If you’re looking for ways to track your retirement savings and financially map out your golden years, there are many digital tools available. Some are free, while others require a one-time payment or charge subscription fees. Determining which of these services is right for you will depend on how thorough you want to be in your retirement planning, as certain tools offer an excellent overview while others provide more detailed guidance.
The best retirement planning tools and software include:
— Betterment
— Boldin Simple Retirement Calculator
— Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator
— The Complete Retirement Planner
— Empower
— Fidelity Retirement Score
— Playing With Fire Retirement Calculator
— ProjectionLab
— The U.S. News Retirement Calculator
— Vanguard Retirement Income Calculator
— WealthTrace Retirement Planning Software
Here is a breakdown of these options along with information regarding their cost and top features.
Betterment
The Betterment app can help you set up a retirement plan. After creating an account and providing details including financial information and location, you’ll receive a plan for retirement saving and investing to achieve your goals. With the app, you can check your spending, track your net worth, and make adjustments as your lifestyle and needs change. Betterment’s investment advice on stocks and bonds is available for a fee of 0.25% annually or $5 a month, depending on the account size.
[READ: How Much You Will Get From Social Security.]
Boldin Retirement Calculator
If you’re wondering how much you’ll need to retire, Boldin 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 this 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 planned retirement age and receive 50% of your current salary. There is a free basic version available; access to more advanced planning tools costs $144 annually.
Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator
Charles Schwab’s free retirement savings calculator can help you determine if you are saving enough to cover your estimated annual retirement expenses. It gathers key details such as your current age, planned retirement age, investment approach, current income, retirement savings and monthly contributions. You’ll also input when you plan to start receiving Social Security benefits and how much you expect to spend each year in retirement. Based on this information, the tool provides a summary of your projected retirement savings and an estimate of how much more you need to save for retirement. It also provides recommendations for adjustments, such as your retirement age or annual contributions, to help you meet your savings needs by the time you retire.
The Complete Retirement Planner
At $89.99, this planner allows you to create a detailed financial plan for before and after retirement. It accounts for inflation — separating general and health care inflation — to forecast retirement expenses. If you’re married, it allows annual amounts to be entered for each spouse in different categories, including multiple income sources, health savings accounts, traditional 401(k) and IRA contributions, investment return rates and Social Security income. You can use it to evaluate the best age to start taking distributions from a 401(k) or IRA. It also includes integrated notes on complex topics like Medicare costs, Social Security benefits and common tax laws. The planner shows total income versus total expenses each year so that you can track cash flow.
[See: 6 Best Mobile Tax Apps of 2026]
Empower
Empower offers an investing platform along with financial management tools, allowing you to link your accounts to the planner so it can analyze your savings, net worth and spending habits. It includes a free retirement planner that helps you envision different scenarios and understand how they could influence your financial plan. You can adjust for various factors such as tax rates, inflation rates and a possible recession. The platform also has a feature to see your expected income from Social Security and other sources and how changes might impact those figures. You can tap financial advisors to discuss and set goals, and then track your progress toward those milestones. While the tracking and forecast tools are free to use, you’ll pay a management fee of up to 0.89% if you invest through the platform, which requires a minimum investment of $100,000.
Fidelity Retirement Score
This free tool can give you a quick assessment of your savings strategy. You answer six questions about your age, income, current savings amount, monthly savings, expected retirement lifestyle and 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 to Build a Balanced Retirement Portfolio]
Playing With Fire Retirement Calculator
If you’re considering retiring early, this free calculator helps you project when you’ll be able to achieve financial independence. Users input age, annual income, annual expenses, current net worth, how their assets are allocated and their expected rate of return on investments. They can then make changes to review how additional savings or other lifestyle changes could allow even earlier retirement.
ProjectionLab
This tool will show you how different withdrawal strategies could play out in retirement. For instance, if you want to withdraw 4% every year, you can view projections to see how this would impact your savings. You can also evaluate other strategies, such as withdrawing differing percentages during certain years. A free version with limited features is available, and premium plans start at $129 a year.
The U.S. News Retirement Calculator
The U.S. News retirement calculator estimates how long your savings and income will last in retirement. While it does not directly calculate Social Security benefits, it allows users to factor in projected retirement income. To use the calculator, enter your age, annual pretax income, current retirement savings and monthly account contributions. The calculator will also account for your retirement age, life expectancy, inflation rate and estimated retirement expenses. Calculations include annual income increases and any expected additional retirement income. Users can adjust their earnings, retirement income estimates and savings goals to see how these factors will impact their income later in life.
[Read: How to Start Investing and Saving for Retirement With Little Money]
Vanguard Retirement Income Calculator
This free calculator from Vanguard allows you to input details such as your age, planned retirement date, income and current savings. You’ll be asked about your length of retirement, how much you plan to spend and your investment allocation. Based on this information, the tool uses simulations to estimate the likelihood that your retirement savings will last.
WealthTrace Retirement Planning Software
This planning software is easy to use and provides a detailed view of your financial and retirement picture. After you import and link accounts, the software will automatically update daily so your balances remain current. You can evaluate your funds for retirement, see when your resources will run out, and have a WealthTrace expert guide you through your plan online. You can also run different scenarios to see how to overcome financial challenges and unexpected expenses. The standard individual plan starts at $229 a year.
More from U.S. News
Guaranteed Income Strategies for Retirement
What Is a Good Monthly Income in Retirement?
How to Turn $1 Million Into Passive Retirement Income
Great Retirement Planning Tools and Software for 2026 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 03/25/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
