I made this suggestion in the "feedback" part of the program; but thought I'd bring it up here for discussion.
I'm recommending for a feature improvements: On the Monte Carlo results page, add columns to existing table of numerical results listing TOTAL SPENDING, in addition to FINAL SAVINGS that is there now.
The core idea is this: Users in evaluating a retirement plan, value Final Savings (if interested in legacy) and/or Total Spending (if interested in consumption). Many are interested in both (the sum of both).
Total Spending=the sum of yearly spending. I would argue that the even more important is the grand sum of Discetionary or Variable expenses, as these are the discretionary monies that one would spend for enjoyment rather than sustenance. Other things being equal a plan that allows $50,000 a year average for 40 years of discretionary spending is better than a plan that allows $20,000 a year average.
The graphs already show Savings and Expenses, but the table only shows End of Life Savings. In addition to the "grand total" of monte carlo and deterministic spending during the whole plan, the deterministic and monte carlo median spendings would also be useful.
So in sum, the columns I'm recommended be added to existing table or in a table of its own: (1) total and (2) median lifetime spending (monte carlo and deterministic), and also (3) total and (4) median discretionary/variable spending (monte carlo and deterministic).
And (5) listing the sum of the deterministic EOLV together with Total deterministic Consumption would be useful for anyone who values both legacy and consumption, to compare overall plan utility, taking into account both legacy and consumptions in a single $ metric. For instance, a 30 y plan that allows $50,000 per year average discretionary consumption + $500,000 legacy ($2 million total) might be better than a plan that allows $30,000 per year average plus a $600,000 legacy ($1.5 million total).
This wouldn't be a major project since all the data is already in Pralana and it would just be a matter of adding the columns with simple addition.
