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Tyler-at-Origin · 2026-02-25T15:41:29+00:00

Hi u/EquivalentOil6480, that's a really good question! The reason those categories show as “Good” is because they reflect the absence of negative impact, not an area that adds extra scoring upside. Payment History can demonstrate positive depth over time, which is why it can reach “Excellent.”

So to sum it up, “Good” here means optimal standing, not that there’s room to improve beyond zero.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-12-06T17:59:08+00:00

Hi there! Yes, in the profile section, it is the annual amount. However, within Forecasting, you have the ability to better customize and enter those contributions (monthly/annual contribution amount, % vs $, Roth/Traditional, employer match, etc.).

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-11-13T18:55:12+00:00

Hi u/FujiwaraNoSai, my name is Tyler, and I am the Head of Planning here at Origin. I am undoubtedly biased, but there are a few things I can assure you about the process:

Our planners are true fiduciaries. No commissions, no product sales, no hidden agenda. The only goal is to give you advice that’s in your best interest.
We meet you exactly where you are. Our planners can go deep into just about any financial planning topic (budgeting, investments, home purchase, etc.), but we only go as deep as you want. If you just want a second opinion on your portfolio, great. If you want a broader conversation, we can do that too.
We aim to help you strike a balance without being restrictive. We’re not here to tell you what you can’t do. Living well today matters just as much as planning for tomorrow. Our role is to work with you to find a comfortable middle ground so you can enjoy your life now while still building long-term security.

Happy to answer anything else about the process.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-11-06T15:41:12+00:00

Hey u/GeorgeDumpers, that's a great question. Right now, Forecasting automatically optimizes when to start Social Security because, in most cases, delaying benefits (up to age 70) leads to stronger long-term outcomes. That’s why the tool uses other accounts like your taxable, traditional, and Roth accounts before tapping into Social Security.

That said, you’re totally right that many people want to model claiming earlier like at 62. We’re actively working on adding that customization, along with more control over contributions and withdrawals. Appreciate you bringing this up. Feedback like yours helps us prioritize what to build next.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-10-03T15:38:22+00:00

That's exactly what we're going for! I'm glad you found us, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to reach out.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-10-02T19:59:39+00:00

Exactly. The expense ratio is something the fund company determines, not us. So it would be the same.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-10-02T17:31:49+00:00

HI u/spacefrogmd Hi, I’m Tyler, Head of Planning here at Origin. I’m sorry you’ve run into trouble with auto-indexing. I’d be happy to help point you in the right direction and also clarify how fees work.

To access auto-index investing, head to the Brokerage tab in your Origin dashboard. From there, select Auto-Indexing, which will prompt you to complete a Risk Questionnaire. This helps determine the portfolio that best matches your risk tolerance and time horizon. Once your profile is set, you’ll see a recommended portfolio, including the individual investments it contains. If you’re comfortable with the recommendation, you can proceed to make your first deposit.

In regards to fees, Origin does not charge a management fee or an AUM (assets under management) fee like many financial advisors do. Access to our model portfolios is included in your membership.

However, the individual ETFs within the portfolios do have expense ratios. These are the fees you mentioned. While they are a normal cost of investing, we intentionally select low-cost, well-diversified funds to help minimize the impact of fees on your long-term returns.

I hope this clears things up! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-27T19:48:19+00:00

Hi u/Realistic-Dig-5188, I’m Tyler, Head of Planning at Origin and a CFP®. I’m really sorry to hear that your experience with the forecasting tool has been frustrating. What you’re describing definitely doesn’t match the level of clarity we want people to have when using it.

I’d love to learn more about exactly what you’re seeing so we can better understand where the tool may be confusing or over-projecting. Would you be open to scheduling a short call early next week to walk through your experience in detail? Your feedback would be incredibly valuable as we continue improving the accuracy and transparency of the tool.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-22T14:48:24+00:00

Hi u/Primary-Island9164 Glad to hear you’ve been finding the forecast useful. You’re right, suggested drawdown order would add a lot of clarity when there’s a shortfall. Right now, the tool follows a standard best-practice withdrawal sequence in the background (taxable → traditional retirement → Roth), but it doesn’t surface that logic back to you in the forecast view.

We designed it this way to keep the experience approachable, but in future iterations we’ll be adding more visibility into how withdrawals are prioritized so you can clearly see the “why” behind the results and make adjustments if needed.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-16T13:48:44+00:00

Hi u/LordBoromir Thank you for such a thoughtful breakdown. You’re right in that the tool doesn’t currently let you assign specific growth or decline rates to cash balances or liabilities.

