Fidelity Retirement Analysis Tool

An extra 10% buffer for us on top of FIDO's automatically calculated tax is comfort enough for us! YMMV
 
wmc1000 said:
An extra 10% buffer for us on top of FIDO's automatically calculated tax is comfort enough for us! YMMV
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If Fidelity is using a 20% effective tax rate as Scrambler1 indicates, then for us the tax rate is already too high, so won't add any expenses from our standpoint.
 
I love all the feedback on the Fidelity tool. Keep the responses coming.
 
Are folks finding that there expenses are more or less during their retirement years? As I look over my expenses now (not retired yet), there is a lot of opportunity to cut some expenses.
 
G-Man said:
Are folks finding that there expenses are more or less during their retirement years? As I look over my expenses now (not retired yet), there is a lot of opportunity to cut some expenses.
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Much less for us, but there was a conscious decision to live a different lifestyle in retirement and was not interested in continuing our much higher expense lifestyle pre retirement.
 
We find our expenses are approx. the same because we decided to cut unnecessary expenses about 3 years before retiring to see what our true necessary expenses level was and maintain our level of comfort and happiness.
 
G-Man said:
I love all the feedback on the Fidelity tool. Keep the responses coming.
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My only input would be: A tool provided by a company that wants to hold your investment dollars is more likely to be conservative (maybe overly conservative.) It would be to their advantage if you save more than you really need or retire later than you need to. I'm not suggesting an evil intent so much as a natural tendency to have you save more - since it would be with them. FIRECalc has no such built in bias toward over saving. Of course, I could be wrong about the FIDO tool specifically so YMMV.

My back of the envelope tool is still to multiply one's maximum spend rate (beyond guaranteed incomes like SS or pension) by 25. If you have at least that much in assets, you're probably okay (assuming you can live on a 4% withdrawal.) At that point, check two or three "tools" for more comfort level. As always, YMMV when it comes to planning a retirement date.
 
Koolau said:
My only input would be: A tool provided by a company that wants to hold your investment dollars is more likely to be conservative (maybe overly conservative.) It would be to their advantage if you save more than you really need or retire later than you need to. I'm not suggesting an evil intent so much as a natural tendency to have you save more - since it would be with them. FIRECalc has no such built in bias toward over saving. Of course, I could be wrong about the FIDO tool specifically so YMMV.

My back of the envelope tool is still to multiply one's maximum spend rate (beyond guaranteed incomes like SS or pension) by 25. If you have at least that much in assets, you're probably okay (assuming you can live on a 4% withdrawal.) At that point, check two or three "tools" for more comfort level. As always, YMMV when it comes to planning a retirement date.
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For me, if this tool is telling me that I can retire now based on the inputs I provided and the tool is conservative as well, I feel good that I can retire at any time now. The only question for me is when. I really need to plan out what I would do with all the free time during retirement.
 
G-Man said:
For me, if this tool is telling me that I can retire now based on the inputs I provided and the tool is conservative as well, I feel good that I can retire at any time now. The only question for me is when. I really need to plan out what I would do with all the free time during retirement.
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Emphasis by me. You already know that financially you are good to go. So figure out what you want to do with retirement and make it happen :)
 
G-Man said:
Are folks finding that there expenses are more or less during their retirement years? As I look over my expenses now (not retired yet), there is a lot of opportunity to cut some expenses.
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We never wanted to live our retirement with "cut expenses", i.e. cut lifestyle. I think our expenses are close to what they were during our working years (minus the IRA/401K/savings part). Give or take 10-20%. However, it doesn't make any sense to me to ask what my expenses are. They all depend on your vision of retirement life vs your work life. It can go either way.
 
Normally I would say "a man with one watch always knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure," but since this is not an exact science, looking at several tools is far superior than just one, if for nothing else, peace of mind. I regularly use Fidelity the same as others here. It's easy to use, and even with the most conservative view tells me I'm in great shape. It gives me the opportunity to add a one-time future expense (pool in my case) when I edit my mortgage expense, so that's nice. I wish it had the opportunity to do more than one future expense (like a wedding or one time purchase of a vehicle, or what have you).

