Retirement Plan Builder

Enter your numbers once and see how savings, Social Security, and retirement spending fit together year by year. Free users get a snapshot and key milestones; Premium unlocks the full timeline, save/compare, and export.

How this tool works

This planner combines logic from several of our calculators — growth projections, Social Security claiming adjustments, spending-gap math, required minimum distributions (RMDs), and a simplified federal tax estimate — into one consistent timeline.

Use it as your starting point. Premium adds a Monte Carlo stress test on the same plan. Open the specialized calculators below for Roth conversions and deeper tax modeling.

Federal estimates use fixed 2026 ordinary-income brackets and base standard deductions. Future calendar years reuse these values as a projection assumption, not future statutory law. Credits, itemized deductions and additional age-based deductions are not included.

This is a quick annual planning snapshot. Ages mean ages attained in each calendar year; retirement and claims begin at the start of the selected modeled age-year, with 12 monthly payments. Exact birthday-month, midyear retirement, payment lag, spousal top-ups and survivor benefits are not modeled. Spending is entered in retirement-start dollars and inflates after retirement. Before retirement, contributions represent your net saving after living costs and taxes. Use Your Retirement Journey Matters for the deeper six-phase process.

About you

Birth year Uses the age you attain this calendar year and Social Security Full Retirement Age.

Full birth date Required for the June 30 / July 1, 1949 RMD boundary.

Planned retirement age When you expect to stop working and start drawing from savings.

I'm already retired

Money today

Retirement savings today ($) 401(k), IRA, brokerage — one combined total for this snapshot.

Portfolio withdrawals for spending begin at age When you'll start drawing from savings to cover spending (after Social Security). RMDs still apply when required. For a calendar date (e.g. Jan 2027), use the age you'll be that year.

Annual contributions until retirement ($)

Expected return before retirement (%) Only used if you are still saving and growing your portfolio before retirement.

Spending in retirement

What you expect to spend each year — household expenses, not your income.

Estimate from current spending Enter annual spending directly

Household monthly spending ($) What your household spends now (or expects to spend in retirement) — not gross income.

Retirement spending (% of current) Many planners use 70–80% while still working. Already retired? This is set to 100%.

Guaranteed income in retirement

Steady income from Social Security, pensions, and similar sources. Each person's Social Security is entered separately.

Your Social Security

I'm already receiving my benefit

Your benefit at Full Retirement Age ($/month) From your SSA statement (PIA at FRA) — for future claiming estimates.

You plan to claim at age

Spouse's Social Security (optional)

Spouse is already receiving their benefit

Spouse's benefit at Full Retirement Age ($/month) From spouse's SSA statement. Leave at 0 if not applicable.

Spouse plans to claim at age

Other guaranteed income ($/year) Level annual amount for pension, annuity, or other income. Do not include Social Security. Use the same start age only for income beginning together.

Your age when this other income begins Leave blank for retirement start. Future income is excluded until this age.

Tax & RMD assumptions

Tax filing status

Tax-deferred share of portfolio (%) Portion subject to RMDs (Traditional IRA, 401(k), etc.). Roth/brokerage is the remainder.

Spouse is sole IRA beneficiary? If your sole beneficiary spouse is more than 10 years younger, a joint-life divisor may apply; only verified table entries are supported.

Spouse's age attained this calendar year

Other advanced assumptions

Plan through age How far to project spending, RMDs, and Monte Carlo. Many planners use 90–95; Vanguard often uses 100.

Withdrawal rate for on-track check (%)

Expected return in retirement (%)

Inflation on spending (%)

Social Security COLA (%)

Return volatility for stress test (%) Standard deviation of annual returns (Premium Monte Carlo). Typical: 8% balanced, 10% moderate equity, 12% all-equity.

Monte Carlo simulations Premium stress test runs (100–5,000).

Your retirement plan snapshot

Projected at retirement

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Target for retirement-start income gap

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Annual guaranteed income at retirement start

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Lifetime est. federal tax (retirement years)

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Your planning takeaway Build your plan to see how savings, income, taxes, and withdrawals fit together.

Portfolio balance over time

Key milestones

Age	Portfolio	Withdrawal	Social Security (household)	Other income	RMD	Est. federal tax	Total income	Spending requested / funded	Unfunded spending + tax

Year-by-year timeline

Age	Portfolio	Withdrawal	Social Security (household)	Other income	RMD	Est. federal tax	Total income	Spending requested / funded	Unfunded spending + tax

Monte Carlo stress test

Thousands of random market scenarios test whether portfolio withdrawals can cover your spending gap and estimated federal taxes through your plan end age. Simulations use the same annual cash-flow timing, RMDs, account sources and tax funding as the deterministic plan. Zero volatility reproduces the deterministic plan at the same expected return.

72.4%

See the probability your plan lasts through your plan end age under thousands of market scenarios.

Upgrade to Premium

Educational model only

Federal tax estimates are simplified (standard deduction, 50% of Social Security treated as taxable, no state tax, IRMAA, or NIIT). The initial tax-deferred share also allocates contributions. Other assets are treated as tax-free principal/Roth assets because no taxable cost basis is supplied; taxable gains are not modeled. Discretionary withdrawals use other assets before traditional assets. Surplus income and excess RMDs are saved in other assets. Taxes and spending occur before annual investment returns; taxes take priority if resources are insufficient. RMDs apply to the tax-deferred portion of your portfolio only. Monte Carlo uses random annual returns (not a forecast of actual markets). This is educational — not tax or financial advice.

Dig deeper with specialized tools

These open in a new tab with your plan numbers pre-filled.

Social Security Claiming Analyzer → Plan Success (Monte Carlo) → Roth Conversion Calculator → RMD Impact → Spending & On-Track Checkup → Social Security + Spending Gap → Nest Egg Target →

RonBelisle.com — educational planning illustration. Review the displayed inputs, timing, assumptions and supported statutory scope. Results are estimates, not guaranteed outcomes or personalized advice. Retain scenario inputs with this printout.

✨ Calculator Premium Features Available