Where it says "room to increase" is that for me to decide that I should make additional contributions to these elements?
example: Traditional IRA is currently blank but I do want to start making contributions. I would put the value I wish to contribute in B12 then for this correct?
Yes.
"Total to invest" from what I can tell calculates my Monthly income (after taxes) - my monthly expenses correct? Sorry was getting trying to follow the formulas back and i clicked in a cell and excel started to get very angry. If I am correct on this then this figure is what I have in excess of my monthly obligations. So in essence this is the figure I should apply to the investment order - maxing out investments or paying off debt dependent on the interest rate of the debt?
In short, "yes".
In long, that's not exactly correct because if you make pre-tax contributions your taxes will drop so you will be able to invest even more.
Time to FIRE - is this number of years before I want to retire? So if i put in 15 it will tell me I need XXX in my stash and with all things being equal I will potentially have XXX remaining on my loans?
I think the answer is "yes". The more the numbers make sense to you, the more likely "yes" is indeed the answer here. But if something doesn't make sense, re-ask with some specific numbers.
What is cell B173 telling me? Currently it is telling me I have some $ extra?
Given everything you have input, B173 looks at your projected stash "B145 years" from now minus your "stash required" in B160. "Stash required" = (expenses/SWR + remaining loan principal), as shown in cell B171. The difference between B160 and B171 is plotted vs. the number of years from now in the nearby chart.
Finally - by playing with my monthly surplus within column B is how I am going to find solutions to "what if" scenarios correct? Like - what if I made extra mortgage payments or what if I maxed out my traditional 401k how does that impact my ability to retire within X years?
Yes, and more. The "what if" questions can be asked using any input (green background) cell on the worksheet.