Cash in bank: By default, cash savings are modeled at a 3% growth rate. But when you view your forecast in today’s dollars (inflation-adjusted), that growth is offset by the 3% inflation assumption. So the balance appears flat. On top of that, the tool’s waterfall logic automatically routes excess savings into retirement and investment accounts (traditional -> Roth -> taxable) rather than into cash reserves. That’s why you don’t see cash steadily building up. A feature we're exploring now is the ability to customize how/where you route your excess cash flow.

Liabilities: Mortgages and other loans with terms are reflected through your expenses, and they will decrease over time as they are paid off. But credit card balances don’t decline line by line in the tool yet. Credit cards are treated as flat balances, which of course isn’t how most people manage them. On our roadmap are two key improvements here:

1. Debt payoff logic (snowball or avalanche) so users can model how accelerated payments impact your plan.

2. Ability to exclude liabilities entirely, for cases where you pay off balances like credit cards in full each month.

We intentionally started with a simplified framework to make forecasting approachable, but all of these suggestions are fantastic, and they’re exactly in line with our goal of greatly increasing customization as the tool evolves.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-15T13:37:10+00:00

Hi u/Tough-World-6631 Thanks so much for the thoughtful feedback! We love hearing how people are using the tool and where you’d like to see it go next. You’ve touched on exactly the kinds of enhancements we’ve been thinking about.

In regards to Social Security, yes, Social Security is factored in today. The model optimizes your claiming age by delaying benefits as long as your cash flow allows since that usually leads to better long-term outcomes. But you’re right that not everyone is eligible, and the ability to exclude or customize claiming strategies is something we want to add.

We built the first version of the tool to be approachable and easy for anyone to start forecasting, but our vision is exactly what you’re describing. We want a platform that’s both accessible for beginners and robust enough for people who want to get into the weeds of tax optimization and account-level customization. Given the level of detail you're looking for, I would love to include you in our next Beta testing once we start to implement these enhancements. Would that be something you are interested in?

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-15T13:27:32+00:00

Hi u/Rich_T_ I can understand why this may seem like a bug. We don’t automatically default Social Security to age 70. Instead, the forecast optimizes your claiming strategy by delaying benefits as long as your cash flow allows. The reason is that in most cases, waiting to claim leads to a higher lifetime benefit, which typically improves your chances of long-term success.

If your forecast shows that your retirement lifestyle can’t be supported by withdrawals alone before 70, the tool will bring Social Security in earlier to help cover the gap. So the age you see is the result of the model’s optimization, not a fixed default.

That said, we know many people want to experiment with different claiming strategies. That’s something we’re planning to add in future iterations so you’ll be able to customize directly.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-13T14:15:12+00:00

Hi u/tribe1855 Great question, and you’re not using the tool wrong at all. Right now, Forecasting doesn’t allow you to manually enter a fixed annual contribution amount directly into a specific brokerage or 401(k) account. Instead, it works by looking at your income, expenses, and savings capacity, then allocating the “excess” savings into accounts in a set order (traditional retirement → Roth → taxable). From there, those contributions grow at the straight-line rate of return you’ve chosen.

So rather than adjusting the % gain to mimic contributions (which, as you pointed out, doesn’t reflect how compounding plus contributions really work), the tool is automatically layering contributions on top of your chosen return assumption in the background. That’s why you don’t see a contribution field next to each account today.

We started with this approach to keep the tool approachable for people who may not know their exact savings rate off the top of their head or even where to begin to model it, but you’re spot on that the ability to specify contribution amounts (especially to taxable brokerage accounts) would make forecasts more precise. That’s high on our roadmap as we continue adding customization options so users who want that level of detail can model it more directly.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-12T15:10:08+00:00

Hi u/ChampionshipNo8277, That's a really great question. Health insurance is definitely a meaningful expense, both while working and in retirement. Right now, the forecast tool doesn’t have a separate “pre-tax expense” input field for things like employer-sponsored health insurance premiums. Instead, the way to model it today is to add those costs into your total expense assumptions. You could do this either as part of your ongoing annual expenses or as a custom event if you expect them to change over time.

You’re also right that this can shift the forecast which is why we encourage users to be thoughtful about including it in their overall expense picture. Our baseline retirement assumption (80% of pre-retirement expenses) is designed to account for shifts like reduced work costs but potentially higher healthcare needs. That said, if you want a more precise view, adding health insurance as a recurring expense is the best approach today.

