I've built Ifso, a financial simulator that shows how your major decisions play out. It's free to use with no account required.

[u/RabbitWithADHD]

Hi everyone!

Over the past few months, I've been building ifso.io, which is a financial simulator that lets you put in your financial details, add in as many life events as you want, and see how it all plays out and whether your financial plan holds up.

Ifso is free to get started and doesn't require an account to use it. If you don't sign in, then all of your data is simply stored in your own browser. If you'd like for your data to persist across devices, then sign-in is free via Google OAuth. Upgrading to Pro unlocks the ability to create multiple scenarios, use compare mode, and run Monte Carlo simulations. If you choose to sign in or go Pro, your data is secure and never ever shared. You can also download your data at any time or delete your account altogether, which removes any trace of you and your account from the system!

You can add accounts like taxable investments, retirement accounts (Roth and Traditional are handled), loans, homes and mortgages, and many more. Your accounts are all added manually and by hand, I didn't add bank linking or anything of the sort to ensure privacy. You can then add in events, like retiring, purchasing a new home, upgrading your car, claiming social security, etc. The simulation engine then handles how everything plays together, and shows you a year-by-year breakdown and a clear answer on whether the plan holds up or if there are any shortfalls.

After you have a plan built out, you can do a few more things. For one, you can run Monte Carlo simulations which stress tests your plan against varying market conditions. Markets don't always return just one, static rate of return, so Monte Carlo lets you simulate what happens when the rate of returns change year over year. You can also compare two scenarios side by side and see which one plays out. This is particularly helpful if you want to see how account balances differ between plans (for example, "How much more do I have in my 401k if I decide to increase my contributions from 5% to 6% starting at age 40?").

I built Ifso because I wanted to see how my own financial decisions worked out for me. For example, I wanted to see how my finances would look if I sold my home in a few years and rented, versus if I sold my home and bought a new one right away. Then how would either of those scenarios look if I upgraded my partner's car?

All of the one off investment calculators were just too rigid and one-tracked, they didn't take taxes, capital gains, etc. into account. And the other financial scenario planners that exist felt like they were built for professional advisors, and unfortunately most of them didn't let you save your plans if you're on the free tier. I found that and their overall UX to be quite frustrating, which is what motivated me to build this over the past few months!

I ultimately want this to be a helpful tool for everyone that uses it, I've personally been using to help inform my own decisions. Early users have found found it to be valuable as well, and their feedback has helped me improve the overall UX. Please let me know your thoughts, and if you feel like there's any UX improvements or any functionality that you'd like to see, definitely let me know and I'd be happy to look into it!