Using Taiga Finance
Home purchase savings
Read the home purchase savings planner under Scenarios, from the savings it starts on to the renting and owning ledger.
Home purchase savings answers two questions a renter asks before buying. When do the savings cover a purchase, and what would owning cost each month against the rent? It opens from its tile under Scenarios. It reads the savings funds you tick, the Plan lines that fund them and your housing commitments on Recurring. You type the home: its price, down payment, rate and term. Three figures lead: Ready to buy, Cash needed and Monthly cost of owning. A move on the Scenario card, such as an extra amount each month or a later purchase, reads against the plan without the moves. Nothing here writes to a fund, your plan or a recurring commitment.
What is the home purchase savings planner?
Section titled “What is the home purchase savings planner?”The planner runs your savings and the price forward on one monthly clock. The funds grow at the return, with each month’s saving added, and the price grows at the appreciation rate. The first month the funds cover the cash needed at that month’s price is the ready month. From that month on, the planner sets owning against renting for 15 years.
What does the Savings card hold?
Section titled “What does the Savings card hold?”The rail opens on two neutral cards, Savings and then Home. The Savings card states what you are saving from.
- Saved is a locked figure: the balances of the funds ticked in the Savings funds list below it. A fund whose name has the word house, home, condo or down payment opens ticked, and with no such fund none is. Ticking or clearing a fund changes the total. The Savings ↗ door in the card’s header opens Savings, where the balances themselves change — see Savings.
- Saving is the monthly amount going in, read from your plan’s lines for the picked funds. It follows the ticks until you type over it, and ↻ puts the synced figure back. With no Plan line behind a picked fund, it opens on an example $1,500 a month.
- Rent is the monthly total of your housing commitments on Recurring, a yearly or quarterly bill counted at its monthly share — see Recurring. With no housing commitment, it opens on an example $2,400 a month.
A partner’s personal fund is not listed, and a Plan line you cannot see counts as no line.
What does the Home card hold?
Section titled “What does the Home card hold?”The Home card is the home you are pricing, typed by you. It opens on a working example of a $500,000 price, 20% down, a 6.5% rate and a 30-year term.
| Field | Unit | Opens on |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $ | $500,000 |
| Down payment | % of the price | 20% |
| Rate | % | 6.5% |
| Term | yrs | 30 |
| Principal & interest | $ per month, locked | Computed from the four above |
| Property tax | %/yr of the value | 1.1% |
| Insurance | $/mo | $150 |
| HOA | $/mo | $0 |
| Upkeep | %/yr of the value | 1% |
| Closing costs | % of the price | 3% |
Principal & interest reads the home at today’s price. The three figures read it at the price on the purchase date, which has grown by then.
What are the assumptions?
Section titled “What are the assumptions?”Each rate is one flat figure for the whole run, and an edited row shows ↻ to restore its default.
| Assumption | Default | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| Reserve | 3 mo of owning | Months of the cost of owning kept in savings after closing. |
| Appreciation | 3%/yr | The yearly rate applied to the price. |
| Rent growth | 3%/yr | The yearly rate on today’s rent, compounded monthly like the price. |
| Return | 5%/yr | The yearly return on the savings while you save, and on the cash kept invested if you rent. |
| Selling cost | 6% | Agent and transfer costs as a share of the home’s value at a sale. |
What moves can I model?
Section titled “What moves can I model?”Each move is a block on the teal Scenario card. A block with nothing typed changes nothing.
| Block | Fields | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Extra monthly | Amount | Adds to Saving every month. More than one can run at once. |
| One-time payment | Amount; In (blank is today) | Adds a lump to the savings from that month on. More than one can be set. |
| Lower down payment | Down payment | Buys with a smaller down payment than the Home card’s. Its caption reads the share and any PMI, such as 10% down · PMI $201/mo. |
| Later purchase | On (blank is today) | Searches for the ready month from that month on. Its caption reads the ready month and the price the savings reach, or No change when the savings are ready later anyway. |
When an RSU grant has a vest with a share price on file in the next 12 months, the first One-time payment block you add opens on it. Its Amount is the vest’s estimated value before tax, and In is the vest’s month. Its caption reads From your equity grant: RSU vest, before tax. Any amount can be typed over it, and ↻ brings the vest back. A second block opens blank. See Equity.
The planner has no loan moves such as extra principal or buying down the rate. Mortgage payoff models extra payments, a refinance and a recast.
What do the figures show?
