Goal Seek & scenario modelling
Most calculators ask you to guess every lever. RetireMe asks what you want — then searches thousands of combinations to show trade-offs that actually work. Layer that on top of a full scenario sandbox and Monte Carlo, and you get answers that feel like planning, not spreadsheets.
Goal Seeker: optimisation, not guesswork
Pick a goal, freeze what you will not change, and let the engine rank combinations by how painful they are.
Goal Seeker runs in a background worker so your UI stays responsive while it tests large search spaces. Results are ranked with a Pareto-style “pain score” so you see the best trade-offs first — not a random grid of numbers.
Search runs in phases: a fast standard pass, then broader “look harder” searches with more combinations and finer granularity. For “When can I retire?” the delay axis is resolved to monthly precision (not just whole years).
The solver runs in the background; you see live progress and can cancel anytime.
Three goal types
Each goal ties to the same full engine: deterministic projection plus Monte Carlo when you select a solution.
Liquid net worth at a target age
Ask for a minimum liquid balance at a chosen age (for example, a buffer or legacy target). The solver finds combinations of retirement timing, spending, return assumptions, and part-time income that reach that bar.
When can I retire?
Turn the question around: find the earliest retirement date your plan can support under a stress test, with monthly precision on the retirement delay axis. Ideal when you are willing to move the date but want to keep other levers in check.
Minimum sustainable income through age
Explore how much monthly retirement spending your plan can sustain through a target age. Useful when you want to anchor lifestyle and see what timing or returns would need to give.
Four levers, with freeze toggles
Real life is not “move everything at once.” You lock what is non-negotiable and explore the rest.
- Retirement timing — delay (or advance) relative to your plan, with fine steps for the “when can I retire?” goal.
- Spending — percentage change to retirement spending.
- Return boost — stress-test sensitivity to assumed returns.
- Part-time income — steady monthly income in retirement.
Each lever can be frozen so it stays at your current plan value. At least one lever must stay unlocked — the solver never asks you to change nothing.
Unknown retirement date?
If your plan still has an unknown retirement date, Goal Seeker resolves a consistent baseline before searching, so optimisation runs on a coherent model.
When you apply a solution, optional retirement dates and levers are written back into your plan so the rest of the app stays in sync.
Charts such as the runway view help you see the selected path in context before you commit.
What-If Scenarios: sandbox, not a toy
The Scenarios tab pairs Goal Seeker with a full scenario sandbox — the same detailed NZ plan, with sliders and events layered on top.
Resilience sliders cover expense change, retirement delay (up to months), return assumptions, one-off cash injection, CPI and wage-growth shifts, debt rate stress, and a market shock with a chosen shock month. Each change feeds the full month-by-month simulation.
Detailed scenarios model life events: inheritance, asset or house sale, part-time work, travel, income gaps, redundancy, big purchases (with funding choices), rent changes, rate shocks, downsizing, paying off a loan, KiwiSaver withdrawal, buying an asset, and more. Build the story, apply, and compare metrics to your baseline.
Every run includes deterministic projection plus Monte Carlo, so you see both a central story and probability-weighted outcomes — including cashflow vs net worth success where relevant.
More on randomised paths: Stress-test your plan.
Adjust sliders for macro stress, then add specific events from the detailed list — all before you touch your main plan.
Compare plans
The same Scenarios area includes Compare Plans: put saved plans side by side with runway and net worth charts, Monte Carlo bands, and clear deltas.
See how a Goal Seeker branch or a sandbox variant stacks up against your main plan — including moments like liquid assets hitting zero under stress versus an improved scenario.
Apply a solution to your current plan, or save an explored scenario as a new plan when you want to keep branches without overwriting your baseline.
Why this matters
Retirement planning is not one number. It is a sequence of trade-offs under uncertainty.
Goal Seeker answers “what is the least painful way to hit this goal?” The scenario sandbox answers “what if inflation or markets or life events move against me?” Together they turn RetireMe from a projection into a decision space.
See it in the app
Open Scenarios from your plan: Goal Seeker, What-If Scenarios, and Compare Plans are in one place.