The Buckets Value Add helps clients visualize how their portfolio is allocated across four time-based investment categories — Cash, Income, Annuities, and Growth — while also including the same distribution guardrails table found in the Guardrails report.
This article walks through every section of the Buckets report, explains where each value comes from, and outlines what is automatic vs. customizable.
What Is the Buckets Value Add?
The Buckets Value Add is a client-facing report that:
Shows how a household's investable assets are distributed across four "buckets": Cash, Income, Annuities, and Growth
Displays a bar chart visualization of the dollar amount in each bucket
Includes a distribution table (identical to Guardrails) showing portfolio values, rates, and monthly income across four scenarios
It is generated using household account data, account-level allocation percentages, and firm-level rate settings.
1. Header & Branding
Logo
Pulled from your firm's saved company logo
Editable under Settings → Firm Settings
If no logo is saved, the report displays without one
Branding Color
Uses your firm's branding color
Default color is a dark navy
Controls footer borders, bucket bar colors, and accent elements
Report Title
Default title: "Buckets Strategy"
Can be customized at the firm level
Editable under Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings
2. Reported "As-Of" Date
The Reported As-Of Date reflects the most recent valuation date found across all household accounts.
How it's determined
The system scans all accounts in the household
The latest valid "as-of" date is used
If no dates exist, today's date is used as a fallback
Display format
M/D/YYYY (U.S. format), e.g., "2/4/2026"
This date is fully automatic and cannot be manually edited.
3. Client Name Line
Pulled from all clients linked to the household
Displayed as: Last, First with superscript ages
For two clients with the same last name: Smith, John⁶⁵ & Jane⁶²
Deceased clients are automatically filtered out if at least one living client exists
4. Bucket Bar Chart
The bar chart is the main visual feature of the Buckets report. It shows four vertical bars representing each investment category, with a "Total Assets" figure displayed above.
The Four Buckets
Bucket | Purpose | Typical Timeframe |
Cash | Short-term liquidity and emergency funds | 0–2 years |
Income | Income-generating assets (dividends, interest, stable securities) | 2–5 years |
Annuities | Guaranteed income products | 5–15 years |
Growth | Long-term growth investments | 15+ years |
Total Assets
Displayed at the top of the chart
This is the sum of all included account values, rounded down to the nearest $1,000
Same value shown in the "Current" column of the distribution table below
How Each Bucket Amount Is Calculated
Each account in the household has allocation percentages assigned to it — for example, an account might be 20% Cash, 30% Income, 0% Annuities, and 50% Growth. The system multiplies each account's value by its allocation percentage and sums the results across all accounts.
Example:
Account A ($100,000): 20% Cash, 30% Income, 0% Annuities, 50% Growth
Account B ($50,000): 0% Cash, 0% Income, 0% Annuities, 100% Growth
Result:
Cash: $100,000 × 20% = $20,000
Income: $100,000 × 30% = $30,000
Annuities: $0
Growth: ($100,000 × 50%) + ($50,000 × 100%) = $100,000
All bucket amounts are rounded down to the nearest $1,000 for display.
Bar Heights
The bars scale proportionally — the largest bucket always reaches full height, and the other bars scale relative to it. If Growth is $100,000 and Cash is $50,000, the Growth bar will be at full height and the Cash bar will be half as tall.
Annuities Column
If no accounts have any annuity allocation, the Annuities column is automatically hidden from the chart. It only appears when at least one account has a non-zero annuity percentage.
5. Account Allocation Percentages
Each investable account needs allocation percentages set for Cash, Income, Annuities, and Growth. These four values must sum to approximately 100%.
How to Set Allocations
There are two ways to set account allocations:
Manual entry — Enter percentages directly on each account's detail page
CSV import — Upload a spreadsheet with allocation columns using the provided import template
What Happens If Allocations Don't Add to 100%?
