GoalsMapper is improving its projection engine so that financial records are handled more consistently by calendar year.
Why are we making this change?
Historically, many records in GoalsMapper were entered and displayed using the client’s **age**.
This works reasonably well for long-term planning, but it can become confusing because a client may be one age at the start of a year and another age later in the same year.
For example, a client may be age 47 in February and turn 48 in November. If a record is entered for “age 47”, it is not always obvious whether that means:
- the calendar year in which the client is 47,
- the 12 months from the client’s 47th birthday, or
- a specific point within that year.
This became more important when we enhanced our investment calculations.
To calculate investment returns such as IRR more accurately, GoalsMapper needs to know **when** contributions, payouts and current investment values occur.
Once investment and insurance calculations began using more precise month and year information, it highlighted an inconsistency: some projections were using partial calendar years while other records were still primarily interpreted by age.
What is changing?
GoalsMapper is moving towards using **calendar year as the consistent basis for projections**.
The year determines when a financial event occurs. Age remains useful context, but it no longer determines the underlying projection period.
For example, if a client turns 48 during 2026:
- The projection period is still **January to December 2026**
- The client may be 47 for part of the year and 48 later in the year
- The projection does not move to another year when the client has a birthday
Do I need to enter records differently?
For most records, no.
You can continue entering records using age as you do today. GoalsMapper will determine the relevant calendar year based on when the record is entered.
Where more precise timing is important, you can provide a month and year.
If a month is not provided, GoalsMapper will generally assume the record starts in **January** of the relevant calendar year.
How will age be shown?
Because a client’s actual age can change during a calendar year, GoalsMapper needs a consistent way to display age alongside the year.
The intended approach is to show the **age the client will have attained by 31 December of that year**.
This keeps the age label stable throughout the year while the projection remains tied to the calendar year.
What does this improve?
Moving to a calendar-year basis makes it easier to understand:
- When income and expenses occur
- When investment contributions are made
- When insurance premiums are paid
- When payouts and withdrawals occur
- How Current Value is treated
- How IRR is calculated
- How inflation applies from one year to the next
The goal is to make the timing used across GoalsMapper more consistent, predictable and easier to explain to clients.