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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]how come all these tools are income based not spending based? [/quote]

There are plenty that are spending based--rules of thumb like the average person spends 85% of their final income in retirement.  But if you are 32 years old it's a bit hard to project what you will be spending when you are 70, so income benchmarks --based on average patterns--along the way are easier.[/quote]

That’s income based too. Base it on your  real spending- review CC statements and bank accounts. Will give you much clear pic of true needs.[/quote]

think you need to look at your real spending AND the benchmarks.  Every year there's an estimate of how much they estimate the average retiring couple will spend on healthcare expenses outside of long-term care and it's now nearing 300k.  If I based it on my own spending now (i.e., virtually none) I'd likely be way off.  Similarly I currently have 2 weeks vacation that tends to get eaten up by family obligations, my vacation spending will be way different when I have all the time in the world to travel.  How many roof repairs, HVAC replacements, car replacements etc. will I have in retirement? It's really hard to estimate all this and if you only have your spending records for a couple years you will likely be wildly off.[/quote]

DP.  I get all this but if it gets too complex, most people can't deal with it and stop planning.  
My take, 
- your expenses today (assuming normal family, couple of kids in school, etc.) won't change much in retirement.  Kids'/school/college expenses/mortgage will be replaced by others - travel, healthcare, etc.  So, if you are spending 100K/year today assume a certain inflation rate and just project that out.
- add in periodic capital expenses - car, remodel, roof replacement, etc. This will be over and above your regular expenses in line 1.  As easy as penciling in 30K every 5 years or so..
- Plan for a withdrawal rate of 3% (or 2.5% if possible).  I know conventional wisdom says 4% but the extra 1-1.5% is the cushion that you can use for catastrophic healthcare or other expenses.

If you keep it as simple as the above, that should provide you with a reasonable plan to take care of things you didn't think about..
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