The system has tolerance rules for allocations that don't sum exactly to 100%:
Situation | What Happens |
Allocations sum to exactly 100% | Account included normally |
Allocations sum to 95%–105% | Account is automatically normalized to 100% and included, with a soft warning |
Allocations sum to less than 95% or more than 105% | Account is excluded from the bucket chart, with a warning |
No allocations set (all blank or zero) | Account is excluded from the bucket chart, with a warning |
What does "normalized" mean? If an account's allocations sum to 98%, the system proportionally scales each percentage up so they total exactly 100%. For example, 19% / 29% / 0% / 49% (total 97%) becomes roughly 19.6% / 29.9% / 0% / 50.5% (total 100%). This happens automatically in the background.
Common Allocation Issues
Missing allocations warning — If you see a warning about missing allocations, it means one or more investable accounts don't have Cash/Income/Annuities/Growth percentages set. Go to the account detail page or use the CSV import to add them.
Off-allocation warning — If allocations don't sum close enough to 100%, you'll see a warning listing the affected accounts (by last 4 digits of account number) and their total percentage. Accounts within ±5% are still included; accounts outside that range are excluded from the chart.
6. Distribution Table
The distribution table at the bottom of the Buckets report is identical to the Guardrails distribution table. It uses the same calculations and structure, just with Buckets-specific rate settings.
Table Structure Four columns: Current, Available, Upper Guardrail, Lower Guardrail. Three rows: Portfolio Value, Distribution Rate, Monthly Income.
A note on terminology used below The Upper and Lower guardrail figures are anchored to the household's current annual income, defined as:
If the household has systematic withdrawals: current monthly withdrawals × 12
If the household has no systematic withdrawals: portfolio value × Available Rate
This anchor income drives both the Upper/Lower portfolio values and the Upper/Lower monthly income figures. Hitting the upper guardrail represents a 10% raise from current annual income; hitting the lower guardrail represents a 10% cut.
Portfolio Value Row
Current & Available columns: Both show the same value — the sum of all included account values, floored to the nearest $1,000.
Upper Guardrail column: The portfolio value at which the client would hit the upper guardrail and earn a 10% raise.
Formula: Current Annual Income ÷ Lower Rate
Result is ceiling-rounded to the nearest $10,000
Example: $54,000 ÷ 4.32% = $1,250,000
Lower Guardrail column: The portfolio value at which the client would hit the lower guardrail and need a 10% cut.
Formula: Current Annual Income ÷ Upper Rate
Result is ceiling-rounded to the nearest $10,000
Example: $54,000 ÷ 6.48% = $833,333 → ceiling to nearest $10,000 = $840,000
Distribution Rate Row
Current: Calculated from actual systematic withdrawals if they exist, otherwise defaults to the Available Rate. Displayed with 2 decimal places.
Available: Your firm's configured Available Rate. Default: 5.40%.
Upper Guardrail and Lower Guardrail: Intentionally left blank in the table. By design, these cells are not displayed. The Upper Rate (default 6.48%) and Lower Rate (default 4.32%) remain viewable and editable under Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings.
Monthly Income Row
Current: The actual monthly withdrawal total from systematic withdrawals on included accounts, or the calculated amount using the Available Rate if no withdrawals exist. If withdrawals exist but total $0, this reads $0.
Available: Calculated as Portfolio Value × Available Rate, then rounded using a multi-step floor rule (annual floored to $1,000 → ÷ 12 → monthly floored to $10).
Upper Guardrail: Current Annual Income × 1.10 ÷ 12 — the client's monthly income after a 10% raise.
Example: $54,000 × 1.10 ÷ 12 = $4,950
Lower Guardrail: Current Annual Income × 0.90 ÷ 12 — the client's monthly income after a 10% cut.
Example: $54,000 × 0.90 ÷ 12 = $4,050
Important: The Upper and Lower monthly income figures represent the client's spending after the guardrail adjustment, not the income the client would receive from the scaled portfolio at the firm's Available Rate. The math is anchored to the household's current annual income, scaled by ±10%.
