I'm very new to FI and what needs to be done to get there, and I stumbled across this spreadsheet while tinkering around with others and it seems to suit me the best. So, forgive any super basic questions, either about FI or about the sheet itself. (I'm more comfortable with Excel and not sure about the limitations of Google Sheets.)
- I can't tell how Annual Savings and Rate is calculated. I can tell that it's (in part) from the Net Worth sheet, but aside from that I don't know how to use it, since the number and percentage it's returning is wrong. Right now I'm only putting aside a small amount in savings and my Roth since that's all I can afford.
- I will have money from a pension plan upon retirement, but it's something my employer pays into. I can't pay into it. Is there a way to account for it?
- Will my Years to FI drop as my Net Worth increases? Because I'm paying off a house, a car, and student loans, so my Net Worth is in the negative right now.
- I know that there is Mint integration, but is it necessary? I want to be able to enter the numbers manually, but I don't know if it affects any other calculations.
- I changed the Discretionary Expenses fields to include just the debt I'm paying off, but it's included in years to FI. Is it smart to leave it in, since I don't plan to retire before the debt is paid off, and just be able to breath a sigh of relief when I see the debt removed and the drop in FI? (I think I just answered my own question, but another perspective would be nice.)
- I'm not that familiar with Google Sheets, but is there a way to integrate a snowball or avalanche debt payoff into this? This kind of goes with my question above, and I've got a payoff plan from undebt.it but don't know how to see how it would affect years to FI.
Any help would be appreciated.