ProjectionLab – Financial Planning Tool

TL;DR

TL;DR: ProjectionLab is a browser-based financial simulator for retirement and early financial independence planning — no spreadsheet formulas, just clear projections.

Source and Accuracy Notes

⚠️ This section is MANDATORY. All links must be verified from actual source, not guessed.

• Project page: projectionlab.com ← MUST visit and verify
• License: Proprietary SaaS (no open-source license verified — the product is a hosted service)
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36669156 — 766 points, Jul 2023
• ARR milestone: projectionlab.com/blog/we-reached-1m-arr-with-zero-funding — $1M ARR, bootstrapped

What Is ProjectionLab?

ProjectionLab is a web-based personal finance simulator focused on retirement and financial independence planning. Rather than requiring users to build their own spreadsheet models, it provides interactive tools to project portfolio growth, withdrawal strategies, and tax implications over time.

The product targets three groups:

• Early retirement seekers planning FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) paths
• Indie developers evaluating the financial viability of going solo
• General users who want a clearer picture of their financial future beyond basic calculators

The product launched on Hacker News in July 2023, reaching 766 points and generating widespread discussion among the developer community. By 2026, it crossed $1M ARR with zero external funding — a rare bootstrapping outcome for a B2C SaaS in the personal finance space.

Setup Workflow

ProjectionLab is a fully hosted web application. There is no self-hosted option or installation step required.

Step 1: Create an Account

Navigate to projectionlab.com and sign up. The service offers a free tier with limited projections, and a paid tier for full access to all features including Monte Carlo simulations, tax optimization, and multi-account aggregation.

Step 2: Connect Accounts (Optional)

ProjectionLab supports linking external financial accounts for automatic portfolio tracking:

• Brokerage accounts (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, etc.)
• Retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth IRA)
• Bank accounts for cash flow tracking

Manual entry is also supported if you prefer not to connect.

Step 3: Configure Your Scenario

1. Set your current portfolio value and asset allocation
2. Define income sources (salary, side income, freelance)
3. Set withdrawal rate assumptions
4. Choose projection period (e.g., 30–50 years)
5. Run the simulation

Step 4: Analyze Results

The dashboard displays:

• Probability distributions showing range of outcomes
• Withdrawal sustainability over time
• Tax burden estimates under different scenarios
• Monte Carlo simulations for market volatility

Deeper Analysis

Why ProjectionLab Stands Out

Most personal finance tools either oversimplify (basic compound interest calculators) or require significant spreadsheet expertise. ProjectionLab occupies a middle ground — accessible enough for a developer with no finance background, but detailed enough to model real-world complexity like tax drag, sequence-of-returns risk, and variable withdrawal strategies.

Key Features

• Monte Carlo simulation — runs thousands of market scenarios to give probability ranges rather than a single point estimate
• Tax-aware withdrawal sequencing — optimizes which accounts to draw from in which order to minimize tax liability
• Social Security / pension integration — models guaranteed income streams alongside portfolio withdrawals
• What-if scenario comparison — compare multiple plans side by side (e.g., “retire at 45 vs. 55”)
• Mobile-responsive — works on desktop and mobile browsers, no native app required

Business Model

ProjectionLab is bootstrapped — $1M ARR with zero VC funding as of 2026. The founder has written publicly about the journey on the company blog, sharing revenue milestones and conversion metrics. This is notable in a space dominated by established players like Personal Capital (now Empower) and YNAB, both of which took external funding.

Pricing

The free tier includes basic projection tools. Paid plans unlock full Monte Carlo analysis, tax optimization, and multi-scenario comparison. Exact pricing is available on the pricing page.

Practical Evaluation Checklist

• [ ] Account creation and onboarding — under 5 minutes
• [ ] Manual portfolio entry works without linking external accounts
• [ ] Monte Carlo simulation runs within seconds
• [ ] Scenario comparison is intuitive and visually clear
• [ ] Mobile layout renders correctly
• [ ] Data export available (CSV / PDF reports)

Security Notes

• Financial data is sensitive. Review ProjectionLab’s privacy policy before connecting real accounts.
• If connecting via Plaid or similar aggregation, check what data is shared and for how long.
• For the highest security, use manual entry for portfolio values rather than account linking.
• Two-factor authentication is recommended on the linked financial accounts themselves, regardless of ProjectionLab’s own security posture.

FAQ

Q: Is ProjectionLab open source? A: No. It is a proprietary SaaS product. The codebase is not publicly available.

Q: Can I self-host ProjectionLab? A: No. There is no self-hosted option. It runs entirely in the browser as a hosted service.

Q: How does ProjectionLab compare to Engage_WRITE or Personal Capital? A: ProjectionLab is focused specifically on retirement and FIRE projection modeling with Monte Carlo simulation. Personal Capital (now Empower) is more of a full-suite wealth management tool with net worth tracking, investment fees analysis, and advisor matching. YNAB is a budgeting tool. ProjectionLab does not replace either — it complements them by providing deeper projection modeling.

Q: Does it support non-US users? A: The tool is primarily designed for US tax and investment structures. Non-US users should verify that the tax models apply to their country’s system before relying on projections.

Q: Is there an API? A: As of the last check, ProjectionLab does not expose a public API.

Conclusion

ProjectionLab fills a specific gap in the personal finance tooling landscape — it is to retirement planning what a good CI system is to deployment: something most people could build in a spreadsheet, but would rather not. The bootstrapped $1M ARR milestone demonstrates genuine product-market fit in a space where many fintech products fail to cross the initial traction gap.

For indie developers evaluating the financial runway to go full-time solo, or anyone serious about FIRE planning beyond basic calculators, ProjectionLab is worth the subscription cost. The Monte Carlo simulation alone provides more decision-relevant information than a dozen generic compound interest graphs.

Try it at projectionlab.com.