Financial apps have changed the way many people manage their money. It’s no longer necessary to pay a professional to monitor a portfolio or explain how the market works.
“Apps … not only give you insights into your situation in real time with modern and simplified dashboards, reports and breakdowns, but they enable the user to learn as they continue to use it,” says Christian Maldonado, founder of accounting and tax agency Finsult.
While there are plenty of personal finance apps, Maldonado cautions against trying to plan for retirement with a budgeting app. Those typically don’t have the tools needed to project future income or what-if scenarios.
Retirement planning apps can have limitations too, and everyone should understand those before relying too heavily on their predictions.
“For example, many of these apps utilize straight-line assumptions about what asset returns might look like, but do not account for volatility around those assumptions,” Aaron Brask, financial planner with Aaron Brask Capital, said in an email.
For that reason, apps may not fully replace working with a financial advisor, but they can still be beneficial. Below are some of the top retirement planning apps for your mobile or desktop device.
For DIY Retirement Planning: Boldin
Price: $12 per month, billed annually at $144, for PlannerPlus access. A free version with limited features is also available.
Boldin is Maldonado’s choice for comprehensive retirement planning software.
“(It’s) a bit more robust with advanced features such as retirement account conversion scenarios and even Medicare planning,” he says.
A desktop-based tool, the Boldin planner is mobile friendly, although it doesn’t have a dedicated mobile app. With a PlannerPlus subscription, users can add more than 250 inputs, run Monte Carlo simulations, project state and federal taxes, and compare scenarios side by side. There are also options for budgeting, health care cost estimates and real estate modeling.
For Charts and Graphs: ProjectionLab
Price: $109 per year for a premium plan. A free version with limited features is also available. Lifetime access can be purchased for $1,199.
ProjectionLab is another web app that offers comprehensive retirement planning features. Its premium plan includes tax estimates, what-if scenarios, Roth conversions and a compare mode.
“For my clients who are more visual … I usually send them to ProjectionLab as their platform is very visual and easy to digest,” Maldonado says.
The charts and graphs within the app make it easy to see chances of success, cash flow and net worth, among other things. While ProjectionLab does not have a dedicated mobile app, its web app is mobile friendly.
[Read: What the Rothification of Retirement Accounts Means for You]
For Spreadsheet Fans: Tiller
Price: $79 per year
For some people, nothing but a spreadsheet will do. However, there is no reason to toil over creating your own retirement planning sheet when Tiller provides templates and automatically categorizes transactions from linked accounts.
Tiller can be used with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, tracking spending, liabilities, net worth and more. Each day, it will send a Hello, Money email so you can quickly see where your finances stand.
While Tiller is not explicitly designed for retirement planning, the data points it provides are all important when it comes to determining whether you’re on track to retire.
For Investing: Alinea
Price: $120 per year
When it comes to retirement savings, it’s hard to beat the tax advantages of a 401(k) account or IRA. However, those accounts come with strings attached — specifically, a restriction that money generally can’t be withdrawn without penalty before age 59 1/2. For those planning an early retirement, that could be problematic.
Alinea is an app that makes it easy to invest in a taxable brokerage account. Designed for young adults and new investors, the app is intended to make investing more accessible.
“We started it for anyone who doesn’t feel like a finance bro,” says Anam Lakhani, co-founder of Alinea Invest. “For so many people, getting started with investing is so intimidating.”
With Alinea, users answer a few questions and then get matched to a portfolio based on their goals and risk tolerance. Users can then set up recurring transactions to make investing a habit. Alinea also offers finance lessons that Lakhani describes as “Duolingo-esque.”
[Read: How to Build a Balanced Retirement Portfolio]
For Tracking Net Worth: Empower
Price: Free
There is no cost to sign up for the Empower Personal Dashboard, although there may be fees for some features, such as investing through the app.
Within the Empower app, you can track your net worth, watch growth in your portfolio and see your projected portfolio value in the future. Beyond retirement planning, the Empower app can be linked to financial accounts for budgeting and monitoring cash flow.
For Long-Term Care Planning: Waterlily
Price: Free for consumers, plans for advisors start at $47 per month
Long-term care costs can top six figures a year in some areas, and even lesser amounts can put a significant dent in a person’s retirement plan. Waterlily is an app that estimates long-term care expenses so you can anticipate them.
“Long-term care is the highest financial risk to a retirement plan,” says Lily Vittayarukskul, CEO and co-founder of Waterlily. Yet, “Most financial and retirement apps don’t address long-term care at all.”
Waterlily is a web-based app that uses a brief survey to predict a person’s long-term care timeline and costs. Although designed for use by financial planners, individuals can sign up for the waitlist online to be matched with a professional who uses the app. A two-week free trial is available.
For Professionals: IncomeSolver
Price: Free for consumers working with a financial advisor who uses the software. Professionals pay a licensing fee based on their business size.
Some retirement planning apps are intended for use by financial advisors with their clients. While there are several options available, IncomeSolver is favored by Brask for its broad financial planning capabilities.
“I believe it is the only software platform that embeds a true mathematical optimization,” he said. “An optimization runs simulations across many combinations of decisions and uses statistical techniques to zero in on which produces the best results.”
In other words, decisions for Social Security, Roth conversions and withdrawals are outputs of the app rather than inputs. “This difference might sound subtle, but it can make all the difference when identifying the best strategies to minimize taxes,” according to Brask.
This type of advanced planning is part of what sets professional apps apart from DIY apps.
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7 Money Apps to Keep Your Retirement Planning on Track originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 10/20/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
