Begin in the Ledger, not on the build button
Record monthly income, ordinary expenses, the core domain and recent war losses. Update 1.19 expanded Ledger values and actions, making it a practical returner snapshot.
Separate holdings likely to remain with the primary line from those exposed to succession. The same building has a different value across different ownership horizons.
Compare the building with retained optionality
Enter only the marginal income from the next building level. Account for construction time, ownership horizon and a scenario probability of losing the flow. Keep military and other non-cash modifiers in a separate judgement layer.
Treasury cash produces no direct flow, but preserves mercenaries, gifts and a response to factions. Compare an expensive activity with the options that disappear after spending, not with zero.
Run a hard succession case
Set expected time to succession, current net flow, temporary transition expenses and one-off crisis cost. Then read how much gold remains above the heir's required reserve.
Repeat for a weak heir, active faction or external war. When the reserve works only under a perfect transfer, delay the final building or activity.
Keep live economics separate from future trade
Paradox confirms merchant families, exotic goods, republic competition and route monopolies for Silk & Silver. The expansion is expected in Q4 2026, but verified live income and formulas are not available yet.
Use current domain, war and succession models until release. Verify mechanics in game and against official material first, then add trade as a separate layer. That order keeps every conclusion auditable.
Replace the baseline with your inputs and get an answer for your scenario.
Data note. Every numeric example is a transparent baseline scenario. It is not presented as official publisher data and can be recalculated in the linked tool.