> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hazel.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Guardrails

> Your firm's never-do list: the rules nothing overrides. What ships turned on, how to write your own, and where a plan records them.

Your firm has a handful of things it will never put in a plan, whatever the client's situation or however a request is phrased. Write those down as guardrails, so no plan anyone at your firm builds can cross them.

## Where you set them

Open **Settings → Planning** and select **Base template**, the first entry under **Plan templates**. The never-do list sits directly below **Hazel instructions**.

* **Adding a rule.** Select **+ Add a rule**, which shows "Never recommend variable annuities" as the shape to aim for. Type your rule and press Enter, or click away and it saves anyway. Escape drops what you typed.
* **Suggestions.** Beside that button sit four common rules. Select one and it joins your list, then drops out of the row.
* **Removing a rule.** Each row carries an X at the right. A row cannot be edited in place, so to reword a rule, remove it and add the new wording.

The four suggestions:

* Never recommend variable annuities
* Never push a conversion into a higher IRMAA tier
* Never assume Social Security benefits are cut
* Never recommend leverage or margin

Every change saves as you make it.

## The two rules that ship

Your firm starts with two, and both apply until you remove them:

* **"Never recommend a specific named security or ticker."** A plan can still recommend an allocation change or a category of holding, but it will not name an instrument.
* **"Never propose a Roth conversion that pushes the client into the next IRMAA tier."** IRMAA is the income-related surcharge that raises a client's Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, and a conversion that clears a tier line can cost more in premiums than it saves in tax.

You can remove either one.

## How guardrails differ from instructions and assumptions

|                             | Instructions                     | Assumptions                            | Guardrails                   |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **What it is**              | Guidance Hazel weighs            | The numbers the planning math runs on  | Rules                        |
| **Can a persona change it** | Its own list replaces the firm's | Some settings, one at a time           | It can **add**, never remove |
| **Can one plan change it**  | In effect, by asking Hazel       | Yes, inside the range your firm allows | **No**                       |

<Warning>
  Hazel treats a guardrail as a hard rule, declines a request that would break one, and names the rule that request ran into. They are rules Hazel follows rather than a mechanical block, so if you ever see a plan cross one, tell whoever manages your firm's planning settings.
</Warning>

## Writing a good one

<CardGroup cols="2">
  <Card title="Good guardrails" icon="circle-check">
    "Never recommend surrendering an in-force life policy."

    "Never model borrowing against a retirement account."
  </Card>

  <Card title="Not guardrails" icon="circle-xmark">
    "Be conservative." A preference. Put it in instructions.

    "Use a 90% success threshold." A number. Put it in Solver assumptions.

    "Always include an insurance section." Structure. Build it into the plan design.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Test each one:

1. **Would you accept an exception in any client situation?** If yes, it is guidance. Write it as an instruction.
2. **Could a colleague tell whether a plan broke it?** If not, it is too vague to hold.

Keep the list short. Two to six rules is usually enough, and past that some entries are really instructions or assumptions.

## Personas and single plans

Guardrails are firm-wide. Nothing on a persona drops one of yours: whichever persona Hazel matches a household to, every firm rule still applies. For a rule you only want for one kind of client, write it in that persona's **Hazel instructions**, which Hazel weighs as strong guidance rather than an absolute limit.

## Checking which rules a plan was built under

Open the plan's **Appendix** and read the **Applied settings** block. Its **Guardrails** row lists the rules that applied, and **Set by** names where each came from: your firm, or the matched persona where that persona added its own. See [Where numbers come from](/guides/financial-planning/your-data/where-numbers-come-from).

The record travels with the plan version, so an older version shows the list as it stood then. A rule you add today applies to plans built from now on. To bring an existing plan under it, ask Hazel in chat to update the plan, or use **Regenerate** on the household's **Financial Planning** tab.

## Where to go next

* [Instructions](/guides/financial-planning/settings/personas/instructions): house style and preferences, not rules.
* [Solver assumptions](/guides/financial-planning/assumptions/solver-assumptions): the numbers behind every figure.
* [Base template](/guides/financial-planning/settings/base-template): the pane your never-do list lives on.
* [Where numbers come from](/guides/financial-planning/your-data/where-numbers-come-from): reading the Appendix and a figure's sources.
* [What it can and can't do](/guides/financial-planning/overview/what-it-can-and-cant-do): the limits that hold whatever your guardrails say.