Planning template

Financial Plan Template

One linked workbook for Excel and Google Sheets, built for the years just before and after retirement: cash flow, net worth, dated goals, a retirement projection with Social Security and taxes, insurance and cash reserve, asset allocation, and a dashboard that tells you what to look at first.

A Retirement Plan That Fits on One Page

Why keep the whole plan in one workbook?

Because the decisions near retirement all move each other. The age you stop working changes how many years the portfolio must carry you before Social Security starts. The age you claim changes how much the portfolio must supply for the rest of your life. Your spending, your tax rate on withdrawals, and your cash reserve all feed the same number. Kept in separate files, none of those links exist.

In this workbook every sheet reads one Profile. Change the retirement age and the Social Security bridge, the required portfolio, the year-by-year projection, the cash reserve, and the Dashboard all update. Raise inflation from 3% to 4% and every goal, the spending line and the Social Security estimate move with it. Add a goal and the Insurance sheet counts its gap in what a survivor would need.

The point of linking: a plan is a set of trade-offs between retiring earlier, spending more, claiming later and leaving more. You can only see those trade-offs when the pieces draw from the same numbers.

In what order should you fill it in?

Left to right, the way the Start Here sheet lists it. Each sheet uses the ones before it.

1Profile. Ages, plan-to age, and the return, inflation, withdrawal and tax assumptions used everywhere. Be conservative: every optimistic percent compounds through the whole file. The same sheet shows the key 2026 limits at your age.
2Cash Flow. Monthly income and expenses. While you work it shows what you can save; once retired, list Social Security, pensions and portfolio withdrawals as income and it shows whether they cover spending.
3Net Worth. What you own minus what you owe. Retirement and taxable balances become the starting portfolio; cash becomes the reserve the Insurance sheet checks.
4Goals. Up to eight dated goals in today's dollars: a renovation, a car, a travel year, gifts to grandchildren, a long-term care reserve.
5Retirement. What you will spend, what Social Security and pensions cover, the portfolio that requires, and a year-by-year projection to your plan-to age.
6Insurance. Whether a survivor would still need life insurance, the cash reserve to hold, and Medicare notes.
7Asset Allocation. A target stock share implied by your goals and retirement, and a rebalancing list.
8Dashboard. Nine measures, each On track, Attention or Short. Look at anything Short first.

How do the sheets connect?

Cash Flow to Goals: savings capacity, less what you save for retirement from take-home pay, is the monthly budget the goals share. The Goals sheet totals what every goal needs and reports Funded, or Short by a dollar figure.

Net Worth to Retirement: retirement accounts plus taxable brokerage are the projection's starting balance. Contributions grow each year until you retire, the stock share glides from today's mix to your retirement mix, and after that the sheet withdraws spending minus Social Security and pensions, grossed up for tax.

Retirement to the required portfolio: the portfolio you need is the yearly shortfall once Social Security starts, grossed up for tax and divided by your withdrawal rate, plus a bridge: the benefit you are waiting for (never more than your spending less pensions), for each year between retiring and claiming, rising with inflation.

Retirement and Goals to Insurance: the first-year withdrawal from the projection sizes the cash reserve once you are retired, and every unfunded goal gap counts toward what a survivor would need.

Everything to the Dashboard: net worth, savings rate, goal funding, projected versus required portfolio, how long the money lasts, life insurance gap, cash reserve, debt-to-asset ratio, and stock share against the implied target.

Which cells do you type in?

The brass-tinted ones. Brass-tinted cells are your inputs; teal-tinted cells are calculated and should be left alone; grey italic text is a note explaining the row.

Inputs that start as formulas

Some brass cells start with a formula that pulls a default from another sheet: annual expenses on Retirement come from Cash Flow, the retirement portfolio comes from Net Worth, and on Insurance the debts, goal gaps, savings earmarked for a survivor and cash on hand are pulled in. Overwrite any of them when you know better. If the survivor would keep paying the mortgage, take it out of the debts; if the goals would be dropped, delete the goal gaps.

What changes once you have retired?

Enter a planned retirement age equal to or below your current age and the Profile marks you as retired. The Retirement sheet then starts withdrawals in the first projection year, the cash reserve target switches from months of essential expenses to years of portfolio withdrawals (two years in the sample, which you can change), the savings rate on the Dashboard reads Retired instead of a status, and the disability line drops to zero.

On Cash Flow, list Social Security after any Medicare premium deducted from it, pensions and annuities, and the monthly average of IRA withdrawals, RMDs and taxable sales you spend. Savings capacity near zero is normal at that stage; what matters is whether income covers spending.