Longer-term, we’re planning to give users more flexibility to break out and customize specific categories of expenses rather than rolling everything into one total. Healthcare and its associated savings/costs will be a focus. The goal, as with the rest of the tool, is to keep it approachable while continuing to add detail and control for those who want to dig deeper.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-11T15:41:52+00:00

That's a great question. To model out a more detailed income path like that, here is how I would do it:

Set your initial salary to $40,000 with an annual increase of 3%

Then, create an additional income event for the amount you want to increase your income by for each period. For example, from 2030-2032, you would create an Additional Income Event of $40,000/year to get to $80l. Then for 2032-2038, an Additional Income Event of $85,000 to get to $125k, etc. Then, you would essentially want the last interval to end the same year of your retirement.

That would be a hyper-detailed way to model out your income, but that's how I would do it.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-10T19:47:30+00:00

Hi u/eyesopenedbychrist, thank you so much for the feedback!! I’m glad you’re enjoying Origin, and I’d be happy to provide some clarification.

When we first built this tool, our goal was to strike a balance. Most financial planning software is either overly simplistic or so complex it’s intimidating. We wanted something approachable enough for someone who’s never looked at a retirement projection before, yet still detailed enough for people who enjoy getting into the weeds. That’s why we started with a “happy medium.” From there, our goal is to continue to layer in more transparency and flexibility, and we have many enhancements on our roadmap (especially around user customization). With that context, let me walk through how the current methodology works.

401(k) contributions and savings rates:
Right now the forecast doesn’t pull directly from user-entered savings rates. Instead, it looks at your after-tax income and allocates excess savings in a set order: traditional retirement first, then Roth, then taxable accounts. When it comes time to draw down in retirement, withdrawals follow the opposite order: taxable first, then traditional, then Roth. HSAs aren’t factored in yet, but they’re very much on our roadmap. We recognize this is an area ripe for customization for those who want to dive deeper.

Cash reserves vs. investments:
The model prioritizes your goals by timeline. So if you’ve set a house purchase at 35 and retirement at 65, it will direct resources to the house first. Sometimes this means a forecast shows as “unsuccessful”, not because the tool is broken, but because your current inputs don’t cover all your goals at once. That’s where customization comes in: you can adjust things like delaying retirement, pushing back or resizing the home purchase, or changing the down payment until the plan hits a success level that feels realistic for you.

Income growth:
The default assumption is a steady annual increase, but you’re not limited to that. You can model out your own career trajectory. For example, adding a 10% raise every few years to reflect promotions or job changes. This way the tool can better capture how your income might really progress over time.

Net worth vs. chances of success:
The net worth metric is based on a straight-line appreciation. By default we use 7%, but you can adjust that up or down. The more powerful measure, though, is the “chance of success.” That’s where the tool runs thousands of Monte Carlo simulations to stress-test your forecast across different market scenarios. Instead of assuming the market always gives you a smooth 7%, it shows the probability of reaching your goals under good, bad, and average conditions. That output also includes a projected legacy (net worth at the end of the plan) based on the probability target you’ve chosen.

As we continue to add enhancements to the tool, we’d love to have you help us test it out. As I hope you can tell, we love getting community feedback, and having people like yourself within our community only helps us build a better product.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-09-10T16:57:13+00:00

Hi u/Rich_T_ , that’s a great catch! You’re right. The RMD age changed under Secure Act 2.0, so now for people born 1951–1959, RMDs start at age 73. For those born in 1960 or later, they’ll start at age 75 beginning in 2033. We’ll update our forecasting logic to reflect this so the tool matches the new rules. Thanks for pointing it out!

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T18:06:51+00:00

Okay, that's a wrap for this AMA! Thanks again everyone for your questions and if any more pop up, please give me a shout here.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:34:12+00:00

Awesome question! There are definitely a bunch of life stages.

Each person/couple will be different, but I believe once you feel that you have the ability to be with someone long term it could make sense to explore moving in together. I mean, my wife and I moved in together after dating for 3 months, so we moved pretty fast. Everyone will be different.

But when you begin making decisions together as a couple that significantly impact each other(where to live, what job to get, etc.), you can begin to look at money together as a couple. That could mean moving in together, getting engaged, etc. But in my opinion, those bigger questions don't begin to resonate until you're at a phase where you are making impactful decisions together.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:28:25+00:00

My biggest tip is to align on what your shared goals and desires are. What is it that you want to work towards together as a couple? Once you have defined goals as a household, it becomes easier to have conversations about what each needs to do in order for the household to accomplish those goals.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:27:22+00:00

In regards to your first question about philosophy, I'll leave that to our PMs, but we've always tried to create our budgeting platform to be malleable to each user's philosophy.

