On 9 September, we are updating how GoalsMapper calculates investment and insurance figures.
The changes improve how GoalsMapper handles payment timing, expenses, IRR and current investment values. They are designed to make projections more accurate and more consistent across the platform.
As a result, some existing plans may show different figures after the release, even if you do not make any changes to the plan.
What is changing
1. Expenses will only include payments still to come
For the current year, GoalsMapper will only treat investment contributions and insurance premiums that are still due as expenses.
Payments that have already been made are already reflected in the client's current assets or policy values. Including the full year's payments again would effectively count part of the same money twice.
Example
If a client pays $1,000 per month and the plan is viewed in September, only the remaining payments from September to December will be included as expenses for the rest of the year.
This applies to both investment contributions and recurring insurance premiums.
2. IRR will use the actual timing of payments
GoalsMapper will calculate IRR using the timing of the payments actually made, rather than assuming that all payments follow a full-year schedule.
The same annualised return will also be shown consistently across GoalsMapper.
If an IRR cannot be calculated, GoalsMapper will explain why instead of displaying a potentially misleading figure.
3. Current value will be treated as today's value
A current investment value entered in GoalsMapper will be treated as the value as of today, rather than as the value at the end of the year.
GoalsMapper will then project that value for the remaining months of the year and add any contributions that are still due.
Example
A current value of $5,000 entered in August may be projected to $9,148 by the end of the year, after allowing for the remaining growth and contributions.
This means the year-end investment value may be higher than the current value entered, even before you make any changes to the plan.
New Month field for payments and contributions
To support these changes, we are adding a Month field to payment and contribution records.
This lets GoalsMapper identify when a contribution or premium starts and use that timing in the relevant calculations.
- If a month is provided, GoalsMapper will calculate the payment from that month.
- If no month is provided, GoalsMapper will continue to treat the payment as starting from January.
This allows partial first-year and last-year payments to be represented more accurately.
What this means for existing plans
Plans saved before 9 September may show different investment, insurance, cashflow or net worth figures after the update.
The changes are most likely to affect plans with:
- investment contributions or insurance premiums paid during the year,
- payments that start partway through the year,
- current investment values,
- ongoing contributions or premiums, or
- IRR calculations where the timing of payments matters.
Before your next client meeting, we recommend reviewing plans that contain investments or insurance policies with ongoing payments.