Wealth Leak Scanner

Hunt for hidden money drains that silently erode wealth — most people have $2,000-8,000/year in fixable leaks.

Core Philosophy

A wealth leak is money you're losing without knowing it, or money you could have but aren't capturing. Unlike discretionary spending (which is a choice), leaks are unintentional value destruction. Finding and fixing them is pure wealth creation.

Required Input

Gather what's available across all categories:

• Bank statements (savings account rates, fees)
• Investment accounts (holdings, fee structures, lot selections)
• Insurance policies (auto, home, life, health premiums)
• Subscription list (or bank statement showing recurring charges)
• Tax return (most recent — for missed deductions/credits)
• Debt summary (rates, balances, terms)
• 401k plan details (expense ratios, match details)
• Pay stub (withholding accuracy)

Work with whatever the user can provide — even a partial scan is valuable.

Scan Categories (8 Leak Types)

Leak 1: Zombie Subscriptions ($200-1,200/yr typical)

Scan recurring charges for:

• Services not used in 90+ days
• Free trials that converted to paid
• Duplicate services (e.g., Spotify + Apple Music)
• Price-hiked subscriptions user isn't aware of
• Annual renewals coming up that could be cancelled

Flag each with: name, monthly cost, last known usage, annual waste.

Leak 2: Cash Earning Nothing ($100-2,000/yr typical)

Identify cash in low-yield accounts:

• Checking accounts with >$2,000 excess balance (beyond monthly float)
• Savings accounts earning <3% when HYSA pays 4%+
• 401k money market funds at 0.1% vs. stable value at 3%+
• Brokerage sweep accounts at low rates

Calculate: annual interest lost = (idle cash) × (best available rate - current rate)

Leak 3: Fee Drag ($200-3,000/yr typical)

Identify excessive fees:

• Mutual funds with expense ratio >0.5% (when equivalent index fund is 0.03%)
• 401k plan fees (average total plan cost 0.5-1.5%, good plans 0.1-0.3%)
• Advisory fees on accounts that could be self-managed
• Trading fees (if using a non-zero-commission broker)
• Bank account maintenance fees
• Wire transfer fees, ATM fees

Calculate: annual fee drag = assets × (current ER - best available ER)

Leak 4: Insurance Overpricing ($300-2,000/yr typical)

Flag insurance optimization opportunities:

• Auto insurance: not shopped in 2+ years (average savings: 20-30% by switching)
• Home insurance: not bundled with auto, or not shopped recently
• Life insurance: term vs. whole life (whole life almost always worse for wealth building)
• Health insurance: HSA-eligible plan not selected when it would save money
• Umbrella policy: missing when net worth exceeds $500K (liability risk)

Leak 5: Tax Lot Errors ($200-5,000/yr typical)

Read the tax-strategy and tax-harvest skill references for details. Flag:

• RSU cost basis not properly reported on tax return (the #1 most expensive error)
• Selling highest-cost-basis lots instead of specific lot identification
• Missing foreign tax credit on international fund dividends
• Not harvesting available tax losses
• Withholding too much (giving IRS a 0% interest loan)
• Withholding too little (penalty risk)

Leak 6: Debt Inefficiency ($200-5,000/yr typical)

Identify suboptimal debt:

• Credit card balances when balance transfer at 0% APR available
• Student loans not refinanced after income increased
• Mortgage not refinanced despite rate drops (if >0.75% improvement possible)
• Auto loan at dealer rate when credit union offers less
• Paying minimums on high-interest while holding excess cash

Leak 7: Employer Benefit Gaps ($500-10,000/yr typical)

The most expensive leaks are uncaptured employer benefits:

• Not maxing 401k match (literally leaving free money on the table)
• Not enrolled in ESPP (typically 15% discount = guaranteed return)
• Not using HSA when eligible
• Not using dependent care FSA ($5,000 pre-tax)
• Not using commuter benefits (pre-tax transit)
• Mega Backdoor Roth available but not utilized

Leak 8: Unclaimed Credits & Deductions ($100-3,000/yr typical)

Read references/common-leaks-checklist.md for the full list.

Quick scan:

• Saver's Credit (income <$38,250 single / $76,500 MFJ)
• Child Tax Credit (not fully captured)
• Education credits (American Opportunity, Lifetime Learning)
• EV credit ($7,500)
• Energy efficiency credits (heat pump, solar, etc.)
• State-specific credits and deductions

Output Format

WEALTH LEAK SCAN RESULTS
════════════════════════
Total leaks found: XX
Total annual value: $X,XXX/year
Total 20-year compound value: $XXX,XXX

CRITICAL (fix this week):
🔴 [Leak] — $X,XXX/year — [Specific fix action]

HIGH PRIORITY (fix this month):
🟠 [Leak] — $XXX/year — [Specific fix action]

MODERATE (fix this quarter):
🟡 [Leak] — $XXX/year — [Specific fix action]

SUMMARY TABLE:
| Category | Leaks Found | Annual Value | Fix Difficulty |

Show the total 20-year compound value of fixing all leaks: "Fixing these leaks and investing the savings generates $XXX,XXX over 20 years."

After presenting results, offer: "Want a Leak Report card showing what we found? It's designed to share without revealing personal details." If yes, generate an HTML artifact based on the template at skills/share-cards/references/leak-report-card-template.html, customized with their annual leak total, categories found, and 20-year compound value.

Always chain: "Want me to help fix the top leak right now? Or run a cash flow analysis to see where the recovered money should go?"

Profile Integration

Before starting analysis, check for the user's financial profile:

1. Read profile/financial-identity.md for tax bracket, filing status (affects deduction/credit scanning)
2. Read profile/holdings.md for accounts, holdings, and fee structure (affects fee drag and asset location leaks)

If profile exists:

• Use stored identity to identify missed deductions/credits specific to their situation
• Reference holdings to flag fee drag opportunities
• Use prior history to avoid re-scanning same leaks repeatedly

If profile doesn't exist, proceed normally and offer to save:

• Account structure and fee details discovered
• Identified leaks that are being fixed
• Baseline "leak score" for progress tracking

After completing analysis, append a summary to profile/history.md:

## [Date] — Wealth Leak Scan
- **Action**: [Comprehensive scan / Specific category scan]
- **Key findings**: [Total annual leak value, number of leaks found by category, biggest single leak]
- **Recommendations**: [Highest-value leaks to fix first, estimated 20-year impact if all fixed]

Important Notes

• Every leak must have a specific, actionable fix — not just "look into this"
• Quantify everything in annual dollars AND 20-year compound value
• Rank by: annual value × ease of fix (effort-adjusted return)
• Never shame — frame as "found money" and "optimization"
• Disclaimer: "This is analytical framework output, not financial advice."