Fidelity RIP tool

[rodi]

Rodi, I am trying to understand this better - "fixed tax percentage".

For FRIP, based on my reading of the methodology, I thought that the tax rate could be 15% one year, 25% another, based on what it thought the income would be.

As an example, if FRIP thought my income for 2015 was less than @94,000 it would use calculations of less than 15%. If FRIP thought my income for 2015 was $100,000 it would use calculations of less than 25%. And all these numbers were best estimates for FRIP of course.

I probably didn't word that correctly... Under the inputs you enter your effective federal and state tax rate. - Since it says "effective" rather than "marginal" - I said "fixed".... Obviously there are some nuances - but I assume it is applying the "effective" tax rate, not looking at your income sources specifically.

I see from other threads there are differences between already retired, and still working - perhaps this is one of those differences. Off to go play with the tool.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The new Fidelity tool is broken for me. It just spins its wheel and times out. Has this happened to anyone and did they contact Fidelity for a work-around? Thanks!

I had something similar happen a few months back, called, was put on hold while someone on the help line talked to someone in IT and everything was fixed by the end of the call. It was very strange as I could not get the RIP to work either though our accounts at Fidelity or even on a different computer logged in as a guest using different data.

 

[Al18]

I checked on my plan today - I have a Fidelity account. Assets were lower than I originally entered. RIP still had my balances from my non-Fidelity accounts saved, though RIP had them flagged as non-retirement accounts. Once I changed them to retirement accounts, the numbers were essentially the same as my old plan. The new RIP has a new option for calculating Federal and State taxes, and it displays multiple asset balances for both under performing and average market performance. Overall, a welcome upgrade to RIP in my opinion.

 

[LOL!]

I had something similar happen a few months back, called, was put on hold while someone on the help line talked to someone in IT and everything was fixed by the end of the call. It was very strange as I could not get the RIP to work either though our accounts at Fidelity or even on a different computer logged in as a guest using different data.

Thanks for that note. I will give them a call when I have some more time and need to play with it. Right now, I suspect it is because I have entered some things manually to run through the Fidelity Guided Portfolio Summary tool.

 

[jcretire77]

Ran the new tool, only a 93, on track. Experimented with retiring at turn of year. We run out in 30 years with the under performing market. 4 million with the average market. I use 21% for taxes which should be high. 9K / month, 6K essential.

I like tools that take age based decreases of consumption into account. Maybe I have always missed that in the FIDO RIP tools.

I like the new tool mostly, but there seems to be some easy links that could be added to make negotiating the site easier. Say when I want to edit the assets. Seems like I go through a couple of hops vs directly. Not initially intuitive.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I am getting used to the new RIP. Who knows what my tax rates will be in 30 years so a percent for effective tax rate is probably as good an estimate as any. I like changing our retirement date to next year so I can look at the readiness score.

 

[stepford]

Sorry to be dense, but how exactly do I get the new RIP to generate my readiness score?

It generates my expected savings remaining at end of plan (I use age 95). I have been using this a metric for the relative merit of different plans (Delay SS to age 70 means savings at 95 goes up by $100K = "GOOD", Increasing my withdrawal rate by $50K/yr means I run out of money by age 88 = "BAD").

This approach does give me enough information to compare differing plans and spend rates and is good enough to use, but I'd kind of like to see the overall readiness score everyone is talking about.

 

[jcretire77]

Once I log into www.fidelity.com I choose Guidance & Retirement, Retirement Planning, Planning & Guidance Center, then Launch and I see my number then, 93 Good.

Not sure what you would see otherwise. If I click on Review your analysis it says it is running 250 simulations and a different web page shows up that has the 93 number at the top left and a bar graph. Under that I see Savings Rate, Asset Mix, Time & Expenses and Action Items.

Not sure if any of that helps.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Sorry to be dense, but how exactly do I get the new RIP to generate my readiness score?

Are you retired? If so it won't give a readiness score since ready or not you're retired. If you still would like to see a score you can change your retirement date to next year.

 

[stepford]

Are you retired? If so it won't give a readiness score since ready or not you're retired. If you still would like to see a score you can change your retirement date to next year.

Thank you very much, that was it. Apparently since I am retiring this year and RIP requires that my current age and retirement age differ to be "not yet retired" it had switched me into the "already retired" category without me noticing. Pretending I'll retire in 9 months when I turn 56 instead of 2 months from now gives me a score of 120 - Yay.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Sorry to be dense, but how exactly do I get the new RIP to generate my readiness score?

