Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center vs Retireator

Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center is a free web tool for reviewing retirement readiness, investment strategies, and possible next steps. Retirement Analysis lets users explore hypothetical scenarios based on current savings and estimated future contributions, while multiple independent financial goals can be created and monitored. The analysis uses historical returns, market volatility, and correlations to estimate potential retirement income. Fidelity says Probability of Success replaced the Fidelity Retirement Score as a holistic measure of financial plan strength and supports planning beyond retirement. Information may carry into other Fidelity tools, including Guided Portfolio Summary and Fidelity Income Strategy Evaluator. The tool may use financial details previously provided to Fidelity, a workplace plan sponsor, or a third party, so users should check them for accuracy. Its projections are hypothetical, do not represent actual investment results, and are not guarantees. The analysis is informational and nondiscretionary, not personalized advice. Generating a plan has no fee, though investment expenses and account transaction fees may still apply.

Retireator is a free, open-source retirement simulator written in Microsoft Excel for short- and medium-term financial planning. Users can build and test drawdown strategies across years using different income sources. It projects income and savings growth, supports withdrawal planning and scenario analysis, and models Social Security benefits and federal and state income taxes. Social Security calculations include spousal and survivor benefits, early-retirement reductions, and delayed-retirement credits. Other modeled factors include wage and consumer price inflation, stocks and bonds, past and future market conditions, employment and passive income, defined benefit pensions, debt, and net worth. Portfolio features cover target date funds and 401(k), 403(b), and IRA accounts. Housing tools include mortgage payment and amortization calculations, reverse mortgages, and scheduled one-time expenses. The listed annuity types include immediate, deferred, fixed, variable, indexed, and joint and survivor options. Tax calculations also cover payroll, self-employment, and long-term capital gains. Retireator is available on the web and Windows; account synchronization is not included.