The Versatile Calculator is Kerdora's most powerful standalone tool. It lets you build financial projections, run Monte Carlo simulations, solve for unknown variables, and compare multiple scenarios side by side. You'll find it under the calculator icon in the top-right corner of any client file.
Click the calculator icon, then select Versatile from the dropdown. It opens as a full page with a settings panel on the left and your results (summary cards, chart, and year-by-year table) on the right.
The Layout
The Versatile Calculator has two main areas:
Left panel — Four settings sections stacked vertically: User Settings, Payment, Return, and Other Settings. This is where you configure the projection.
Right side — Three summary cards at the top (Ending Balance, Total Payments, CAGR), followed by a balance chart and a detailed year-by-year table below.
The Solve controls and a Reset Inputs button sit above the chart, to the right of the summary cards.
User Settings
This section controls the basics of your projection:
Present Value — The starting balance. This is the amount you're beginning with today.
End Value — A target ending amount. This is only used when you use the Solve feature (covered below).
Start Age — The age to begin tracking in the table's Age column.
Years — The total number of years to project.
Payment Settings
Payments represent money going in or out each year (contributions, withdrawals, etc.). There are two modes, toggled with the Simple / Schedule switch at the top of this section.
Simple Mode
Payment ($) — A fixed annual payment amount. Positive numbers are contributions; negative numbers are withdrawals.
Start Year — The year payments begin.
Increase (%) — An annual growth rate applied to the payment amount. Set this to model raises, inflation adjustments, or increasing withdrawals.
Timing — Whether payments happen at the Beginning of Year (BoY) or End of Year (EoY).
There's also a small grid icon next to the Payment field. Clicking it copies the current payment amount to every year in the Schedule view, which is a quick way to seed a schedule before making year-by-year adjustments.
Schedule Mode
Click Open Years to open a modal where you can set a specific dollar amount for each year individually. This is useful when payments aren't uniform (like modeling a large contribution in year 3, then smaller ones after that).
Inside the modal:
Increase (%) — Set a growth rate at the top.
Year-by-year inputs — Enter the payment for each year manually.
Arrow-down button — Click this next to any year to auto-fill all subsequent years using the Increase % growth rate starting from that year's amount. This saves time when you want a payment to grow at a steady rate from a specific starting point.
Return Settings
The Return section controls what investment return assumptions the calculator uses. There are three modes, toggled with the Simple / Schedule / Random switch.
Simple
A single fixed annual return rate applied to every year. Enter it in the Return (%) field.
Like the Payment section, there's a grid icon that copies this rate to every year in the Schedule view.
Schedule
Click Open Years to enter a custom return rate for each individual year. This is useful for modeling specific market assumptions or back-testing historical sequences.
Random (Monte Carlo)
This is where it gets powerful. Random mode runs 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations using your inputs and displays the results as percentile outcomes.
You set two inputs:
Mean — The expected average annual return (e.g., 8%).
Std. Dev. — The standard deviation (volatility) of returns (e.g., 15%).
The calculator generates 1,000 random return sequences based on a normal distribution, ranks them by compound growth, and pulls out 5 percentile scenarios:
Worst (1st percentile) — shown in red
25th percentile — shown in orange
Median (50th percentile) — shown in light blue
75th percentile — shown in blue
Best (99th percentile) — shown in green
All 5 lines appear on the chart simultaneously, so you can see the full range of outcomes at a glance.
Sequence shown — This dropdown controls which percentile's data appears in the summary cards and the year-by-year table below. The chart always shows all 5 lines, but the table can only display one sequence at a time. Switch between Worst, 25th, Median, 75th, and Best to inspect the details of each scenario.
Rerun — Click this button to generate a completely new set of 1,000 random sequences. The results will shift because the underlying random returns change. This is useful if you want to confirm that a result isn't just an artifact of one particular random draw.
Other Settings
Three additional inputs that apply across the entire projection:
Taxes (%) — A tax rate applied to investment returns each year.
Inflation (%) — An inflation rate used in real-return calculations.
Investment Fee (%) — An annual fee deducted from the portfolio (half applied at the beginning of the year, half at the end).
Summary Cards
Three cards sit above the chart, giving you a quick read on the projection:
Ending Balance — The portfolio value at the end of the final year. Turns red if the portfolio is depleted.
Total Payments — The sum of all payments across all years.
CAGR — Compound Annual Growth Rate across the full time horizon. Hover over the question mark icon for a tooltip explanation.
The Chart
A line chart showing the projected balance over time.
In Simple or Schedule return mode, you'll see a single blue line.
In Random (Monte Carlo) mode, you'll see 5 colored lines representing each percentile scenario.
Click the expand icon in the top-right corner of the chart to open it in a larger modal view. You can also collapse the chart using the chevron arrow if you want to focus on the table.
The Year-by-Year Table
Below the chart is a detailed table with one row per year. The columns are:
Column | What It Shows |
Year | The projection year (1, 2, 3, etc.) |
Age | Based on the Start Age you set |
Beginning Balance | Portfolio value at the start of the year |
Payment | The contribution or withdrawal for that year |
Return (%) | The return rate applied that year |
Return ($) | The dollar amount of investment return |
Investment Fees | Fees deducted that year |
Taxes | Taxes on returns for that year |
Ending Balance | Portfolio value at the end of the year |
If the portfolio runs out of money in any year, the Ending Balance turns red and shows a tooltip: "Account depleted."
You can click any column header to highlight that column, and click any row to highlight it. This makes it easier to scan specific data points in a large table.
Solve
The Solve feature lets you work backward. Instead of providing all the inputs and seeing the output, you set a target End Value and let the calculator figure out one missing variable.
Choose what to solve for from the Solve for dropdown:
Rate of Return — What annual return rate would you need to reach the End Value?
Present Value — How much would you need to start with today?
Payment — How much would you need to contribute annually?
Then click Solve. The calculator runs an iterative search to find the answer and updates the relevant input field automatically.
Set your End Value before clicking Solve. The End Value is the target the solver is trying to reach.
Scenarios
Scenarios let you compare different sets of assumptions side by side within the same calculator. Each scenario is a separate tab along the top of the page.
Add a scenario — Click the + icon to create a new one. It starts with default values.
Rename — Double-click any scenario tab to edit its name inline. Press Enter to save or Escape to cancel.
Duplicate — Click the copy icon to duplicate the current scenario. You'll be prompted to name the copy. This is the fastest way to create a variation (like "Conservative" vs. "Aggressive").
Delete — Click the red trash icon to remove the current scenario. You'll get a confirmation prompt. You can't delete the last remaining scenario.
Switch — Click any tab to switch between scenarios.
Each scenario has its own independent set of inputs, chart, and table. Switching tabs instantly loads that scenario's projection.
Printing and Fullscreen
Print — Click the printer icon in the scenario bar to generate a printable version of the current scenario. It opens in a new tab.
Fullscreen — Click the expand icon in the scenario bar to enter fullscreen mode, which removes the sidebar and header for a larger workspace. Click the collapse icon to exit.
Reset Inputs
Click Reset Inputs (above the chart, next to the Solve controls) to clear all settings back to their defaults. This gives you a clean slate without creating a new scenario.