Retirement Calculators

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doneat54

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I'm 5 years FIRE'd on Wed and today, DW told her boss on their weekly call of her planned retirement date in May. As such I have been running several models in Fidelity's calculator. About 25% of our portfolio is there now. Had pulled in other balances into it earlier in the year and updated them today.


DW and I picked a "comfort" number, a value that we want to see the calculator show in the portfolio at "end of plan", using "Below Average Returns". Then I went about making all sorts of changes to our budget expenses, one time BTD draws, and fattened our travel budget by 80%. See what it would take to trash this thing. I was amazed at how hard I could hammer this thing in the next 10 years and still keep it above our number at the end. Not surprising though, as we both have 30+ year careers in Megacorps and SS will be significant for us when we start drawing it.


Then I plugged numbers into FIREcalc, and like Fidelity, it showed that we could beat the crap out of the portfolio early on, and still hit 100% in FIREcalc. Encouraging.

Anyway, both calculators have their limitations. Fidelity makes it hard to load "one time" or fixed period expenses AND have them show up in the analysis/report. FIREcalc only allows three addition/subtractions. Neither give me a clear view of Tax liability each year (I know, that can depend on a whole bunch of other stuff).



So I wanted to ask if there were some other good ones out there. I would love one that I could log into, plug values in ONCE (update as needed) and run scenarios. I wouldn't mind even paying a bit for it if it was really good. Feel free to point me to another thread if there is one. I did search the forums on RCs bit did get anything specific.
 
The best I’ve ever used is Income Strategy, only cost me $20 (a one month subscription) - but it takes some significant effort to understand and use. Even with a better than average understanding of investing and retirement planning, it took me over two weeks to be sure I even had it right, then I got everything I wanted including detailed tax info (assuming what we know at present, TCJA then revert thereafter)…
 
doneat54 said:
I'm 5 years FIRE'd on Wed and today, DW told her boss on their weekly call of her planned retirement date in May. As such I have been running several models in Fidelity's calculator. About 25% of our portfolio is there now. Had pulled in other balances into it earlier in the year and updated them today.


DW and I picked a "comfort" number, a value that we want to see the calculator show in the portfolio at "end of plan", using "Below Average Returns". Then I went about making all sorts of changes to our budget expenses, one time BTD draws, and fattened our travel budget by 80%. See what it would take to trash this thing. I was amazed at how hard I could hammer this thing in the next 10 years and still keep it above our number at the end. Not surprising though, as we both have 30+ year careers in Megacorps and SS will be significant for us when we start drawing it.


Then I plugged numbers into FIREcalc, and like Fidelity, it showed that we could beat the crap out of the portfolio early on, and still hit 100% in FIREcalc. Encouraging.

Anyway, both calculators have their limitations. Fidelity makes it hard to load "one time" or fixed period expenses AND have them show up in the analysis/report. FIREcalc only allows three addition/subtractions. Neither give me a clear view of Tax liability each year (I know, that can depend on a whole bunch of other stuff).



So I wanted to ask if there were some other good ones out there. I would love one that I could log into, plug values in ONCE (update as needed) and run scenarios. I wouldn't mind even paying a bit for it if it was really good. Feel free to point me to another thread if there is one. I did search the forums on RCs bit did get anything specific.
Click to expand...

The RPM spreadsheet meets your requirements. I use it and like it alot.

Portfoliovisualizer is another one. The free version is very good. A subscription version is available.

Probably best of all is the model that you build and maintain yourself. You achieve intimate familiarity with your own financial standing and outlook.
 
i-orp.com - lets you adjust quite a few variables, takes into consideration taxable, vs deferred tax accounts. Has a monte carlo option. Also good for modelling Roth conversions. The extended page lets you do a lot of specific tweaks.

vpw a spreadsheet developed over at Bogleheads that optimizes your withdrawals assuming you can be flexible and pull in the withdrawals if the market goes bear.

