

Try a question like this with your own numbers.