The Household tab is where you manage the people and entities in a client's file. You'll find it under Profile > Household inside any client. This is where you add, edit, and remove adults, children, businesses, and trusts, and it's also where you configure household-level settings like state, tax filing status, and whether the Giving section shows up on the Cashflow tab.
Household data feeds into almost every other part of Kerdora. Insurance calculators pull age and income from adults. Education goals link to specific children. Tax scenarios use the filing status. Assets and liabilities have owners. Getting this tab right early makes everything else work better.
What's on the Household Tab
The tab has two main sections:
Household Info — Fields that apply to the household as a whole:
Household Name — The name of the client file (e.g., "Smith Family")
State — The client's state of residence, used in tax calculations
Tax Filing Status — Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, or Head of Household
Giving — Toggle that enables the Giving section on the Cashflow tab. Turn it on if the household does meaningful charitable giving you want to track and plan around.
Household Members — The list of all entities in the household. Each one falls into one of four types: Adult, Child, Business, or Trust.
The Four Entity Types
Adults
Adults are the primary people in the household. Every client file must have at least one adult, and you can't delete the last one.
Fields:
Name — Full name
Birthday — Date of birth (used to calculate age for retirement planning, insurance, etc.)
Sex — Male, Female, or Non-binary
Adults also carry Decision Makers data used in estate planning. Each adult has their own set of four roles plus successors:
Financial POA and successor
Healthcare Proxy and successor
Executor and successor
These live on the Estate Planning tab but are tied to the adult on the Household tab.
Adults are the only entity type that can be invited to the Client Portal. Portal invite controls also live on this tab, right on the adult's card.
Children
Children represent dependents in the household. When you add a child, Kerdora offers to automatically create an Education goal for them.
Fields:
Name — Full name
Birthday — Date of birth (used to calculate age for education goal timing)
Sex — Male, Female, or Non-binary
Create Education Goal? — Toggle that auto-creates an Education goal linked to this child
Businesses
Businesses track business entities owned by household members. They're simpler than adults or children.
Fields:
Business Name — The name of the business
Businesses can own assets and liabilities, and they show up as an owner option when you're assigning accounts.
Trusts
Trusts work the same way as businesses on the Household tab. They track trust entities for estate planning purposes.
Fields:
Trust Name — The name of the trust
Additional trust details (trustee, successor trustee, beneficiaries, funding status) live on the Estate Planning tab. Like businesses, trusts can be assigned as owners of assets and liabilities.
Adding a Household Member
Go to Profile > Household
Click the Add Member button
Choose the type from the dropdown: Adult, Child, Business, or Trust
Fill in the required fields (name is always required; adults and children also need birthday and sex)
Click Add \[Type\] to save
For children, the "Create Education Goal?" toggle is on by default. If you leave it on, Kerdora automatically creates an Education goal linked to that child under Planning > Goals.
Editing a Household Member
All fields are editable inline, directly on the member's card. Click into any field to update it. Changes save automatically.
Deleting a Household Member
Hover over a member's card and click the trash icon to delete them. Two rules apply:
You can't delete the last adult. Every client file needs at least one.
If the member owns anything, you'll need to reassign it first. Kerdora checks whether the entity is linked to any assets, liabilities, income sources, insurance policies, education goals, or tasks. If it is, a reassignment modal appears showing everything connected to that person. You pick who should take over each item before the delete goes through.
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If a household has two adults and you're deleting one, you'll see a "Joint" option for assets and liabilities. This assigns shared ownership rather than giving everything to the remaining adult.
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How Household Data Connects to Other Modules
Household members aren't just a contact list. They're referenced throughout Kerdora:
Goals — Retirement goals calculate years to retirement from the oldest adult's age. Education goals link to a specific child and use their age to determine the savings timeline.
Insurance — The life insurance calculator pulls each adult's age, income, and work years. Disability insurance calculates income replacement needs based on the insured adult's earnings.
Taxes — Tax scenarios use the household's filing status and state. Income is split between entity-specific (per household member) and household-level.
Cashflow — The Giving toggle on Household Info controls whether the Giving section appears on the Cashflow tab.
Assets and Liabilities — Every account has an owner. When you add an asset or liability, you pick which household member (or "Joint" for shared accounts) owns it.
Income — Each income source is linked to a specific household member.
Tasks — Tasks can be assigned to specific household members.
Estate Planning — Estate planning data is tracked per entity, and each adult's decision makers (POA, healthcare proxy, executor) flow through here.
Portal Invites
Adults can be invited to the Client Portal directly from the Household tab. Each adult's card shows their portal status:
Not linked — The adult hasn't been invited or hasn't created their account yet. You can generate a signup link or copy an existing one.
Linked — The adult has created their portal account. Their email is displayed, and you can revoke access if needed.
When inviting, you choose an onboarding mode:
Guided Onboarding — The client walks through a step-by-step setup process
Straight to Overview — The client skips onboarding and goes directly to their Guide
For more details on portal invites, see the "Inviting a Client to the Portal" article.