It generates my expected savings remaining at end of plan (I use age 95). I have been using this a metric for the relative merit of different plans (Delay SS to age 70 means savings at 95 goes up by $100K = "GOOD", Increasing my withdrawal rate by $50K/yr means I run out of money by age 88 = "BAD").

This approach does give me enough information to compare differing plans and spend rates and is good enough to use, but I'd kind of like to see the overall readiness score everyone is talking about.

You expect to see 95?

 

[truenorth418]

You expect to see 95?

I also use 95. It's not likely, but it's possible.


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[Senator]

I also use 95. It's not likely, but it's possible.

I use 95 for me, and 100 for the DGF. I have more assets, and want to make sure all is well after I leave. My Fidelity RIP score is 107.

I am VERY conservative. I am not coming back to work, and I am going to have some fun.

I use the under-performing market calculations.
I do not count the DGF $500K+ in investment accounts, nor her pension.
I do not count my future savings, or pension increases that will happen next year.
I only take about half of my rental income, after all expenses, as I may have to hire out a lot more. It's about 25% of my gross rental income.
I let Fidelity account for healthcare and long term care expenses, even thought I have VA healthcare that costs $0, and the DGF will have healthcare for nearly free. I will self-insure for LTC.
I tripled my current spending, even though I think I live pretty well now.

You can be optimistic, or realistic, or you can take worse case examples. It's all about the risk and the actions you will be forced to take if/when you run out of money.

I do not want to stay home if all my friends that worked till 65 go on a trip somewhere... Or have to "split the check" every time we go out, rather than just take turns.

 

[rodi]

You expect to see 95?

I also use 95. I had one grandparent make it to 91... so 95 is a reasonable number. (other 3 grandparents, and parents kicked it earlier.)

I use 100 for DH - since his dad made it to 90, his mom is still kicking at 89, his uncle is 93 and still independent.... Lots of longevity in his family.

On a side note - and nothing to do with the Fidelity tool... Make sure you plan for earlier death than expected... If you assume SS and Pensions from spouse - and they die younger than expected... that could put a crimp on your retirement plans. SS survivor benefits give you the higher of the two benefits NOT both benefits. I ran those scenarios in my spreadsheet as well.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Maybe I am misinterpreting some of the posts here, but the readiness score is "Your Retirement Preparedness Measure (RPM) represents the percentage of your average estimated retirement expenses your plan could cover, assuming an underperforming market". Age is not something you can expect to see - it is a parameter entered as one of the inputs.

 

[stepford]

A fun (or not so fun) thing I've been doing with RIP is looking at the impact of working extra years on SWR (or at least my definition of SWR in the context of the RIP tool = savings not depleted by age 95 in an underperforming market).

While my plan is not as conservative as Senator's, my inputs show that I could have a SWR of about twice my projected annual expenses when I retire in a few weeks. If I was so foolish as to slog it out for another 5 years RIP shows that safety factor going up to 2.7x - and a SWR around my current salary.

While this did give me a moment's pause (and made me glad that I've already signed the exit papers, so backsliding is now impossible) I realize that my greatest challenge is more likely to be making myself start to spend rather than having enough saved. At least I hope so.

 

[Diver]

Rodi, good point on modeling only one SS at some point. I will work on that myself. I am in the process of rolling over of my Fidelity 401k to Vanguard IRA, but left $5k in a Fidelity IRA just so that I could continue to use RIP. I like the new RIP tool. It will now update Vanguard and bank balances automatically like in Quicken.

 

[nwsteve]

Just finished the review of the new RIP with my Fido rep this afternoon. Probably more accurate but familiar data like RMD from the cash flow page is now hidden under expansion buttons (think plus signs) on the cash flow sheet. Even the cash flow sheet is somewhat hidden under a nondescript button at far right of the summary page--looks like a micro calculator.
Our portfolio ending value is about 15-17% less than the old version. Apparently the biggest changes are in the estimation of taxes as others have mentioned. According to the rep, the old RIP use to estimate off the monte carlo income forecast and results generated AVERAGE tax rates that were 7-10% lower than actually experienced. You now input your own assumption about average tax rate if you do not like what their model suggests will be the average rate.
To see the tool's new RMD estimates you have to drill down two layers in the income and then other income page in the cash flow detail. Our RMDs dropped from the old RIP but are probably more realistic for the early drawn downs than the old RIP.
The rep said they have a number of revisions coming based on earlier users input to address what most feel represent the biggest issues. The rep is sending me via mail a summary of the major changes as well as an expanded methodology explanation. If there are worthy nuggets not already posted, I will summarize here when I get them. Obviously Fido will be refining a lot over the next several months for sure.
Perhaps the tax improvements are worth the trip but I am in the "wait-and-see" camp. BTW, once you use the new tool you can no longer go back to the old one. Even the new detail budget pages are nested so it takes a while to find you old input pages.
Nwsteve

