5 Best Retirement Calculators and Planners (#1 is Free)

Retirement calculators can help us plan and prepare to retire. When we are years away, these online tools can help us determine how much we should be saving. As we approach our time to retire, they can help us understand how much we can spend each year and which accounts should fund that spending.

Not all retirement tools, however, reach the same result. They take different approaches to what is a complex series of calculations and assumptions. One study examined five popular retirement planning software packages and found stark differences in outcomes. As a result, it recommended that individuals use “multiple programs before implementing an action plan based on the results.”

To that end, here is a list of the best retirement calculators, planners and software tools.

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ABOUT ME

While still working as a trial attorney in the securities field, I started writing about personal finance and investing In 2007. In 2013 I started the Doughroller Money Podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. Today I'm the Deputy Editor of Forbes Advisor, managing a growing team of editors and writers that produce content to help readers make the most of their money.

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial adviser. These videos are for educational purposes only. Investing of any kind involves risk. Your investment and other financial decisions are solely your responsibility. It is imperative that you conduct your own research and seek professional advice as necessary. I am merely sharing my opinions.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some of the links on this channel are affiliate links, meaning at no cost to you I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase and/or subscribe. However, I only recommend products or services that (1) I believe in and (2) would recommend to my own mom.

[Sensiblemoney]

Love this video. Think it's important to add a distinction as to which retirement calculators use an assumed or estimated tax rate and which ones take into account the type of accounts you have (IRA vs non IRA for example) and calculate taxes based on your actual sources of cash flow. Assumed rates can be significantly different than reality for retirees all depending on the types of savings and sources of cash they have.

[DavidEVogel]

Ive tried a number of Retirement Calculators. Just a tiny adjustment to one of the variables (stock market return for example), and the final result can be up or down a $million. Big difference.

On a positive note, the calculator will teach you about the miracle of compound growth.

[bfrock]

Rob, absolutely love your videos and straight forward method of review/teaching. I saw this mentioned in the comments below but a review on Portfolio Visualizer would be helpful. There is a free version and allows the user to run Monte Carlo simulations changing their tax, spending, inflation etc against different portfolios built with different asset class construction. That's something I think all these miss. New Retirement has Monte Carlo but no inputs to optimize your portfolio for your needs. This is a HUGE miss of the planning process in my opinion. Thanks again for what you do. I think the more folks we have talking about how they handle retirement planning the better!!

[zaq]

The current, best method now being touted is “dynamic withdrawal”. You don’t just run some numbers once before you retire, come up with say 4%, and maintain that rate forever. You are continuously changing your withdrawal rate based on market, financial and lifestyle changes. These types of software makes it possible to keep inputting revised numbers on a regular basis, and make withdrawal modifications as needed.

[bdazzler]

For next video you might want to include The Complete Retirement Planner - makes it easy to create a comprehensive financial plan
and one of the best retirement planning tools out there (per U.S. News & World Report).

[herculesrockefeller]

Another free tool is the Flexible Retirement Planner. You can enter inflation rates, return rates, sources of income in retirement (SS, part time job, etc.), and enter your investing style, or a custom style. Very good for free!

[barrystover]

I recently discovered you. Your advice is the best I’ve ever heard online. Thank you for this clip. I’m kind of a do it yourselfer So I’ll use one of the software packages. I tried the Personal Capital and it is good .They were not as helpful w my questions as they were at marketing their services to me. I will pay for New Retirement and try it.

[michaelgreskamp]

Excellent Rob - As usual clear, concise, and to the point. I believe everyone should utilize at least two planners/claculators. I use two in addition to being a Vanguard Flagship member.

[HB-yqgy]

Thank you Rob for these great retirement tools what a cost saver. I was fixated on Rightcapital which is not for a novice person. Personal Capital was simple to link accounts it took me like 15 minutes to link 5 accounts.

[auricgoldfinger]

Best calculator for net worth post retirement is portfolio visualizer with its Monte Carlo Simulation. Only calculator that allows input of portfolio allocation, tax consequences with withdrawal. Also allows input of most of the proprietary portfolio allocations- Dalio, Buffett, 60/40, 40/60 etc etc.
Also you mention 8% returns as unrealistic to input into calculations. Last week you were inputting 9% into calculations to obtain $1million from credit card rebates invested. Unrealistic? You betcha!

[Andre-Nader]

Really appreciate the breakdown. I have been very happy with personal capital overall. New Retirement is one I have been playing with the free version for a few months and may end up utilizing the paid version soon. I am mapping out a FIRE scenario from around 35 years old. Would very much appreciate your insight as you go deeper into the planners on how valuable they might be for early retirees.

[sygyzy]

I learned about New Retirement from your website article and signed up for the premium access. It’s a very pretty tool but there are a lot of aspects of it that are very frustrating. For starters it’s the only tool I’ve seen that focuses on future value. I understand that money is inflated in the future but it’s hard to grasp how much $8M is in 2074, today. Yes I can run a reverse calculation but the whole program is setup that way. Future income, savings, expenses are all inflated. It’s confusing to see I’ll have $350k in expenses when I am 70 then have to remind myself that it’s really $90k or something. It also models, at least for me, a 2-5 period near my wife’s end of life where she suddenly is millions of dollars short but then has our estate ending with $10M. Why wouldn’t it use the massive amount left in the estate to pay the shortage? I really wish there was a future value toggle.

[danielliao]

Thank you for the excellent content Rob. Questions: 1. Have you tested or reviewed Wealthtrace? Have you reviewed or tested Pralana Gold for retirement planning. Both are software that get referred to among the Boglehead community. More chatter is related to Prallana Gold. I'd be very curious as to what your input would be on these programs. Thank you, sir.

[DavidGarcia-wyuc]

Rob, your channel has been incredibly helpful and informative. Many thanks for providing this content. I'm trying to figure out if you've done any videos discussing small cap tilting (blend or value) versus a total market portfolio?

[reddragon]

Rob very informative channel. I also use personal capital and I’m fortunate to have a 2milliion portfolio. When I do retire Personal capital’s planning is allowing me to pull at 7% ($156, 000) to the age of 90. It’s appears to be way too generous.

[bkmngr]

Hello Rob, You may want to do a review of wealthtrace another DIY detailed retirement planner. Since you have done a fantastic job in analyzing these you may add that to the list so that the viewers knows what wealthtrace bring to the table,

[purveyorofproof]

This was a fantastic review...thank you

[brianpetro]

I recently found your videos and think they are very well done and thought provoking. I’m especially interested in asset allocation in retirement (equity vs bonds), but curious if the calculator projections take into account the recent under performance in bonds when evaluating the right future allocation returns. With current bond yields so low and interest rates only having one way to go, it’s hard to justify the role bonds play in future returns.

[cruisepuppy]

I enjoyed your video as I'm looking for a good retirement planner and these all look interesting. The only thing I wish you had included was how much each of these options cost. Do you buy them outright or are they a monthly fee to use? I know there are links in the description, but the first one I checked on didn't give a price without inputting my email address, etc and I really don't want to do that - I'd just like to know the price before I shop further. Could you, or anyone else using these reply and let me know the cost of these various options?

[deanc]

I am trying to sign up for the Personal Capital site, but it won't let me go any further unless I link an account. I DON'T WANT TO LINK ANY ACCOUNT. So it's useless to me right now.