ESPlanner assumes that the regular assets as well as the retirement assets were entered at the end of the previous year and thus, as you say, have a whole year of assumed inflation and earnings applied to them. So don't update them during the year because whatever amount you put in, the program will assume that's the amount you had at the beginning of the year and apply a year of growth to those amounts.

Obviously every year you are going to get some nominal return that is different from what you assumed--either better or worse. But as you reset the new balances at the end of the year, you make that correction in your model and go forward with the next year with a little more or a little less than your model assumed you'd have for that year.

In the new year, check your labor earnings, your account balances, and check your special expenses and receipts to make sure those all look right going forward. Also check your mortgage and years remaining.

Dan

No, you don't need to delete anything from the past.