Entering salary information in the Lifetime Planner
Your salary is one of the most important parts of your Lifetime Plan. It’s your main income source before retirement—and often part of your income after. Quicken uses it to:
🧮 Estimate how much you can save before retiring
🧾 Project taxes and spending
💸 Determine when you’ll need to draw from savings or investments
👉 Enter realistic salary information to build a plan that reflects your actual income timeline.
🔍 Where to enter salary
Go to the Planning tab.
Select Lifetime Planner.
If needed, click Plan Assumptions to show the setup panel.
Select Income.
In the Salary tab, select New to add your salary.
If your spouse is included, select New again to add their salary separately.
➕ Add a salary
In the Add Salary window, fill out the following fields:
Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
👤 Who earns this salary? | Select You or Spouse |
📝 Name or description | Enter a label like Engineer or Consulting Income |
💲 Gross annual salary | The total before taxes, including bonuses and commissions |
📈 Salary increase | Choose:
|
📅 Start date | Select Already started or enter a specific date |
📅 End date | Enter a specific date (such as your expected retirement date) |
🏷️ Employment status | Choose Regular employee or Self-employed |
✔️ Social Security taxes | Check this box if Social Security taxes are deducted from this income |
💡 Tip: If your income varies year to year, use a 3–5 year average to enter a realistic number.
💡 Tip: If your job doesn’t deduct Social Security—such as some government or nonprofit roles—leave the checkbox cleared.
📊 Plan for future salary changes
You can add adjustments to reflect raises, parental leave, sabbaticals, or career changes.
Select the salary entry in the upper list.
In the Adjustments section, click New.
Enter a description, date, and details for the change.
Use Edit or Delete to modify or remove the adjustment.
💡 Tip: Use adjustments to model changes without re-entering your entire salary. For example, add an adjustment in 2030 for a promotion, or a reduction in 2026 for a six-month leave.
✏️ Edit or update a salary
You can edit a salary at any time to reflect new plans or income changes.
Go to the Income section of Lifetime Planner.
Select the salary in the list.
Click Edit.
You can change:
📝 Job title or description
💲 Annual salary amount
📈 Increase rate
📅 Start and end dates
🏷️ Employment status
✔️ Social Security checkbox
💡 Tip: You can switch between Already started and a specific date for both start and end fields—even after the salary is saved.
🧠 Common salary planning scenarios
Use salary entries and adjustments to simulate these real-life situations:
🎓 Going back to school
End your salary when school starts, and add a new one when you expect to re-enter the workforce.🧑🍼 Parental leave or part-time work
Add an adjustment that drops income to zero or reduces it for the leave period, then add another to resume full pay.📈 Promotions or bonuses
Add a future-dated adjustment that increases your salary by a set percentage or flat amount.🔄 Career change
End one salary and create a new entry with the updated title, amount, and employment type.🧑💻 Freelancing after retirement
Add a new self-employed salary starting the year after your retirement salary ends.👥 Spouse returns to work
Add a new salary starting on the planned date, even if they weren’t earning income earlier in the plan.📆 Retirement delay
Edit the end date of your current salary to reflect your new retirement age.
🧾 Additional information
All values must be entered in U.S. dollars
Salaries are taxed and may include Social Security and Medicare
If your salary doesn’t cover living costs later in retirement, the planner will draw from your savings
You can change both start and end dates at any time using the Edit button