Cash Flow Chart: Total and Basic Need

There are two need lines on the Cash Flow chart: Total Need and Basic Need

 

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The black need line is the Total Need line. This shows the portion of the inflows that is allocated to expenses and savings. Its position is based on expenses, taxes, planned savings, investment and retirement contributions in a given year. This is total allocated income.

The light blue need line is the Basic Need line. This show the portion of these inflows that are being used to cover only basic expenses and taxes. The basic need line excludes leisure, luxury, milestone and legacy expenses as well as contributions to pensions, savings and investments. 

Note that the light blue line will not show in any given year if the basic need and the total need are the same in that year.

Any unallocated surplus is shown above the total need line. Unallocated surplus is the excess of income over the total need and may be deposited by default into the owner's cash sweep account (e.g. John's Cash) or considered spent, depending on the nature of the inflow (whether habitual or lump sum), and the software's calculation settings. You can read more about that here>>