What is a commitment?

Some things in a plan are not wrong figures but a direction of travel: your savings are projected to run out, your savings rate is low, your withdrawal rate is high, or the plan lasts with almost nothing to spare. No breakdown fixes those — only a change in what you do. A commitment is how you write that change down: a target, and a date by which you mean to reach it.

They appear in the Your commitments lane on the Action Items page. When there are none it says: "Nothing committed yet. When something in your plan needs to move, this is where you write down what you are actually going to do about it."

Making one

1. Press Commit on the item.
2. The form is headed with what it asks — for example Cut monthly spending by, Raise your savings rate to or Work until — and shows Right now, the figure today, and a Target already filled with a suggestion.
3. Change the target to one you believe you will keep. Every character is editable.
4. Set By when. It starts one month from today.
5. Press Commit.

Where it can, the form shows what the suggested target is worth before you confirm — how much your projected savings at your planning age would change. That figure describes the suggestion, not a number you type, and the form says so.

What happens afterwards

Making a commitment does not change your plan. As the form says: "Nothing checks this for you. Your plan will compare it against what you enter next time you update that field, and tell you plainly how it went." The card stays in the lane with its date and, once there is something to compare, a pill:

• On track — you reached it: "You hit this. Your plan already reflects it."
• Partial — resume — you are part of the way, with the share, and a nudge to re-commit or adjust the target.
• Check-in due — nothing has moved yet. If the date has passed it says so, rather than hiding it.

Press Adjust to change the target or the date. A commitment never expires on its own: a missed one is still true information.