Goal-Based Planning

What it does

Goal-Based Planning answers the question every bond investor eventually asks: "Given my budget, which Kenya Treasury Bonds should I buy — and how much of each — to reach a specific financial target?"

Instead of starting with a bond and asking what it returns, you start with the outcome you want and work backwards. You tell the planner your target and your budget; it tells you exactly where to put each shilling.

Two goal types

1. Target Corpus

You want to accumulate a lump sum by a deadline. Examples:

• Save KES 3,000,000 for a land purchase by December 2028
• Build a KES 10,000,000 education fund before your child turns 18
• Accumulate KES 5,000,000 as a house deposit by 2030

The planner finds bonds that mature on or before your target date — so principal is returned in full by the deadline — and allocates your budget to maximise the total cash received (coupons + principal).

2. Monthly Income

You want a regular income stream starting from a future date. Examples:

• Receive KES 80,000/month in retirement starting January 2030
• Supplement salary with KES 30,000/month passive income from 2027
• Generate KES 50,000/month to cover school fees starting next year

The planner finds bonds that are still paying coupons after your income start date and calculates how much to invest in each to generate the monthly income target. Semi-annual coupons are averaged and divided by 6 to approximate a monthly figure.

Real-life scenario

The summary card shows: Total projected: KES 4,384,000 against a target of KES 5,000,000. Gap: KES 616,000. The goal is not fully achievable with this budget at current coupon rates. Grace has two options: increase the budget to ~KES 2,860,000, or extend the target date by one year to unlock longer-tenor bonds with higher returns.

How the simulation works

• 1
  Filter eligible bonds. Only primary issuances (weight = 1) with a coupon rate and maturity date are considered. For corpus goals, only bonds maturing on or before the target date qualify. For income goals, only bonds still paying coupons after the income start date qualify. The bond type filter (ALL / FXD / IFB / SDB) narrows the pool further.
• 2
  Build a cash-flow schedule for each bond. For a face value of KES 100,000, the planner calculates every semi-annual coupon payment from today to maturity, applies withholding tax (15% for FXD, 0% for IFB), and adds principal repayment at maturity. The result is a net cash-flow timeline.
• 3
  Score each bond by efficiency. Efficiency = (net return per KES invested − 1) ÷ years to maturity. This is the net profit per year per shilling — a bond that returns 1.86× over 7 years scores lower than one that returns 1.72× over 5 years, because the second delivers more return per year.
• 4
  Allocate budget greedily. Starting from the highest-efficiency bond, the planner allocates as much budget as that bond needs to achieve the target on its own, capped by the remaining budget. It moves to the next bond and repeats until the budget is exhausted.
• 5
  Aggregate the month-by-month cash flows. Every coupon and principal payment across all allocated bonds is mapped to its payment month, producing the cash-flow chart you see below the results table.
• 6
  Report the gap. Gap = target amount − total projected return. If gap ≤ 0, the goal is achievable. If gap > 0, the shortfall is shown so you know exactly how much more budget or yield is needed.

Column reference

Saving and reusing goals

Any simulation can be saved as a named goal (e.g. "Land deposit 2029"). Saved goals appear in a list below the form. Clicking a saved goal reloads all its parameters and re-runs the simulation instantly — useful for comparing scenarios or revisiting a plan after new bonds are issued.

Each saved goal stores: goal type, target amount, target date, max investment budget, bond type preference, and optional notes. Goals are private to your account. You can delete them at any time.

CSV export

The Export CSV button downloads the bond allocation table as a spreadsheet. Columns: Bond, Type, Coupon %, Maturity, Tenor, Return/KES, Invested, Projected Return. Useful for sharing with a financial advisor or broker, or for building your own model in Excel.

Limitations