Advanced Data Worksheets

Once you are comfortable with the basic Data Entry Worksheet, the Advanced Data Worksheets (1 Advanced, 2 Advanced and Shared Advanced) allow you to enter advanced data and also override the Spreadsheet's calculations if your financial situation differs from the Spreadsheet's default behaviour. The Advanced Data Worksheets are hidden by default but can be shown by pressing the Show button on the Start Here worksheet.

Data is entered in two types of cells:

White Cells: White cells mean that the Spreadsheet needs you to enter a value for each applicable year.

Gray Cells: Gray cells mean that the Spreadsheet will calculate a value unless you override it. These cells are typically left blank.

Yellow Cells: Yellow cells are locked and indicate that the value is entered on another worksheet.

Hover over any of the titles to see a description of that column.

1 Advanced and 2 Advanced Worksheets

The 1 Advanced and 2 Advanced worksheets are where you enter advanced data for person 1 and person 2. For a single person, leave the 2 Advanced worksheet empty. A description of the fields follows:

Employment Salary and Deductions: The first row is yellow because these values are entered in the Data Entry worksheet. The spreadsheet takes the current year values and indexes them for inflation for future years until retirement. Enter values in the grey cells if you want to override this behavior. The spreadsheet will take any new value you enter and index it until retirement, or if you are past retirement, for example doing part-time work and enter a salary, it will continue indexing that salary until you enter zero.

Retirement Fund Overrides: The Spreadsheet uses the RRSP and LIF contribution and withdrawal strategies and the suggested amounts you provide to calculate your contributions and withdrawals to/from these accounts. You can view these amounts on the 1 and 2 worksheets. Enter a value anywhere you expect a future withdrawal to be different than what the spreadsheet calculates. The spreadsheet will take your value as entered for that year but respecting any minimum and maximum withdrawals required by law. Future years will revert to the spreadsheet’s values unless you override them also.

Other Income: The Other Income (not from Employment, Pensions or Accounts) section gives you an opportunity to record income from privately held investments. Because the cells are white, a value must be entered whenever there is applicable income – the spreadsheet does not calculate future values. Enter the income based on how it is taxed. Examples of “Other” are rental income, income from a partnership, honoraria and interest received from personal loans. This income is taxed at your full rate. Capital gains occur when you sell something for more than it is worth. Include gains on the sale of property other than your principal residence and gains on privately held investments. Eligible and Ineligible dividends come from privately held shares in companies. Finally, non-taxable income is income that is not subject to tax. Examples include gifts and inheritances. Again, include this income for all years where it applies.

Other Assets: Other Assets excluding your Principal Residence are for any assets beyond your principal residence that you would like included in your Net Worth and Net Estate Value calculations. Many people choose not to include the value of depreciating assets such as cars and RVs in their Net Worth and Net Estate Value calculations. For assets that increase in value such as a cottage or rental property, include the adjusted cost base or ACB so tax can be calculated.

Life Insurance: First year data for Life Insurance is entered in the Data Entry worksheet. If the Death Benefit and/or Cash Values of your policy change over time, enter the values here. The spreadsheet uses the values from the Data Entry worksheet unless you override them here.

Other Liabilities: Other Liabilities excluding your mortgage is for any other personal loans you may have. Enter the amount of the loan and any payments. You can also include cash gifts to others, for example a gift to your children in the payments column. Because the cells are white, you must enter values for all years where they apply.

The 2 Advanced worksheet is identical to the 1 Advanced worksheet. Enter values for your spouse on that worksheet.

Shared Advanced Worksheet

The Shared Advanced worksheet contains financial data that is typically shared between couples. Some of these fields are applicable to singles as well.

Budget: The Budget column allows you override the spreadsheet’s future budget calculations. By default the Spreadsheet takes the value you entered on the Dashboard and increases it by inflation for every subsequent year. To override this behavior, simply enter a different budget amount in one the gray cells. The spreadsheet will use the value for the year you entered, then increase that budget amount by inflation for subsequent years.

Charitable Donations: The Charitable Donations column lets you override your charitable donations for any given year. The spreadsheet always uses the percentage of budget you enter in the Dashboard unless you override it with a dollar value here.

Joint Life Insurance: Joint Life Insurance works similarly to individual life insurance. Typically joint life insurance pays out when the first spouse passes away (first to die) but there are also policies that pay out when the last spouse passes away (last to die). If your Death Benefit and Cash Value change over time, enter future values here.

Inflation Overrides: The Spreadsheet allows you to override the general inflation rate and the inflation rate applied to real estate. Enter percentages in any year when you want them to be different than the inflation rate you specify on the Dashboard.