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.

About you

Birth year Used to estimate your age today and Social Security Full Retirement Age.

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) Pension, annuity, rental, etc. — do not include Social Security here.

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 yes and spouse is 10+ years younger, a lower RMD divisor may apply.

Spouse's current age

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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Rule-of-thumb target

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Income (when plan is fully running)

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Lifetime est. federal tax (retirement years)

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Portfolio balance over time

Key milestones

Age	Portfolio	Withdrawal	Social Security (household)	Other income	RMD	Est. federal tax	Total income

Year-by-year timeline

Age	Portfolio	Withdrawal	Social Security (household)	Other income	RMD	Est. federal tax	Total income

Monte Carlo stress test

Thousands of random market scenarios test whether portfolio withdrawals can cover your spending gap (after Social Security and other income) through your plan end age, using the same monthly timing as our Plan Success calculator. At 10% volatility a ~3.8% initial gap rate often lands near 80–85%; at 12% all-equity volatility, 72–78% is typical.

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). 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 →

✨ Premium Features Available