<title>Add your current annual living expenses to your lifetime plan</title>
<category>lifeplan</category>
<klink type="prcdr">How do I add my current annual living expenses to my lifetime plan?</klink>
</index>
<content>
<ol>
<li>On the <emph>Planner</emph> menu, click <emph>Lifetime Planner</emph>.</li>
<li>In the left pane, click <emph>Expenses</emph>, and then click <emph>Living Expenses</emph>.</li>
<li>Near the top of the page, click <emph>Estimate Expenses</emph>.</li>
<li>Choose one of these methods to estimate your current living expenses:</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>If you've created a budget in the Budget Planner, click <emph>Use the annual Budget estimate</emph>. </li>
<li>If you don't have a budget yet, but have created a lifetime plan, take a look at the table's <emph>Remaining funds</emph> amount. Then, click <emph>Use this estimate</emph>, and type how much of the remaining funds you'll use for living expenses. (Ideally, you've allocated just enough to savings, taxes, loans, life insurance, and other expenses so that the balance shown equals what you need for living expenses.)</li>
<li>If you want to use another estimate, click <emph>Use this estimate</emph>, and then enter that amount.</li>
</ul>
</content>
<footer>
<extend>
<tease>What if I'm not sure what to enter for my living expenses?</tease>
<reveal>
<p>For best results, use the estimate calculated by the Budget Planner (assuming you've set up a budget there already). </p>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>Is using the Budget Planner estimate preferred?</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Yes. When you click <emph>Use the annual Budget estimate</emph>, Money links directly to the information in the Budget Planner. As you update your budget, your annual living expenses on the <emph>Living Expenses</emph> page are automatically adjusted.</p>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>I want to enter my own estimate, but I can't figure out what to include as living expenses and what to include as college and other expenses.</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Living expenses are day-to-day expenses that you will have no matter what, such as food, housing expenses, car payments, and maintenance. College and other expenses are special expenses you're anticipating that are either short-term or one-time expenses. For example, a college expense is short term because it lasts only a few years, and wedding, vacation, and hospital expenses are one-time expenses.</p>
</reveal>
</extend>
<extend>
<tease>Why are the estimates from my lifetime plan and budget plan different?</tease>
<reveal>
<p>Some of the difference is due to the fact that subtotals for income, taxes, savings contributions, life insurance payments, loan payments, and other expenses are all rounded to the nearest $1,000. Here's what's included in the Lifetime Planner estimates:</p>
<ul>
<li><emph>Income.</emph> Salaries from your career and your partner's career, other earned income, and rental income.</li>
<li><emph>Taxes.</emph> Payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare and taxes on rental income.</li>
<li><emph>Savings contributions.</emph> Contributions to taxable, tax-deferred, and retirement accounts and to accounts for a child.</li>
<li><emph>Life insurance payments.</emph> All life insurance payments.</li>
<li><emph>Loan payments.</emph> All loan payments.</li>