Buckets vs. Guardrails Rates Although the distribution table works the same way in both reports, Buckets and Guardrails have separate rate settings. This means you can configure different rates for each report if desired.
Buckets rates are editable under Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings
Guardrails rates are editable under Settings → Value Adds → Guardrails Settings
Both default to 5.40% / 6.48% / 4.32% if not customized
7. Account Inclusion & Exclusion
The Buckets report uses the same account filtering as the Guardrails report. Only investable accounts are included — cash accounts and certain special-purpose accounts are excluded.
Which Accounts Are Included?
Brokerage and individual investment accounts
Retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, Rollover IRA)
Employer plans (401k, 403b, 457b, TSP, Pension)
Annuities (all types)
Trust accounts
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
Inherited accounts — including Inherited IRAs (Traditional, Roth, etc.), Beneficiary IRAs, Inherited 401(k)/403(b)/457(b), and Inherited Pension/Profit-Sharing/Keogh accounts
Which Accounts Are Excluded? Cash accounts: Checking, savings, money market, CDs, cash accounts Education accounts: 529 plans, Coverdell ESAs, educational savings accounts Custodial accounts: UTMA, UGMA, guardianship, conservatorship accounts Accounts with no type set: If an account exists in the household but does not have an account type assigned, it is excluded by default. To include it, assign the appropriate account type on the account record.
A Note on HSAs Health Savings Accounts are currently included in the Buckets portfolio, the same as in the Guardrails report. HSAs can hold investments and grow tax-free, so the system treats them as investable.
A Note on Inherited Accounts Inherited IRAs, Beneficiary IRAs, and inherited employer-plan accounts are now included in the Buckets portfolio, the same as in the Guardrails report. Although these accounts have their own RMD and distribution rules, they still represent investable retirement assets the household can draw from, so they are factored into the household's portfolio value and bucket allocations.
Why doesn't my total match what I see elsewhere? The most common reasons:
Cash accounts are excluded — Checking, savings, money market, and CD balances aren't included
Education and custodial accounts are excluded — 529s, ESAs, and UTMA/UGMA accounts don't factor in
Accounts with no type set are excluded — If an account is missing from the report, check that an account type is assigned to the account record
Values are rounded — All dollar amounts in the Current and Available columns are rounded down to the nearest $1,000
Accounts without allocations are excluded from the bucket chart — If an account has no Cash/Income/Annuities/Growth percentages set, it won't appear in the bar chart (though it still counts toward the distribution table portfolio value)
8. Firm-Level Configuration
All Buckets settings are configured at the firm level, meaning every household in your firm uses the same rates and title.
Configurable Settings
Setting | Where to Edit | Default |
Report Title | Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings | "Buckets Strategy" |
Available Rate | Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings | 5.40% |
Upper Guardrail Rate | Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings | 6.48% |
Lower Guardrail Rate | Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings | 4.32% |
Disclaimer Text | Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings | Default disclaimer |
These rates apply to all households within the firm. Individual household overrides are not currently supported.
9. Footer & Disclaimer
Footer
Displays firm contact details:
Address
Phone number
Website
These are pulled from Settings → Firm Settings and separated by dots.
Disclaimer
The disclaimer is built dynamically and includes lead advisor names
Custom disclaimer text is editable under Settings → Value Adds → Buckets Settings
If no advisors are assigned to the household, the disclaimer will explicitly state: "NO ADVISORS ASSIGNED"
In Summary
The Buckets Value Add is:
Allocation-driven — The bucket chart depends on allocation percentages set on each account
Automatically calculated — Once allocations are set, bucket amounts and the distribution table are computed from live account data
Firm-customizable — Title, rates, and disclaimer can all be adjusted in Settings
Guardrails-compatible — The distribution table uses the same engine as the Guardrails report, with separate rate settings
If the bucket chart shows unexpected values, check that all investable accounts have Cash/Income/Annuities/Growth allocation percentages set and that they sum close to 100%. Accounts without allocations or with allocations far from 100% will be excluded from the chart and flagged with a warning.