How can I model moving to a state or province with different taxes?

Many people move from one US state to another around or during retirement. There are a few states with lower income taxes and you can account for that within ProjectionLab through Milestones. Follow the steps below to reflect the appropriate tax changes in your plan.

For this example we will walk through a move from New York to Florida. Additionally, we will walk through how to connect specific events to your move date.

Setting Up Your Move Milestone

If you are creating a new plan, Milestones will be the first step in the plan. Key milestones like Your Retirement and Your Life Expectancy will already be populated, along with Milestones for your spouse if applicable.

Below the pre-populated Milestones, click + Add Milestone > click Move, one of the first options. Next, toggle on Enable Relocation. When this milestone is reached, you will move to the location defined below. Choose your country (such as United States) and state (such as Florida), then click X to close the Move tab. Your data will save automatically.

When to Trigger Your Move

Once your Move milestone is created, you can choose from the following trigger options:

• At another milestone: choose a milestone, such as Your Retirement
• Before another milestone: choose a milestone, such as Your Spouse’s Retirement
• At date: choose a month and year
• Before date: choose a month and year. This will trigger the milestone immediately, so you may want to add an additional criteria.
• At year: choose a year
• Before year: This will trigger the milestone immediately, so you may want to add an additional criteria.
• Metrics: hitting a specific net worth, amount of liquid assets, amount of debt, etc. can also serve as the trigger

Adding Multiple Criteria

You can create multiple criteria for your Move milestone. To add criteria, hover over the milestone and click the + icon below it. When you create the next criteria, you can choose AND or OR. For example, you could choose to move from New York to Florida when you either reach Your Retirement Age OR reach a $1,000,000 net worth.

How to Connect Milestones to Your Move

You can connect milestones to your move such as selling and buying a home, changing a rent payment, or adjusting your income. After you add the Move milestone, go to the main Plan page and scroll down to the variable you want to change.

Adjusting Income

When you move you will end your current salary and start a new part-time job. On the main Plan page, scroll down to Income > click Salary if you have already input these details > scroll down to Time Range > change the End time to Move > click Save.

If you would like to start a new income stream, hover over Income > click + Add Income > choose your income type (such as Salary, Hourly Wage, etc.) > update your Time Range to start at your Move > and choose your appropriate end date, such as your Retirement date.

Tying a Home Sale to Your Move

If you would like to tie the sale of your current home to your move, on the main Plan page scroll down to Real Assets > click House if you have already input these details > scroll down to Sale > change the timing to Move > click Save.

If you would like to add a new home purchase, hover over Real Assets > click + Add Real Asset > choose House > update your Purchase Date to start at your Move.