Also use Firecalc, and it always comes back with 100%

Like others, I also like to balance this with my own spreadsheets which gives me ultimate control.

Any of these methods gives me the answer "you got plenty," which begs the question: why aren't I retired?!? But not going to hijack the thread for that.
 
Unpaintedhuffhines said:
It's easy to use, and even with the most conservative view tells me I'm in great shape. It gives me the opportunity to add a one-time future expense (pool in my case) when I edit my mortgage expense, so that's nice. I wish it had the opportunity to do more than one future expense (like a wedding or one time purchase of a vehicle, or what have you).
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Just checked my RIP and I can add six custom expenses--can be one time or for any specified period (I have replacement car). On the income side, you can add additional income as one time (inheritance) or a something like future annuity/income stream (rent investment)
 
Unpaintedhuffhines, I have many one time lumpy expenses added into the Fidelity tool with no issues.
 
G-Man said:
My Fidelity Wealth Management Advisor introduced the Fidelity Retirement Analysis tool to me during a retirement planning session last week. Based on the numbers inputted (income & expenses, etc.), at the end of the plan, I still have money left over using the significantly below average market. I even estimated my discretionary expenses (inputted in the Detailed Expenses section) on the high side.

The Fidelity advisor gave me the thumbs up that I can retire today. I'm very cautious and want to be sure about the decision to retire.

For those that have used the tool, how accurate is it? Can you trust the analysis that is given by the tool?

Thanks
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Most tools of this type rely on probabilistic evaluations. In other words, how likely are you to not run out of money based on your inputs. The key is to take the time to really analyze your planned spending level in as much detail as possible and to add some level of spending for miscellaneous (unknown) items or activities. There is a fair amount of explanation on the Fidelity website that I encourage you to read into the methodology of the tool. I would take the time to play with the inputs yourself and not rely on the brief amount of time invested by your Fidelity rep in setting it up for you.
 
G-Man said:
For me, if this tool is telling me that I can retire now based on the inputs I provided and the tool is conservative as well, I feel good that I can retire at any time now. The only question for me is when. I really need to plan out what I would do with all the free time during retirement.
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The threads and posts on this site about being bored in retirement are minimal.

Just came back today from a 13 day vacation. Now back to retirement and playing Pickleball tomorrow.
 
Dtail said:
The threads and posts on this site about being bored in retirement are minimal.

Just came back today from a 13 day vacation. Now back to retirement and playing Pickleball tomorrow.
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I like it. I'm getting the itch.
 
I'm looking at the table view vs the chart view. I noticed on income like Pension and Dividend income that that amount is decreasing year by year. Can someone explain that. The pension amount should be the same amount until I die.
 
G-Man said:
I'm looking at the table view vs the chart view. I noticed on income like Pension and Dividend income that that amount is decreasing year by year. Can someone explain that. The pension amount should be the same amount until I die.
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ok. I found what is happening. When I edit the income source, if I check "Adjust to future dollars", the pension amount is the same until I die.

Any advice on whether that option should be selected?
 
G-Man said:
ok. I found what is happening. When I edit the income source, if I check "Adjust to future dollars", the pension amount is the same until I die.

Any advice on whether that option should be selected?
Click to expand...

The overall analysis has "current dollars" vs. "future dollars". I always use current dollars for that summary.

The pension amount will reduce because "current dollars" will show that your pension is decreasing in amount because of inflation. So it is correct to show decreasing amount unless your pension has COLA.

If your pension has COLA, I think you want to check off "Adjust to future dollars".
 
RetiredHappy said:
The overall analysis has "current dollars" vs. "future dollars". I always use current dollars for that summary.

The pension amount will reduce because "current dollars" will show that your pension is decreasing in amount because of inflation. So it is correct to show decreasing amount unless your pension has COLA.

If your pension has COLA, I think you want to check off "Adjust to future dollars".
Click to expand...

Ok. I need to check my pension plan for COLA.
 
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