Individual Client Methodology

Adjusting Client-Specific Settings

RightCapital is designed to achieve financial planning done just right. You are always in control of the advising philosophy and the underlying assumptions. You have complete control over every client's planning methodology, providing a platform for world-class, personally tailored advising.

Numerous settings are adjusted for each client to tailor the individual planning approach. This article outlines how to make changes on a client-by-client basis.

Planning method

The planning method indicates how RightCapital handles the surplus or shortage of cash flow in any given year. To learn more about planning methods and their impact on a client plan, read the article on understanding planning methods and the article on cash flows.

Cash flow in simulation starts

This setting determines the timing of the cash flow projections, whether you use a rolling 12-month projection or illustrate a calendar-year-based projection starting at the beginning of the current year or the following year. See additional details on cash flow timing options.

Withdrawal sequence

• Pro-rata

• Taxable, tax-deferred, tax-free

• Taxable, tax-free, tax-deferred

• Taxable, pro-rata

• Tax-deferred, taxable, tax-free

Allocation method

• Same allocation for all years: When using the default setting, the client's specified asset allocation, entered in the Profile > Net Worth area, will remain constant throughout the life of the plan.
• Pre and post-retirement allocation: The current plan will use existing investments entered into the Profile > Net Worth area to determine the pre-retirement asset allocation. Under the allocation method, an additional dropdown menu will appear to set the current plan's post-retirement allocation. This setting also allows users to specify pre- and post-retirement asset allocation models for proposed plans in the Retirement > Analysis > Action Items area.
  
  New asset allocation models can be created in the Advisor Portal > Models Tab > Portfolios area for all client plans.
• Enable glide path: Select between a default or customized glide path for each client. If a glide path is enabled, the client's investment allocation will slowly migrate to the glide path allocation over the specified number of years. See additional details about glide paths.

Planned distribution method

This setting determines how manual distributions interact with Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) calculated automatically by the system. Options include adding the manual distributions to the RMDs, having the system calculate the greater of the manual distributions and RMDs, or overriding the system's RMD calculation to use the manual distributions. This setting applies across all account types.

For more, see the article on income distributions.

Cash management method

This setting determines how cash in bank accounts is projected in the cash flow and Monte Carlo projections. You can use cash reserve goals to illustrate investing cash or managing cash balances over time, or you can allow bank account balances to be treated as cash and liquidate them before or after taxable investments. For more information, please see the detailed article on cash management.

Health Savings Account distributions

This setting determines when the system will use Health Savings Account (HSA) assets to fund medical expenses. The following options will help you customize automatic HSA distributions in RightCapital:

• Start to fund medical expenses immediately: HSA assets will accumulate until the first medical expense occurs in future cash flows.
• Start to fund medical expenses at first retirement: HSA assets will accumulate until the year the first client / co-client retires. At that point, the HSA will automatically distribute to cover medical expenses.
• Start to fund medical expenses at second retirement: HSA assets will accumulate until both clients retire. At that point, HSA's will automatically distribute to cover medical expenses. If there is only one client (no co-client), you should select funding expenses immediately, at the client's age, at a calendar year, or at the first retirement since there is no second retirement.
• Start to fund medical expenses at the client's or co-client's age: HSA assets will accumulate until the specified client's age. At that point, the HSA will automatically distribute to cover medical expenses.
• Start to fund medical expenses in a calendar year: HSA assets will accumulate until a specific calendar year. At that point, the HSA will automatically distribute to cover medical expenses.

Retirement expense timing

This setting indicates when the retirement expense (under the Profile > Goals tab) takes effect. Options include coinciding with the first client to retire or the second client to retire within the plan.

Include bank accounts in Asset Allocation chart

Use taxable account to fund IRA and 529 saving when current year cash flow is inadequate

This setting will automatically calculate withdraws (and taxes) from a taxable investment account to maintain savings goals in non-taxable accounts in years when other income sources cannot meet the specified savings goal.

If this setting is unchecked, RightCapital will only fund contributions to IRA, Roth IRA, and 529 accounts from cash flows. If there are insufficient cash flows in any year, RightCapital will not reflect the contributions in that year.

If the setting is checked, RightCapital will first fund those contributions from cash flows; if there are insufficient cash flows in any year, RightCapital will then look to fund those contributions from the value in taxable accounts. If no money is available in taxable accounts, RightCapital will not reflect the contributions in that year.

Rebalance across account type for current allocation

This setting will automatically calculate a shift in assets from a client's current values to those that align with the recent investment allocation breakdown.

If checked, RightCapital will use the rate of return associated with the overall current allocation for each investment type (e.g. taxable account, IRA, etc.) when calculating the projections using the client's current allocation.

Take annuity RMD from IRA accounts first

This setting, if checked, allows you to delay taking withdrawals from qualified annuities with a lifetime income guarantee ( set up with a distribution type of 'Lifetime Income') by satisfying the annuity's Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from the client's traditional IRA accounts or other qualified annuities. This allows clients to delay withdrawals on the lifetime income annuity to provide a higher guaranteed income amount in future cash flows.

If the setting is unchecked, we will calculate the RMD for lifetime income annuities each year starting in the year the client turns 73 and will distribute the greater of the RMD or the client's lifetime income amount in that year.

Also, if this setting is checked, once the client has started taking lifetime income withdrawals, if the client's RMD exceeds the lifetime income amount, we will take the excess from the client's IRA or other qualified annuities.

Whether the setting is checked or not, once lifetime income withdrawals begin, those withdrawals will count towards the total RMD required across your clients' IRA and qualified annuity accounts. If the lifetime income amount exceeds the RMD calculated for the lifetime annuity, we will reduce the RMD from the client's traditional IRA by the excess amount.

Spend unsaved RMD's (Modified Cash Flow only)

If you wish to have RMDs, and any manual distributions, automatically spent rather than saved, check the 'Spend unsaved RMD's box in the client settings. When checked, this setting will automatically spend excess income from Required Minimum Distributions that are not used for expenses or goals in a specific year. Spent RMD's can be seen in the Retirement> Cash Flows > Summary > "Spent unsaved cash flows" column.

Include Taxable Saving in the Planned Saving column (Modified Cash Flow only)

Distribute investment income from a Taxable account after retirement

This setting allows users to distribute investment income (interest + dividends) from taxable accounts at designated times within the plan. When enabled, investment income will display in the Cash Flows section under the Income Inflows column. Distribution of investment income can begin after the first client retires, every year, or never.

Allow display of scenario-specific cash flows

As a default, scenario-specific cash flows will not be displayed in the financial plan.

Advisors will have the flexibility to illustrate specific return scenarios in the cash flow tables. The cash flows automatically display a static/baseline investment return each year. When this setting is turned on, users can view the impact of varying return scenarios in the cash flow projections by adjusting the "baseline" dropdown menu. Customized return sequences can be added by the advisor in the Advisor Portal > Models > Scenarios tab.

Use 529 accounts to fund Pre-College Education goals