How often should you update it?

Once a year, about an hour: refresh Net Worth from year-end statements, revisit every assumption, re-cost the goals, and pull a fresh Social Security estimate from your my Social Security account.

After any major change: retiring, claiming Social Security, a move, an inheritance, or a death in the family. These change the plan, not just the numbers.

After a large market fall: update the portfolio balance and read the Dashboard and the first-year withdrawal rate again before changing anything else.

Mistakes that distort the plan

Entering gross pay on Cash Flow; the income lines are take-home, after tax withheld
Listing payroll 401(k) contributions as expenses; they are already saved and belong on the Retirement sheet
Setting the tax rate on withdrawals to zero when most of the portfolio is in pre-tax accounts
Entering Social Security at the full-retirement-age amount but a different claiming age
Counting the home as an investable asset on the Asset Allocation sheet
Treating the projection as a forecast; it is a straight-line estimate, not a market prediction

Your first session

1Download the workbook and read the Start Here sheet
2Replace the sample couple’s brass cells on Profile and Cash Flow with your own
3Enter today’s balances on Net Worth from your latest statements
4Add your real goals with a year and a cost in today’s dollars
5Enter both Social Security benefits at the ages you plan to claim, from ssa.gov/myaccount
6Read the Dashboard and pick the one item marked Short or Attention to work on first

What's Inside the Workbook

Format

Excel .xlsx

Opens in Google Sheets and Numbers too

Sheets

9 linked

No macros, no add-ins, formulas only

Starts with

A sample couple

Aged 60 and 58, retiring at 65, about $1.66 million invested

1. Start Here

How the sheets connect, the order to work in, and the color key: brass-tinted cells are your inputs, teal-tinted cells are calculated, grey italic text is a note.

Order of workColor keySample-data note

2. Profile

Your age, planned retirement age, plan-to age and spouse's age, plus the assumptions every other sheet reads: inflation, returns before and in retirement, stock and bond returns, withdrawal rate, the average tax rate on withdrawals, and the equity glide path. It also lists key 2026 figures at your age.

Years to retirementYears in retirementAlready retired: yes or no401(k), IRA and HSA limits at your ageMedicare Part B, QCD and gift figuresRMD start age

3. Cash Flow

Monthly take-home income (wages, Social Security, pensions, portfolio withdrawals, other income) against ten expense lines, including health premiums, travel, and gifts to family. While you work it shows what you can save; once retired it shows whether income covers spending.

Savings capacitySavings rateEssential expenses

4. Net Worth

Six asset lines and five debt lines at today’s values. Retirement accounts plus taxable brokerage become the starting portfolio on the Retirement sheet.

Net worthLiquid net worthDebt-to-asset ratioHome equityInvestable assets

5. Goals

Up to eight dated goals, such as a renovation, a car, a travel year, gifts to a grandchild’s 529, or a long-term care reserve. Each row inflates the cost, grows what is already saved, finds the gap, solves the monthly amount with PMT, and suggests where to hold the money for that horizon.

Future cost per goalMonthly needed per goalFunded / Short against capacitySuggested holding by horizon

6. Retirement

Spending in retirement, what Social Security (with its own start age) and pensions cover, the portfolio that requires once withdrawals are grossed up for tax, a Social Security bridge for the years between retiring and claiming, and a year-by-year projection with a glide path to your plan-to age.

Required portfolio at retirementSocial Security bridgeProjected portfolio vs. requiredFirst-year withdrawal rateMoney lasts until age

7. Insurance

Whether a survivor would still need life insurance (income lost, debts, goal gaps, final expenses), a cash reserve sized in months of essential expenses while you work and in years of portfolio withdrawals once retired, disability income while working, and Medicare notes.

Additional life coverage neededCash reserve target and gapYears of health cover before MedicarePart B cost for two

8. Asset Allocation

Buckets your goals by horizon and adds the required retirement portfolio to imply an overall stock share, then compares current holdings to your target percentages and lists what to buy or sell.

Implied equity targetRebalancing buy / sell listTarget-sums-to-100% checkCurrent stock share

9. Dashboard

Nine measures pulled from the other sheets, each marked On track, Attention or Short, with a note on which lever to pull.

One-page statusPlain-language next actions

What does the sample Dashboard show?

Eight of nine measures On track and one Short: the file opens with a couple whose retirement is well funded but who would leave a survivor about $377,000 short on the workbook's life insurance test. The Example tab walks through why, and what the other numbers mean.

