When you enter mortgage information in your plan, your mortgage interest is included in the tax calculation. The Planner will compare your standard deduction and below the line deductions, including mortgage interest, on an annual basis. We will then apply the deduction that’s most beneficial to you.

You may only account for itemized expenses if you are using the Detailed Budgeter. The Planner will compare your standard deduction and these below the line deductions on an annual basis and apply the one that’s most beneficial to you.

The Detailed Budgeter also allows you to identify individual expenses such as property taxes and charitable contributions as tax deductible.

Step 1: Navigate to My Plan > Expenses and Healthcare

Step 2: Turn on the Detailed Budgeter

Step 3: Either setup the Detailed Budgeter or (if already set up) press "Edit ✎"

Step 4: Find the appropriate category

Step 5: Press "Add Expense"

Step 6: Select the appropriate subcategory and label the expense

Step 7: Decide the frequency of the expense

Step 8: Enter your expense in both Must Spend and Like to Spend

Step 9: Select 100% deductibility (this is important)

Step 10: Select Start and End dates for the expense

Your property taxes will display as State and Local Taxes in the Federal Tax Deductions Chart.

When you're engaged in financial planning, you often manage multiple goals. These goals may include donating to charitable organizations. You may use the above method to account for charitable donations in your plan.

Your charitable donations will display as Gifts in the Federal Tax Deductions Chart.

To view the Federal Tax Deductions applied in your plan, navigate over to the Insights > Taxes Chart.

Many employers who provide health insurance and other benefits allow employees to pay for these benefits via pre-tax payroll deductions.

These benefits may include the following:

Employer paid healthcare insurance premiums:

Employer paid life, disability, and accidental death & dismemberment insurance.

If your employee benefit deductions are made in a pre-tax manner, they will reduce your taxable income. For this reason, we recommend excluding this income from your gross income in order to most closely account for your taxable income.

We then recommend excluding any expenses paid in this manner from your healthcare expenses in order to most closely represent your net cashflow.

NOTE: If you follow this method and also have income-linked contributions in your plan, we recommend using the specific dollar amount selection for contributions instead of the percentage amount to ensure accuracy.