[dndn1]

Author here -

This blog post is a 'narrative visualization' to show some nice savings incentives visualized in a chart.

I think these are important to have a good understanding about when they are relevant, but the bigger reason I made this is to explore the communication style applied to models and to get closer to the technical patterns to create them.

Since I make calculang [1], all the savings projection calculations are described using it [2] (including income tax calculations: here an example of composition in calculang models).

calculang transpiles into a pure functional JS module, and here I interact with it using reactive OJS and the closeread extension for Quarto [3], plus a reactive Vega visualization.

The programming logic mostly is: Vega signals and calculang parameters condition on a `progress` value that updates as the user scrolls.

It was nice to make: minus no fast reload I would say. I'm considering streamlining some tools with fast reload to facilitate building this type of output for calculang models - like I said I'm interested in the narrative style applied to models, and pure FP calculang and reactive FRP tools around it help a lot.

[1] https://calculang.dev

[2] https://calculang.dev/examples-viewer?id=pension-calculator <3 separation of concerns

[3] https://closeread.dev/

[smoyer]

The harder part to visualize is how the value changes as you draw money out of it after retirement ... And especially how much you should withdraw per month since that requires guessing how long you'll live (I don't have this problem).

[dndn1]

Post-retirement is definitely harder. There are also usually rules about what's allowable with the money that built up with tax relief and such. Since these rules differ from country to country even the starting point of deciding what to model is hard.

Here in Ireland I think in order to get some flexibility with a reasonably sized pension you need to buy an annuity - a guaranteed income paid from some insurance company, up to some amount.

Some day I might settle on some scenario/s to model and take on the visualization challenge... For now hopefully people - especially those who provide the services, can assess if it can be helpful!