Sample Dashboard as the workbook opens
Measure	Value	Status
Net worth	$2,332,000	On track
Savings rate (while working)	32%	On track
Monthly goal funding needed	$3,006	On track
Retirement: projected vs. required	198%	On track
Retirement: money lasts until age	Beyond 95	On track
Life insurance gap	$376,817	Short
Cash reserve: share of target held	161%	On track
Debt-to-asset ratio	4.6%	On track
Portfolio: stock share vs. implied target	57% vs. 51%	On track

Note: The workbook is an educational planning tool, not personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Projections are straight-line estimates driven by your assumptions; markets do not deliver steady returns. To test the plan against a bad sequence of returns, run its numbers through the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator.

Illustrative example: the people and figures below are hypothetical, not real clients. Numbers are calculated from the stated assumptions.

The Sample Couple: Retiring at 65 With Room to Spare

The workbook opens with a hypothetical married couple aged 60 and 58, both still working, who plan to retire when the older spouse turns 65 and plan to age 95. Every figure below is what the file itself calculates from its sample inputs and its default assumptions: 3% inflation, a 7% stock and 4% bond return, a 4% withdrawal rate, a 15% average tax on withdrawals, and a stock share that glides from 60% today to 50% at retirement.

Where do they start?

With a net worth of $2,332,000 and $3,800 a month left over after expenses. Their take-home pay and spending, from the Cash Flow and Net Worth sheets:

Take-home pay, both spouses: $11,500 / mo
Interest and dividends spent: $300 / mo
Expenses (health premiums $900, travel $900, gifts $500): $8,000 / mo
Savings capacity: $3,800 / mo
Savings rate of take-home: 32%

Cash: $60,000
Taxable brokerage: $350,000
401(k)s and IRAs: $1,250,000
Home, HSA, 529, vehicles: $785,000
Mortgage and credit cards: −$113,000
Net worth: $2,332,000

On top of the $3,800, they put $4,500 a month into their 401(k)s through payroll, counting the employer match, and $500 a month from take-home pay into an IRA or taxable account. At 60 the older spouse can defer up to $35,750 in 2026 with the age 60 to 63 catch-up, a figure the Profile sheet shows for whatever age you enter.

How much do they need at 65?

$1,254,225. The Retirement sheet builds it in four steps from their spending and Social Security:

Retirement spending, 90% of today's $96,000: $86,400
Same spending in the first year of retirement (5 years of 3% inflation): $100,161
Social Security, household, $54,000 in today's dollars, in the same year: $62,601
Yearly shortfall once benefits start at 67, before tax: $37,560
Grossed up for 15% tax and divided by 4%: $1,104,720
Social Security bridge: two years of the benefit they wait for, the second year 3% higher, grossed up: $149,505
Required portfolio at retirement: $1,254,225

The bridge is the part most retirement calculators leave out. Retiring at 65 but claiming at 67 means the portfolio pays the whole bill for two years. The workbook adds those two years of benefit to the target instead of pretending Social Security starts the day paychecks stop.

What are they on track for?

About $2.48 million at 65, or 198% of what they need. Their $1.6 million of retirement and taxable accounts, plus $60,000 a year of contributions rising 2% a year, grows at a blended return that falls from 5.8% to 5.5% as the stock share glides down. The year-by-year table on the Retirement sheet, at selected ages:

Sample projection from the Retirement sheet, selected ages (nominal dollars)
Age	Stock share	Contributions	Withdrawal incl. tax	Ending balance
60	60%	$60,000	$0	$1,756,280
64	52%	$64,946	$0	$2,477,468
65	50%	$0	$117,837	$2,489,411
66	50%	$0	$121,372	$2,498,281
67	50%	$0	$46,880	$2,586,228
70	50%	$0	$51,227	$2,870,756
75	50%	$0	$59,386	$3,423,121
80	50%	$0	$68,845	$4,092,664
85	50%	$0	$79,810	$4,907,012
90	50%	$0	$92,522	$5,900,944
95	50%	$0	$107,258	$7,118,372

The balance keeps rising through 95 because the withdrawal after Social Security starts is well under the portfolio's return in this straight-line model. That is what 198% of required looks like: a plan with room to spend more, retire earlier, give more away, or carry less risk. It is not a promise; a bad run of returns in the first years of retirement is the case to test in the Retirement Withdrawal Calculator.

What does the Dashboard flag?

One item. Net worth, savings rate, goal funding, retirement progress, longevity of the money, cash reserve, debt-to-asset ratio (4.6%) and stock share are all On track. The life insurance gap is Short at $376,817. The four things below are what the workbook puts in front of this couple.

