Set the rate of return for investment accounts in the lifetime plan

Click Planning.
Click Planning Tools, and then click Lifetime Planner.
In the left pane, click Expected return, and then click Before retirement or After retirement.

Click Planning.
Click Planning Tools, and then click Lifetime Planner.
In the left pane, click Expected return, and then click Before retirement or After retirement.
Do one of the following:
- To set a specific rate, click Use custom rate of return I'd like to achieve. Click Simple change, enter a rate, and then click OK.
- To set a historical rate, click Use the rate Money estimates based on the historical market performance of investments like mine.

You can choose a different return rate for different kinds of accounts, but not for individual investments. It's impossible to meaningfully forecast the returns for a specific investment. The important factor for your lifetime plan isn't your return on an individual investment, but your overall return across your entire portfolio.

The default rate Money uses is based on a broad variety of investments and their returns over the past 50 years. Use this rate if you haven't really started investing yet, if you're not sure of the rate you hope to achieve, or if you want to assume an average growth rate for all your investments.
When Money estimates a return rate based on investments like yours, it looks only at your current investments. Use this rate if you don't think you'll change your investing strategy during the period you're considering (either before or after retirement) or if you want to see what is likely to happen if you just sit tight.
Remember that you set separate expected returns for your before-retirement and after-retirement periods. So, when you're choosing a rate, choose one appropriate for the period you're considering.

Because of compounded returns, even small changes in your rate of return can have huge effects on your cumulative savings over time.

If you're not sure how to choose an appropriate rate, use the Money defaults. When you review your Action plan, check to see whether you feel comfortable with the targeted asset allocation shown there. If you don't, you can go back to the Expected return pages and specify another rate.