I used quicken lifetime planner (comes with quicken deluxe and better)... Doesn't do stock market fluctuations... You put in rate of return and inflation rate.... but lets you budget and plan for one time big expenses (kids college, daughter's dream wedding, trip of a lifetime travel)... It differentiates between IRA vs after tax - and uses your input for expected tax rate.

I ran every calculator I could get my hands on and these ones, plus Fidelities calculator all helped me think out issues, refine my plan, and feel comfortable with retirement.
 
I like the Flexible Retirement Planner. Be sure to use the "additional inputs" screen in addition to the main screen.
 
Doesn't surprise me in the least. I've been hammering mine ever since retired and last look shows I'm up 45% in the 7 years I've been retired.

So, I've been spending over 3 times as much dough as when working, but thanks to a favorable equities market and an 80-20 AA, I'm making dough faster than I can spend it.

Sweet!
 
There’s an app called Retire Plan. I think I paid $4.95 in the App Store on Apple. You own it so you can store all your data, tons of one off expenses or additions, tax adjustments and what if’s to your heart’s desire.
End result though, I have used many of the planners and within a small margin, given the same inputs, they all give you the same results which are likely to be wrong because things change.
Our numbers have only gotten better, likely market driven and in the future there will likely be times our numbers get worse - likely market or expense driven. If you are willing to adjust your sails as you go, you likely succeed.
 
RobbieB said:
Doesn't surprise me in the least. I've been hammering mine ever since retired and last look shows I'm up 45% in the 7 years I've been retired.

So, I've been spending over 3 times as much dough as when working, but thanks to a favorable equities market and an 80-20 AA, I'm making dough faster than I can spend it.

Sweet!
Click to expand...


Ballsy running an 80-20 AA in retirement IMO, but sounds like you are doing just fine!
 
Thanks for all the tips! Wow, tons more than I thought out there. DL'ed the RPM spreadsheet, will give that a go soon..
 
doneat54 said:
Anyway, both calculators have their limitations. Fidelity makes it hard to load "one time" or fixed period expenses AND have them show up in the analysis/report. FIREcalc only allows three addition/subtractions. Neither give me a clear view of Tax liability each year (I know, that can depend on a whole bunch of other stuff).
Click to expand...

I have no issue putting one time expenses and fixed period expenses into Fidelity and have them show up in the analysis/report. Select "table" in the analysis, and you can see the bumped up in numbers for that year or period.
 
After testing many (but not all) of the calculators mentioned above, we finally ended up with Pralana Gold. If I remember correctly it cost about $50.

Pralana Gold makes it easy to compare 3 different retirement scenarios at once. Also, and most important for us - it allows variable yearly input of spending amounts, Roth rollover amounts, inheritances, income, etc . Most other free calculators don't let you change things year over year.

I used Pralana Gold to show my DW the tax torpedo that would happen if we did not do Roth rollovers. I have been talking about rollovers for years but she did not really buy in at a gut level till she saw the chart of taxes to be paid....
 
CincyDave said:
I like the Flexible Retirement Planner. Be sure to use the "additional inputs" screen in addition to the main screen.
Click to expand...
Me too! It takes a while to try all of the tools and use them intelligently, but the sensitivity analysis is insightful. Like I was just looking at spending levels vs. inflation rates. This is not the primary window, but an additional tool.

I use the standalone app. There's also a JRE web version.
 

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I fiddle with models a lot (actually way too much) and use several things:

+The 2022 version of RPM added asset location optimization, where you can hold, say, bonds in tax deferred and keep stocks in taxable and Roth. Also, the 2022 version added capital gains taxation that has been a weak spot. As a free product, it's quite amazing and since it's not protected, it's configurable for those of us that love spreadsheets. The original programmer retired from his day job in 1998, so has to be getting up there in age, there is another user now helping and that has injected new energy in feature development.

My one criticism is I find the way the input is organized to be very quirky. For instance, if you have an inherited IRA, the input is scattered in four different areas, with over 200 rows between some of the places you have to give it input about that account - everyone is guaranteed to get that wrong at first. Then it's a little too smart in that it knows you don't need RMDs until the year after inheriting, but it assumes you inherit in the future. If you already inherited, you have to add a manual withdrawal from the account for the first year's RMD, again guaranteeing no one will get that right the first time.