 

[ejman]

I must be the only crotchety old fart around here. I thought the old RIP worked just fine and had most reports easily available. I particularly liked the cash flow statement with estimated taxes, WD, RMD's etc. I guess now I have to go in a deep sea diving/fishing expedition to find it and God knows what they have done to it. Why are they doing this to me?

 

[braumeister]

Just finished the review of the new RIP with my Fido rep this afternoon.

I did that a couple of years ago and was surprised at all the capabilities (of the old version) he showed me. I would highly recommend making an appointment to do this with your Fidelity consultant if you have one.

 

[wmc1000]

Just worked with the new RIP. Score is 108 although I had to count my DW as not retired even though she is in order to get a score and not a remaining asset number at age 95. With an underperforming market the remaining assets in today's dollars end up being about what they are today to start. In an average market my kids will have a lot to add to their portfolios!

 

[PaddyMac]

Hmm. Tried to log in. Asked for last 4 digits of SSN + name + date of birth. I am not a account holder at Fidelity, so it would not let me log in.

Maybe I am doing it wrong, but it appears that maybe now it requires a person to be a Fidelity customer?

By the way - lots of great information and advice on this forum. Thanks!!!

I have the same issue. I'm not a Fidelity customer.
Before, according to my notes, I would click the LAUNCH button and then click the "Already a Member" link, and then log in with username/password.

Now the "Already a Member" link is missing. If I create a new account, I would have to start from scratch. But I tried anyway in the Register Now field:

Register Now
Welcome! Register here to get online and phone access to your account.

If you have previously registered with Fidelity.com, NetBenefits, or eWorkplace, you do not need to register again. You can use your existing username and password to access your new account.

But when I enter my details (last 4 digits of SSN etc), it won't create the new account (I'm guessing because I'm not a member of any of the listed entities?)

If anyone figures this out, please post.

* EDIT: I created a new Fidelity Account, taxable investment individual, and entered all my sensitive information etc. At the last page, re "funding", I just clicked "later". But now that I am logged in, was disappointed to click the LAUNCH button for the FRIP and get the error "Some of the information required to use this tool is not currently available. In order to continue, please contact a Fidelity investment professional at 800-343-3548." I'm hoping it's just because it's a brand new account and needs time to settle. Grr.

 

[H2ODude]

Loved the old one. Can't use the new one because it categorizes our brokerage as not eligible for retirement; says it's an educational fund! Called once and got a guy not to up on it so just bailed. Will call later. I frankly loved the outputs showing taxes and where it all was taken from. Oh well.

 

[nwsteve]

* EDIT: I created a new Fidelity Account, taxable investment individual, and entered all my sensitive information etc. At the last page, re "funding", I just clicked "later". But now that I am logged in, was disappointed to click the LAUNCH button for the FRIP and get the error "Some of the information required to use this tool is not currently available. In order to continue, please contact a Fidelity investment professional at 800-343-3548." I'm hoping it's just because it's a brand new account and needs time to settle. Grr.

I ram a current Fido client and have getting familiar with the new tool. (jury is still out IMHO if it is an improvement).
I can tell you have had a similar message when testing different elements. Based on comments from my Fido rep who was orienting me to the new tool, I suspect the application is still a bit unstable. It is actively being updated for initial feedback from clients while being hit by existing clients trying to figure out what is different.
Nwsteve

 

[truenorth418]

I am traveling and only have access to the tool on my iPhone. It seems clunky, and they did not link my IRA account which is by far the largest account I have at Fidelity. Maybe they'll have the bugs out by the time I return home. If not I will call them and set up some time with one of the advisors to take me through it. I really liked the old RIP. If this isn't just as good or better I'm going to be bummed.


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