Annual income describes a flow during a year. Available cash describes money held in the cash account. Net worth describes assets after debt. The three can move differently without contradicting each other. The ending trajectory opens on annual income; switch to cash and net worth, then use the journal to understand the changes.
Annual income is not accumulated savings
The income point is the model’s income for that year, not all the money earned since birth. Career, education, experience and current circumstances enter the calculation. An increase means a higher annual income reading; it does not guarantee an equal increase in cash or net worth.
Living costs, housing, transport and debt interest affect settlement. Investment changes have their own calculation. Borrowing can add spendable cash without becoming employment income. When the income line changes, ask what happened that year before assuming the full amount remained as wealth.
Cash and net worth answer separate questions
In the current advanced rules, available cash is the cash balance. Net worth is cash plus investments plus property, minus debt. Investments and property are not money already sitting in the cash account. High net worth alongside little cash can simply reflect where assets are held.
For a hypothetical example in game units, take cash of 10,000, investments of 20,000, property of 50,000 and debt of 60,000. Net worth is 20,000, while available cash remains 10,000. The larger net figure is not all immediately spendable. This arithmetic explains the interface, not real-world valuation.
Retirement income does not add another work year
A retired main character can continue receiving reduced model income, so retirement does not require a zero income line. The current implementation applies a retirement factor of 0.32 to that year’s calculated income base. It does not promise 32 percent of the previous year’s pay or reproduce a country’s actual pension system.
No job or a blocking unemployment state can still produce zero. Meanwhile, retired years no longer increase the work-years counter. A positive income reading and an unchanged work-years figure can therefore be correct together. Read employment status alongside the numbers rather than treating them as interchangeable.
Negative net worth can coexist with cash
Net worth becomes negative when debt exceeds cash, investments and property combined. Suppose cash is 3,000, other assets total 7,000 and debt is 15,000. Net worth is minus 5,000 even though some cash remains. The debt position and spending balance describe different aspects of the same state.
Under current settlement rules, an uncovered annual shortfall can become debt. Cash and net worth consequently need not follow identical curves. A negative value is not an automatic failed-life verdict. Read income, spending and recorded events before deciding what that period meant for the character.
Read three measures of the same recorded history
Find a change in annual income, switch to cash to inspect liquidity, then check net worth for the overall position. The trajectory is not a transaction ledger. A decision can update that year’s point, so use the curve for trends and the journal for actual events.
Older saves without a complete saved trajectory do not receive an invented history. Missing data does not mean zero income. When comparing branches, check their rules and shared starting point too. These figures explain a game narrative; they do not forecast real wages, pensions or investment returns.