Quirkiness aside, I love the ability to customize it. I heavily modified my copy to handle some of the taxes, income types and expenses it won't handle (ACA credits, HSA, gifts, NIIT, AMT, etc). I run linked sheets, with one sheet for us and one for each heir so I can see how gifts to them would grow at their tax bracket vs. ours and get the best calculation of taxes for Roth conversions as I run it for 10 years after our assumed deaths to allow the inherited IRAs to be fully withdrawn and taxes paid by heirs. Also useful in that I made it iterative so unlike most calculators, I see the effect of asset sales on capital gains taxes in the year they occur - of course my modifications make it painfully slow.

+My own spreadsheet that works like FireCalc, it has a less sophisticated tax module than the other things I use. I started with this before finding any on-line tools and now that I've seen better tools, I barely keep it alive. But I still find it occasionally useful for stress testing decisions like gifts to kids or Roth Conversions strategies where I would change behavior based on market performance.

+Pralana Gold - commercial spreadsheet (you don't do any formula writing, but you have to have Excel, no substitutes) that's very flexible. It has lots of input and output options, can handle different assets, with special input areas for property, insurance, business, college costs, charity. It has an excellent tax package though to keep it running quickly, it puts capital gains on asset sales this year into next year's taxes (same as RPM).

It includes lots of withdrawal strategies beyond just constant amounts. For instance, it has Variable, Actuarial Based, Guyton Klinger and Consumption Smoothing. It gives returns based on your assumptions, historical and Monte Carlo, so you can see if your assumptions are super conservative.

The 2022 version will add asset location optimization and has a much better Roth Conversion module where you customize the conversion strategy in each year for up to 20 years, picking whether to prioritize your own or spouse's IRA, pick the tax bracket limit, IRMAA Tier or FPL level.

The author has been very responsive when I've had a question or bug report.
 
CincyDave said:
I like the Flexible Retirement Planner. Be sure to use the "additional inputs" screen in addition to the main screen.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have tried numerous retirement planners including web sites, spreadsheets, mobile apps, and standalone programs. FRP is by far my favorite (I too prefer the downloadable program). It is a free program, but I have donated to the author for this great tool. If you have questions he has a forum that he responds to quickly.

https://www.flexibleretirementplanner.com/wp/download/

I can model just about any situation with it, and I love that it saves my entries so I can review it any time or make updates whenever needed.

I use the additional inputs screen for things like my wife's pension, additional income, social security, one time expenses like a new roof, or ongoing expenses. I also like that I can enter my social security estimates for each age (62 to 70) as separate entries. Then I can just select one at a time to experiment with different starting ages to see how it affects our overall portfolio.

I have modeled Roth conversions, low income discounts, and more. Great program.

FRP does tend to be a little more pessimistic (accurate?) than FireCalc. So I usually do my detailed planning in FRP to be safe, then use FireCalc as a second opinion.

I do try to err on the side of caution when entering values. Higher inflation rates, higher tax rates, and lower returns than we are really likely to have. FRP does have a sensitivity analysis that you can use to test out some of these things.
 
Are any of the programs good at including Government and/or Teacher pensions and the resultant SS hits for themselves and surviving spouses? I have used the simplistic 4% rule, i-Orp. Fidelity's retirement calculator, FireCalc , plus my own homegrown spreadsheets. My children are asking me for retirement calculator recommendations, and I have no experience modeling those pensions. I don't recall any the calculators that I have used asking about those pensions.
 
CRLLS said:
Are any of the programs good at including Government and/or Teacher pensions and the resultant SS hits for themselves and surviving spouses? I have used the simplistic 4% rule, i-Orp. Fidelity's retirement calculator, FireCalc , plus my own homegrown spreadsheets. My children are asking me for retirement calculator recommendations, and I have no experience modeling those pensions. I don't recall any the calculators that I have used asking about those pensions.
Click to expand...
FRP has additional inputs. This is a partial view of what's possible.
 

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