1. Why does a couple with $2.3 million show a life insurance gap?

Because the Insurance sheet counts every goal they have promised themselves, and by default only their liquid savings. Its survivor test, line by line:

Income a survivor would lose, $24,000 a year for 25 years: $600,000
Debts, pulled from Net Worth (mostly the $110,000 mortgage): $113,000
Goal gaps, pulled from Goals (the long-term care reserve is $190,738 of it): $295,817
Final expenses and estate settlement: $25,000
Less liquid net worth earmarked for the survivor: −$407,000
Less existing life insurance: −$250,000
Additional coverage needed: $376,817

Two of those lines are judgment calls the sheet asks you to make. If a survivor would drop the renovation, the car, the travel year and the rest rather than fund them, deleting the goal gaps brings the gap down to $81,000. If the survivor would also keep paying the mortgage from income, removing it from the debts takes the gap to zero. The $1.25 million in retirement accounts is not counted at all by default, on purpose: the sheet asks you to earmark only what the survivor's own retirement does not need. With a plan funded at 198%, this couple may well decide they are self-insured and the $250,000 policy is a legacy choice, not a need. The workbook makes that a decision rather than an assumption. For a closer look, use the Life Insurance Calculator.

2. Why is the first-year withdrawal rate 4.8% when the plan assumes 4%?

Because of the bridge. At 65 and 66 the portfolio pays all of their spending: $117,837 and then $121,372 after the 15% tax gross-up, 4.8% of the $2,477,468 they start retirement with. At 67 Social Security starts and the withdrawal falls to $46,880, under 2% of the balance. A first-year rate above the long-run rate is normal for anyone who retires before claiming; the Dashboard reports it so you can see how heavy those bridge years are. The Social Security claiming guide covers the other side of the trade: a larger benefit for life in exchange for more bridge years.

3. Is $60,000 of cash enough?

For now, yes: while they work, the target is six months of essential expenses, 6 × $6,200 = $37,200, and they hold 161% of it. Once retired, the target switches to two years of portfolio withdrawals. With a first-year withdrawal of $117,837, that is about $235,700, and $60,000 would be about 25% of it, which the Dashboard marks Short. The sheet's note says to rebuild toward the retired target in the last year or two of work. Here the two years of cash would cover almost exactly the two bridge years before Social Security, so they would not have to sell stocks in a downturn early in retirement.

4. Do the goals and the portfolio mix hold up?

Yes, with little to spare on the goals. The five sample goals need $3,006 a month against $3,300 of capacity after the $500 of monthly retirement saving, so the Goals sheet reads Funded with $294 a month unallocated. The heaviest row is the grandchild's 529: $38,000 (two annual gift exclusions of $19,000, one from each grandparent) due in two years, with $10,000 saved, needs $1,183 a month. The long-term care reserve, $150,000 today and $270,917 in 20 years at 3% inflation, needs $413 a month.

On Asset Allocation, the goal buckets and the required retirement portfolio imply a 51% stock share. They hold 57% ($950,000 of $1,660,000 investable), within the 10-point band the Dashboard treats as On track. Moving to the sample's 52% target mix would mean selling $36,000 of US stocks, $50,800 of international stocks and $16,800 of REITs and alternatives, and buying $64,000 of bonds and $39,600 of cash, done inside the IRAs and 401(k)s where trades are not taxed.

What if they retired at 62 instead?

Change one cell, the planned retirement age on Profile, and the plan still holds. Three fewer working years means three fewer years of contributions and five bridge years before Social Security at 67 instead of two:

Retiring at 65 vs. 62, all other sample inputs unchanged
	Retire at 65	Retire at 62
Social Security bridge	$149,505	$357,827
Required portfolio	$1,254,225	$1,368,802
Projected portfolio at retirement	$2,477,468	$1,920,168
Projected vs. required	198%	140%
First-year withdrawal rate	4.8%	5.6%
Money lasts until	Beyond 95	Beyond 95

Retiring at 62 also leaves three years of health coverage to fund before Medicare at 65, which the Insurance sheet counts, and every year of those bridge withdrawals comes out before any Social Security arrives. That is the kind of trade the workbook is for: you can see in a few minutes what three years of freedom cost, and decide.

The takeaway

A plan this well funded is not finished; it has moved from “will we have enough” to the questions that matter at 60: how big a cash reserve to build before retiring, whether the life insurance is still a need, when to claim, and how much can go to children and grandchildren now. The workbook puts each of those on its own line.

