If you’re looking for ways to track your savings and financially map out your retirement years, there are many digital options available. Some are free, while others come at a cost or have ongoing subscription fees. The right fit will depend on how deep of a dive you want to take into your retirement plan, as certain tools offer a great overview, while others walk you through every step at a very detailed level.
The best retirement planning tools and software include:
— Betterment App.
— Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator.
— Retire Inspired Quotient Tool.
— Fidelity Retirement Score.
— Personal Capital Retirement Planner.
— Stash Retirement Calculator.
— The Complete Retirement Planner.
— NewRetirement Calculator.
— Playing With Fire Retirement Calculator.
— WealthTrace Retirement Planning Software.
Here is a breakdown of these options, along with information regarding their cost and top features.
Betterment App
Betterment offers to help you set up a retirement plan. After creating an account and sharing some information about yourself, where you live and your finances, you can receive help with saving for retirement, investing toward a set goal and planning for retirement. With the app, you can check your spending, track your net worth and make changes as your lifestyle and needs change.
[READ: 10 Social Security Calculators That Can Help You Decide When to Claim.]
Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator
Charles Schwab offers a free retirement savings calculator that will tell you if you are saving enough to cover your estimated annual retirement expenses. The calculator collects information from you, including your current age, planned retirement age and investment style. You also enter your current income, amount saved for retirement and monthly savings. The calculator asks when you plan to start receiving Social Security benefits and how much you plan to spend each year in retirement. The tool then offers a summary of your projected retirement savings, along with the savings needed for retirement. It offers suggestions on what to change, such as your retirement age or annual contributions, to meet your savings needs by the time you retire.
Retire Inspired Quotient (R:IQ) Tool
You’ll be asked to describe your retirement dream with the R:IQ tool, which is free. You’ll also note your current income, how much you expect to need each month during retirement, how many years until you plan to retire and what you’ve saved so far. The R:IQ tool allows you to then assess how much you can expect to have in retirement, based on your current investments. It also shows how much you will need to save to reach your retirement goals. The tool can be used to set savings goals for each month that will enable you to live out your retirement dream.
Fidelity Retirement Score
This free tool can be used to provide a quick assessment of your savings strategy. You answer six questions about your age, income, current saved amount, monthly savings, expected retirement lifestyle and your investment style. The tool will give you a score based on your responses. You can also see what happens to your score if you change certain factors like your monthly savings, standard of living in retirement or retirement age.
[Read: How Much Should You Contribute to a 401(k)?]
Personal Capital Retirement Planner
Personal Capital provides a free retirement planner tool. You’ll be asked to enter certain data and link your accounts to the planner so it can analyze your savings and spending habits. It will calculate your chances of having a portfolio that will support your retirement goals. Since your accounts are linked, you can track your progress toward meeting retirement goals over time. The planner also covers variables including taxes, inflation, Social Security and spousal retirement. If you plan to make a big financial purchase in the near future, like buying a home or paying for college, you can see how that would impact your retirement goals. The tool also factors in significant income events, such as a windfall, inheritance or rental income. You can create different scenarios to see how making changes could impact your retirement finances.
Stash Retirement Calculator
With the free retirement calculator at Stash, you can fill in the blanks to note how old you are, when you plan to retire, how much you earn each year before taxes, how much you’ve saved and what you’re currently putting toward retirement every month. Based on this information, the tool shows you how much money you can expect to have in retirement and how much you are likely to need. These two figures are displayed graphically to contrast the amount you’re on track to have with the amount that Stash advises you accumulate based on your entered data. The calculator also includes an analysis of your current savings strategy and resources to learn more about your retirement financial needs.
The Complete Retirement Planner
At $89.99, this planner allows you to create a customized and comprehensive financial plan for both before and after retirement. If you’re married, it allows annual amounts to be entered for each spouse in different categories, including multiple income sources, HSA accounts, traditional 401(k) and IRA contributions, investment return rates and Social Security income. You can use it to evaluate which age you want to start taking distributions from a 401(k) or IRA. There are integrated notes on complex topics like Medicare costs, Social Security benefits and common tax laws. The planner comes with a built-in Social Security calculator and helps estimate health care costs in retirement.
NewRetirement Calculator
If you’re wondering how much you need to retire, NewRetirement helps you estimate your retirement income, when you’ll be able to retire, the amount of savings you need and your overall net worth. With the free retirement calculator you can also look at “What if?” scenarios to see how a few changes in timing and savings can impact your retirement lifestyle. For instance, you can observe what would happen to your finances if you work part time for three additional years past your currently planned retirement age and receive 50% of your current salary.
Playing With Fire Retirement Calculator
If you’re thinking of retiring early, this free calculator shows you when you’ll be able to achieve financial independence. You need to enter your age, annual income, annual expenses, current net worth, how your assets are allocated and your expected rate of return on investments. You can then make changes to review how additional savings or other lifestyle changes could allow you to retire even earlier.
[READ: 10 Important Ages for Retirement Planning.]
WealthTrace Retirement Planning Software
This planning software is easy to use and lets you see a detailed view of your financial and retirement situation. After you import and link accounts, the software will automatically update every day, so your balances will remain current. You can evaluate your funds for retirement, see when your resources will run out and talk to a real person via phone, live chat or email if you have any questions. You’ll also be able to run different scenarios to see how to overcome financial challenges or other life twists. The basic individual plan starts at $239 for the first year, with $189 every following year.
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Great Retirement Planning Tools and Software originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 03/09/22: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
