The baselineis "doing nothing": only debt minimums are paid, the surplus sits in cash, and no strategy runs. Every plan is projected against this same baseline.
The number Keel leads with is the differential — plan − baseline, shown as "+$X over 10 years vs doing nothing."This is deliberate. Absolute net worth is dominated by things the plan doesn't control (a mortgage paying itself down, market drift), so leading with it would bury the plan's actual effect. The differential isolates exactly the part you control by adopting the plan.
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