Present value calculator for life care plan costs
Answer in brief: enter each future care item with its cost in today's dollars, how often it recurs and the years it runs, then a growth rate, a discount rate and a timing convention. The calculator applies PV = Σ C × (1 + g)t − τ ÷ (1 + d)t − τ to every occurrence and shows today's-dollar, future-dollar and present value totals. It loads with our synthetic example.
Limits: Tool facts come from each vendor's own website, read on 2026-11-12; we did not test any product hands-on. The cost example is synthetic, and the rates in it are placeholders, not recommended growth or discount rates.
The formula this calculator uses
PV = Σrows Σt = s, s+N, … ≤ e C × (1 + g)t − τ ÷ (1 + d)t − τ
- C: cost per occurrence in today's dollars (units times unit cost).
- t: plan year of each occurrence, from start year s to end year e, every N years.
- g: annual cost growth rate. d: annual discount rate.
- τ: timing. 0 if costs fall at the end of the year, 0.5 for mid-year, 1 for the start of the year (year 1 is then paid today, undiscounted).
Because (1 + g) and (1 + d) share the exponent, each year's factor is 1 ÷ (1 + r)t − τ, where r = (1 + d) ÷ (1 + g) − 1 is the net discount rate. For a cost that recurs every year for n years at the end of each year, that sums to the annuity form: PV = C × [1 − (1 + r)−n] ÷ r.
The calculator
Total in today's dollars: $301,280
Total in future dollars: $599,803
Present value: $224,457
Net discount rate: 1.456%
Defaults: the 7-row synthetic below-knee amputation case from the worked example, 3% growth, 4.5% discount, end of year. Every rate here is a placeholder, not a recommended rate. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Year by year
Every year with at least 1 cost, all rows combined. Use it to check an economist's schedule line by line.
| Year | Today's $ | Future $ | Present value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,460 | $4,594 | $4,396 |
How to use it to check a plan's numbers
- Enter each costed row from the plan in today's dollars, with its schedule. Periodic items get "every N years" and a start year, not an annualized cost.
- Set the growth and discount rates the economist used. If the economist reports only a net discount rate, set growth to 0 and discount to that net rate.
- Match the timing convention. If your total and the economist's differ by about 1 year's worth of discounting, the convention is the likely reason.
- If the totals still disagree, compare the year-by-year table with the economist's schedule and find the first year that differs.
What this calculator does not do
- It uses 1 growth rate for every row. Economists often grow medical services, drugs, equipment and attendant care at different rates; run each group separately to mimic that.
- It does not set life expectancy. The end year is yours to enter, from a physician's opinion or a published table.
- It does not apply any jurisdiction's discounting rule. Some states prescribe a method or a rate; that is the economist's and the attorney's call.
- It is not a cost source. The cost per occurrence must come from a cited dataset or quote.
Questions about present value in life care plans
What discount rate should a life care plan use?
That is not the planner's call and this site doesn't recommend 1. The forensic economist picks growth and discount rates, often within rules set by the jurisdiction. The rates in our example are placeholders.
Why does present value equal the total when growth equals discount?
Each year's factor is (1 + g)t ÷ (1 + d)t. When g equals d the factor is 1 every year, so every cost counts at its today's-dollar value. That is the idea behind the "total offset" method; whether it applies in your case is a question for the economist and the attorney.
Does the calculator store what I enter?
No. It runs in your browser with plain JavaScript. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is saved when you close the page.