The results generated by the TIME MACHINE are based on your estimates of many factors you have entered on previous input screens, like rates of return, life expectancy, and inflation, and also on important assumptions such as tax rates and government benefits. Although we aim for the highest accuracy, the results are only an illustration, and none of the information can be guaranteed.

The results produced by the TIME MACHINE include a table and some graphs. The same results are accessible in today’s dollars and also in future dollars. The ‘today’ and ‘future’ tables can be downloaded as Excel or .csv files if you wish to keep them.

Note also that if you have a CCPC, there is a link to view the CCPC additional information for the corporate accounts. This information is also included in the Excel and .csv files.

You can also download the web reports using the ‘save’ function on your browser. You can also export all the graphs to pdf. (Note the pdf and Word files may not work with all browsers and all versions of Word. Let us know if you encounter an issue). The REPORT button will bring you to a page summarizing all of your inputs into the program. This page should be saved, along with the TIME MACHINE results, so that you may have a record of the inputs that led to your results. The report now also includes the graphs seen on this page and can be exported to Word or pdf.

The Excel file will now include your inputs as separate worksheets.

You can save up to 6 runs. You can add a formatted description to the saved run that will be shown above the table and in the report. The tables, graphs, reports and downloads will all be available for saved runs. You will also be able to compare the tables and graphs side-by-side of the 2 runs, and additional graphs of the difference between the two will also be shown. Saved runs will also save a snapshot of the scenario that was run. You will be able to restore that scenario into your workspace so that you can update it and run it again.

At its simplest, your financial plan is provided by your deposits and withdrawals from your accounts (and your loans).

We will discuss the table columns in their default order, but the table columns can be reordered by drag-and-drop if you wish

1. The 'YEAR' for each row is a link to a breakdown with additional details for the year. When comparing 2 saved runs, you can click on the year in either table, to get a comparison for that year.
2. The `WARNINGS' column will indicate any special events that happened that year. If your wallet account balance is negative or positive after your end-of-year transfers, a warning is also issued in the first table column.


3. The table then displays any CPP and OAS income calculated by the TIME MACHINE. One thing you can look out for are any OAS clawbacks, where you will see the OAS amount decline (any OAS clawback will be shown in the Warnings column). OAS amounts also include GIS and Allowance estimates when applicable.


4. What we call ‘EXTERNAL INCOME’ represents the total of your entered INCOMES, CPP, OAS, and other calculated government benefits (CCB for example), pretax. It will also include net withdrawals from Wallet account(s) (see below), but it does not include withdrawals from other accounts. It does not include investment income and is not used to calculate taxes.


5. ‘ACCOUNT WITHDRAWALS’ represents the total of withdrawals from accounts (except Wallets) and loan proceeds.


6. `TAXES' includes CPP and EI deductions. In order to simplify the calculations, taxes are paid on December 31st rather than on April 30th of the next year. Note that the first year calculated is usually only a partial year (unless you happen to run the TIME MACHINE on January 1st). The growth of investments will begin at the date last valued. Incomes and expenses begin whenever instructed to begin. Your income and expenses are set proportionately to the time left in the year as we assume you have already spent or saved that income. Make sure that you’ve entered previously deducted taxes to date in the previous input screen so that the amount can be deducted from taxes owing.


7. 'SPENDING' adds all expenses, insurance premiums paid, and any Spending PRIORITIES.


8. The `NET SAVINGS' column represents the net amount that was deposited to accounts and loan pre-payments which affect your yearly cash-flow.


9. The `NET WORTH' column(s) represent the sum total of the values of all your accounts and properties minus any loans. If there is a spouse, these will be indicated individually and in total.


10. Your ACCOUNTS are then listed for you, along with end-of-year balances, the amounts deposited (or withdrawn), and account growth over the year.
    The TIME MACHINE primarily works at the resolution of one year. The account growth displayed will not be perfectly accurate, because deposits and withdrawals, in fact, happen at any point during the year. To simplify, however, the TIME MACHINE rebalances the accounts following your preset asset allocations, it then assumes that most transactions occur on December 31st.


