Overview
The Sankey Cashflow Chart can be found under Insights > Lifetime Cash Flow.
Instead of reviewing income, taxes, savings, and spending as separate line items, the Sankey Cashflow Chart displays them as proportional flows — helping you quickly understand:
Where your income comes from
How much goes to taxes
What funds your lifestyle
What remains invested or saved
The wider each flow, the larger the dollar amount it represents.
What the Chart Shows
The Sankey diagram organizes your plan into three core stages:
1. Income Sources
Examples may include:
Earned income
Social Security
Pension income
Rental income
Portfolio withdrawals
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
Each source is displayed proportionally based on its contribution for the selected year.
2. Outflows
Income flows into:
Federal and state taxes
Healthcare costs
Core living expenses
Discretionary spending
Debt payments
This makes it easy to see the true tax drag and the breakdown between essential and flexible spending.
3. Savings & Account Impact
Remaining funds may:
Be reinvested
Increase taxable or retirement account balances
Offset withdrawals
Support surplus savings years
In retirement, you can clearly see how guaranteed income compares to portfolio withdrawals.
How to Use the Chart
The Sankey Cashflow Chart is especially helpful when:
Comparing Work vs. Retirement Years
See the shift from earned income to Social Security and withdrawals.
Evaluating Tax Strategy
Understand how Roth conversions, withdrawal order changes, or delayed Social Security affect tax flow.
Stress Testing Spending
Visualize how increased spending impacts portfolio withdrawals.
Identifying Concentration Risk
Quickly spot over-reliance on a single income source.
How to Interpret the Flows
Wider bands = larger dollar amounts
Flows split when income moves to multiple destinations (e.g., part to taxes, part to spending)
Narrower post-tax flows show true spendable income
Think of the chart as a flow map — not a balance sheet. It focuses on movement during a selected year, not cumulative totals.
Best Practices
Review early retirement years carefully — sequence risk is often most impactful then.
Compare multiple years (e.g., age 60, 67, 73, 85) to understand transitions.
Use it alongside Guardrails or probability insights to connect cashflow with sustainability.
Why It Matters
Financial plans are interconnected.
A decision in one area — spending, claiming age, Roth conversions — affects taxes, withdrawals, and long-term balances.
The Sankey Cashflow Chart helps you see those relationships instantly, so you can make more informed, confident decisions.