How this calculator works

Method and assumptions

Retirement spending is today's annual expenses times the share you expect to keep (90% by default), inflated at the Profile inflation rate (3% by default) to your first retirement year. Social Security is entered in today's dollars and rises with the same inflation rate; pensions stay fixed.
Required portfolio = the yearly need once Social Security starts (spending minus Social Security and pensions), grossed up for your average tax rate on withdrawals (15% by default), divided by your withdrawal rate (4% by default), plus a Social Security bridge: for each year between retiring and claiming, the benefit you are waiting for (capped at spending less pensions), rising with inflation and grossed up for tax.
The year-by-year projection starts from your retirement and taxable balances. Each year, contributions (growing 2% a year until you retire) are added and withdrawals taken at the start of the year, then the balance grows at a blended return: the stock share times the stock return (7% by default) plus the rest times the bond and cash return (4%).
The stock share glides in a straight line from today's mix (60%) to the retirement mix (50%), then holds. The withdrawal each retirement year is spending minus Social Security and pensions, grossed up for tax; the money lasts until the first age the balance reaches zero.
Dated goals are inflated to their target year and compared with what is saved, grown at a return that depends on the horizon (4% under 3 years, 5% for 3 to 10 years, the Profile return beyond that); the monthly saving needed uses the standard PMT formula. The cash reserve target is years of withdrawals once retired, months of essential expenses while working.

What it leaves out

Returns are steady every year. Sequence-of-returns risk is not modeled; the retirement withdrawal calculator tests that.
Tax is one average rate on every withdrawal. Brackets, Roth versus traditional accounts, capital gains, taxation of Social Security, state tax, RMDs and Medicare IRMAA surcharges are not calculated.
Social Security is one household figure starting at your claiming age. Spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test and a spouse claiming at a different age aren't modeled.
Investment fees are not deducted from the returns you enter.
Long-term care costs only appear if you add them as a goal.

Sources

Methodology reviewed October 21, 2026 · Uses 2026 tax and benefit figures · For education, not individual advice

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a financial plan near retirement include?

A cash flow statement, a net worth statement, dated and costed goals, a retirement projection that counts Social Security, pensions and taxes, an insurance and cash reserve review, and a target asset allocation. Most people have one or two of these in separate files. The value comes from linking them, so a change in your retirement age or the age you claim Social Security flows through to the required portfolio, the cash reserve and the dashboard at once.

Does this financial plan template work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Every formula uses functions that Excel and Google Sheets share (PMT, FV, SUMIF, INDEX and MATCH), with no macros or dynamic arrays. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Sheets, or use File, then Import. Formatting, frozen panes, and the pre-filled sample couple carry over unchanged.

What does the sample in the workbook show?

A hypothetical married couple aged 60 and 58, both working, who plan to retire at 65 with $1.6 million in retirement and taxable accounts, $60,000 in cash and a $110,000 mortgage. The workbook projects about $2.48 million at 65 against a required $1.25 million (198%), with the money lasting beyond age 95. Eight of the nine Dashboard measures read On track; the ninth, the life insurance gap, reads Short at $376,817 until you decide which goals and debts a survivor would really fund. Replace the brass-tinted input cells with your own figures.

Can I use the workbook if I am already retired?

Yes. Set the planned retirement age to your current age or lower and the workbook treats you as retired. Withdrawals start in the first projection year, the cash reserve target becomes years of portfolio withdrawals instead of months of expenses, and the savings rate stops being scored. List Social Security, pensions and your portfolio withdrawals as income on the Cash Flow sheet to see whether they cover spending.

How often should I update my financial plan?

Do a full pass once a year and update it after any major change: retiring, claiming Social Security, a move, an inheritance, or a death in the family. After a large market fall, refresh the portfolio balance and read the Dashboard and first-year withdrawal rate again before changing anything else.

Is the financial plan workbook free?

Yes. Enter your email and the download link opens immediately, with no subscription or trial. If you want the rest of our templates in one download, the Personal Finance Suite bundles them.

Do I still need a financial advisor if I use this template?

Not for the mechanics. Some people still pay for a second opinion on Roth conversions, Social Security claiming for a couple, a pension lump-sum decision, or a complicated estate. The workbook gives you the numbers an advisor would build first, so if you do hire one, hourly or flat-fee, the meeting starts at the decisions rather than the data gathering.

How is this different from a budget template?

A budget answers where this month's money went; a financial plan answers whether your money will last and what to change if not. The Cash Flow sheet here is a budget, but it is one input among nine. The Goals, Retirement, Insurance and Dashboard sheets turn it into a funded, dated plan with a status on every line.

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