11. IMPORTANT: You will notice the additional account labelled `Wallet'. This account is used by the TIME MACHINE when it does not know where to put your savings or from where to take money for expenses. The aim is for this account to maintain a balance of zero.
    If the balance of the Wallet is positive, then you will want to create an account to hold your additional funds, or you can increase the PRIORITY limit for Spending. When you then rerun the TIME MACHINE, any amount spent will reduce the `SAVINGS' column and will be added to the `SPENDING' column and corresponding graph.
    If the balance is negative, that means that you have run out of available funds. Sometimes, the balance will go temporarily negative when it needs to cover investment or account fees at the time that another account is emptied; that is not an issue, and it can be ignored. If you have a large negative wallet balance for several years, however, you will need to adjust your plan.
    In either case, a warning is issued in the first table column. Take note of this warning, as it indicates a cash flow problem (that is, you either don't have enough money for withdrawal or you're missing an account into which to deposit your excess money). You should, in that case, try to find the source of the cash-flow problem by considering the current and previous rows in the table.
    There is a Wallet for each spouse when applicable. The TIME MACHINE will transfer the Wallet account balance into the owner's income (if positive) or expenses (if negative) for the following year. However, if the person is broke, that is they have no account balances to draw from, but their spouse is not broke, then the negative Wallet amount will be added to the expenses of their spouse in the current year, and another round of withdrawals using the PRIORITIES is done. Although this may resolve the cash-flow problem for the spouse that is broke, a warning is issued nevertheless so that you know to investigate. You may then get another warning that the spouse that helped out is now broke. Often you can resolve temporary cash-flow issues of a spouse by adjusting the expenses of each spouse separately, but since this is tedious to do, we decided to let the spouses help each other out in this manner. As long as the spouse is helping with expenses and not transferring money into accounts, this should not raise any attribution issues with the CRA.


12. Your LOANS are displayed next, along with balances, payments, and interest incurred (this last value is accurate since it takes into account your actual repayment schedule and the timing of any prepayments). If you set to take out a LOAN in the future, the funds will increase your income that year.


13. REAL-ESTATE properties are displayed last, along with information about their worth and growth over the year. The sale of a property triggers the repayment of any linked loan, and the net proceeds are added to your income. Any tax liability will also be considered for that year. The money for any future purchase of a property will be added to your expenses. If there are any HBP repayments to be done, the TIME MACHINE will execute them by increasing your expenses and making a deposit to the appropriate account. The HBP repayment will be noted in the `WARNINGS' column.


14. A warning will be issued after your passing, explaining which accounts are to be inherited by your spouse (if any), and what is left of your estate (all taxes considered). Wallet account balances are also inherited by the surviving spouse if positive or negative.

Each year in the table is a link to a report for that year. The yearly reports present the TIME MACHINE results in column form. Most of the information is the same as the corresponding row in the timetable, but the report also provides some additional breakdown of incomes, expenses, taxes, and net worth for that year.

1. Net Worth graphs.
   The first graphs indicate the value of your accounts, loans, and properties.
   The sum of all of your accounts, loans, and properties, amounts to your net worth. You want this to rise above zero and remain there for as long as possible until your passing.
   
2. Income, Spending, and Saving.
   The next set of graphs display information on your net income and spending, and the net amounts of money going into your savings and paying off your loans.
   There are graphs of your consumption from your accounts either by account, or account type.
   There is a graph of your overall net savings (essentially income minus spending and taxes).
   The percent saving/withdrawal chart shows a line that when above zero corresponds to the percentage of external income that is saved to accounts: the saving rate. When the line is below zero, it the percentage of the account balances withdrawn: the withdrawal rate.
   There is also a graph on income coming from OAS and CPP for each spouse.
   
3. Taxes.
   You will see the taxable income for both spouses. You might notice the pension income-splitting that the TIME MACHINE performs when possible.
   Then taxable income by type (Income, Eligible dividends, Non-eligible dividends, Foreign dividends, and Capital gains), are shown, combined for both spouses. Note: Capital losses are always carried over in the TIME MACHINE.
   You will see the taxes payable each year for each spouse, and the overall tax rate and the marginal tax rate for each year.
   There is a graph showing the RRSP room and the TFSA room at the beggining of each year, before any contributions or withdrawals that year.
   
4. Asset allocation.
   There are 3 graphs showing your overall asset allocation as percentages, and overall investments: the first by allocation place and type, the second by allocation place, and the third by allocation type. The TIME MACHINE rebalances every account to its set target allocation. Remember that you can change the target asset allocation of any account for any year. With these graphs, you can see the overall allocation over all of your accounts. You may notice that as some account values are increased or decreased with deposits and withdrawals, it will affect your overall allocation if you have set different target allocations for different accounts.
5. Net deposits and balances.
   There follows a pair of charts for each account and loan. The first shows net deposits (ie. deposits minus withdrawals) for each year blue. In red is show the total investment growth for each year. The second graph shows the balance at the end of each year.

Congratulations on making it this far. You are well on your way to mastering your finances!

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