Section titled “What do the figures show?”Each figure’s working opens on the price on the purchase date. While a move is on, a figure it changes carries a change line against the plan without the moves, such as 1 yr 2 mo sooner than without the moves.
- Ready to buy is the first month your savings reach the cash needed, with the price rising meanwhile. Under it, the line reads how far off that is, or you have what you’ll need when the savings cover it today.
- Cash needed is the down payment, the closing costs and the reserve, at the price on the purchase date. Its line reads what is saved today beside the price then.
- Monthly cost of owning is principal and interest, property tax, insurance, HOA, upkeep and any PMI, at the price then. Its line reads the difference over or under the rent in the same month.
What do the charts and the ledger show?
Section titled “What do the charts and the ledger show?”- Savings and cash needed draws the savings month by month under a dashed line for the cash needed at each month’s price. The ready month is marked on it. For each of the first five years, the chart’s readout adds Price your savings reach, the price the savings would cover then.
- Ready date by extra monthly saving draws one lane per flat extra of $0, $500, $1,000 and $2,000 a month. Each lane runs on the plan without its moves. The base row is Current plan, and an Extra monthly you hold is marked.
- Net cost over time sets owning against renting from the closing, year by year. A marker reads Owning costs less from the year the two lines cross. With no crossing, the note reads Renting costs less for all 15 years, on these assumptions.
- Year by year is the schedule behind that chart. It opens on an At closing row, then a row for each year after it, labelled by the year it ends in. Its columns are Rent paid, Owning paid, Equity if sold, Owning, net to date and Renting, net to date.
The net cost of owning is everything paid out, from the down payment and closing costs to each month’s costs, less Equity if sold. Equity if sold is the home’s value after the selling cost, less the loan balance. The net cost of renting is the rent paid less the growth on the down payment and closing costs, kept invested at the return. The monthly difference between renting and owning is not invested. A year’s row opens to its Equity if sold and Renting, net to date working.
What this plan doesn’t capture lists the standing caveats: No income taxes, No rate forecast and Retirement not counted. Under 20% down, a fourth explains that PMI runs at 0.5% a year of the loan until the balance is 80% of the purchase price. The planner ends on the disclaimer every calculator carries — see Scenarios.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”Ready to buy shows a dash.
Section titled “Ready to buy shows a dash.”At this pace the savings do not reach the cash needed within 50 years. The dash’s tooltip, Why no figure, reads not within 50 years at this pace, and the caveat Not ready within 50 years joins the list. Cash needed, Monthly cost of owning, Net cost over time and Year by year are then read at today’s price, or at the Later purchase month’s. A higher Saving, more funds ticked or a lower Price brings the ready month earlier.
Savings and cash needed is empty.
Section titled “Savings and cash needed is empty.”Saved and Saving are both $0, so there is no line to draw. The chart reads no savings picked and nothing saved each month. Tick a fund in Savings funds or type a Saving amount.
Lower down payment reads “Not lower than” a share.
Section titled “Lower down payment reads “Not lower than” a share.”The share it names is the Home card’s Down payment. The block’s figure is not below it, so the move changes nothing. Type a smaller share in the block, or lower the Home card’s Down payment itself.
Later purchase reads “No change”.
Section titled “Later purchase reads “No change”.”The savings are ready after that month anyway, so the ready month stays where it was. Only a month later than the current Ready to buy moves it.
A synced figure doesn’t match its source.
Section titled “A synced figure doesn’t match its source.”The figure was typed over, or no source exists for it. A typed-over figure shows ↻, which puts the synced value back. A figure with no ↻ is the example. No Plan line funds the picked funds, or no housing commitment is on Recurring.
What does a saved plan keep?
Section titled “What does a saved plan keep?”The ticks, the Home card and the moves. The balances are read again each time it opens, and a fund you can no longer see drops out. Saving and Rent re-sync from today’s figures unless you typed over them. Saving and loading work as on every planner — see Scenarios.
Does the planner count income taxes?
Section titled “Does the planner count income taxes?”No. It counts no mortgage-interest deduction and no tax on investment growth or on a gain from a sale. Property tax is counted, from the Home card’s rate.
Does a future rate change show up?
Section titled “Does a future rate change show up?”No. The rate typed on the Home card holds for the whole term, even when the purchase is years away.
Does saving for a home change my retirement plan?
Section titled “Does saving for a home change my retirement plan?”No. Nothing here writes to Retirement savings, and the caveats say the effect on retirement isn’t modelled. See Scenarios.