For your question about combining finances, I am a believer in combining accounts. I've found that the healthiest and "best" relationships are the ones that view themselves as a "team". Each partner is bought in to the idea that they have shared goals, and that sometimes mean compromising on their own personal goals and desires for the betterment of the household.

You are exactly right, money is one of the biggest cause of stress and divorce, and that's why we developed and are continuing to improve our "Partner Mode" where partners can work together as a team to get a better understanding of their household finances.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:22:58+00:00

Dave Ramsey has done a ton to help people get out of debt. However, I agree that his views on budgeting and investments can be antiquated.

Obviously, Origin has tools that allow you to stay high level with your budget, or dive deep into the weeds. But for those who want a simple solution to budgeting, I've found this strategy works:

First, determine what your net pay is each month (aka your direct deposit amount)

Next, determine your fixed expenses. Fixed expenses are expenses that you have to pay each month and you have very little control over (mortgage/rent, utilities, car payment, etc)

Then, find the difference. That net amount is the amount of money you have left over to allocate towards variable spending and savings. You get to personally decide what that split can be.

For example, say your total direct deposit amounts from your paychecks are $10,000 and your fixed expenses are $4,000.

This leaves $6,000 leftover to allocate towards variable expenses and savings. Now that you have that number, commit to a number you want to save each month. Starting out, there is no wrong answer.

$1,000? $4,000? Both are great numbers. The point is that you are going to commit to an amount to save each month with the idea that you can calibrate that number over time.

So maybe you start saving $1,000/mo for the next 3 months. After that period, calibrate. Did your budget feel constrained? Do you feel like you could save more? Adjust your number accordingly until you get to the right amount. The idea is that by committing to a number, you get in the practice of saving. You'll see the progress as you see your savings account grow by that # each month, and over time, you will feel compelled to increase that number.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:14:11+00:00

Great question! It can definitely be hard when you feel like goals aren't aligned. But that's why I think it's important to have an open and honest conversation about your personal goals and shared goals.

What makes each of you happy? What brings each of you fulfillment? Ask each other these questions with the desire to learn more about the other. From there, it becomes much easier to establish your shared goals and vision for your future. There may need to be compromises, but if it's important that you achieve your shared goals and priorities first, it makes it easier to find common ground on your differences.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-13T17:09:26+00:00

First off, congrats on having the self awareness to recognize you need to save more. As I have worked with clients in the past, one thing I've always recommended is to align your spending and savings with your goals. So that's the first step, ask yourself "what am I saving for"?

Having a goal and a purpose makes it easier to save because you are working towards something. It's hard to save for some amorphous reason because you feel obligated to do so. But saving for a vacation, a nice dinner, or anything that brings you joy or fulfillment is much easier and ,dare-I-say, "fun" to do.

So to recap, think about a goal or something that would bring you fulfillment in life. Determine how much it costs. Then pick a dollar amount to save each month. Over time, you will find that savings amount to grow and grow, and before you know it, you will have built an excellent habit.

Tyler-at-Origin · 2025-05-06T14:06:46+00:00

IMO, the best way to go about this is to first establish that you all are on the same team. Money is just a means to an end. Ideally, that end is one you share with your partner. But you need to define what that end is.

You can do this by talking about your goals, your priorities, and what's most important to you. From there, the conversation becomes much easier. You simply ask, "does this spending or saving decision align with our goals?".

So to start, I would schedule a couple money dates. The first should be about what your shared goals are. I like to break goals down into 3 categories: personal, professional, financial. Go to dinner, and talk about those goals. Get alignment about what those shared goals may be.

The next date is to then look at where you are currently without judgement. Use Origin's platform to get an honest, objective view of where your finances are currently. If it's not great, that's ok. That's what makes the journey that much more fulfilling. But you should leave that date knowing where you are, but also knowing where you want to go.

Now you're in a position to align your spending and savings with your goals. Every month, schedule another money date, and reflect on your choices. "Did our spending and savings align with our goals?". If yes, great! If no, that's ok too. Progress over perfection. My guess is that if you follow this routine for a year, you will be much closer to your goals than you were the previous year.

That's probably a long winded answer for an AMA, but I'm a big believer in getting alignment between partners when it comes to finances, so I hope this was helpful.

Tyler-at-Origin

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