FIRECalc vs Retirement Budget Calculator

FIRECalc is a free web calculator for assessing whether savings, planned spending, and other resources could sustain retirement. It tests plans against historical market conditions beginning in 1871 and reports how often the portfolio would have remained funded for the selected term across historical starting years. Users can include Social Security, pensions, and other income or spending adjustments. Spending options include inflation-adjusted constant amounts, Bernicke's Reality Retirement Plan, and a percentage of the remaining portfolio. Portfolio settings allow historical investment portfolios, fees, and consistent or random returns. Planning inputs can include a future retirement date, annual contributions before retirement, and future lump-sum changes. Defaults are a 75% stock-index and 25% bond-fund portfolio, a 0.18% fund fee, and inflation-adjusted spending over 30 years. FIRECalc says it cannot predict future returns and does not provide tax planning. The homepage reports data through January 1, 2026, updated April 17, 2026. It says it does not store financial entries; temporary spreadsheet and graphic files are deleted after about 15 minutes.

Retirement Budget Calculator is a web tool for estimating retirement budgets, cash flow, taxes, withdrawal strategies, Roth conversions, life expectancy, and net worth. Users can model retirement needs, compare scenarios and withdrawal approaches, and build a cash flow plan. Its free feature list includes a dashboard, retirement timeline, asset and liability tracking, and budgeting. Premium features include an advanced dashboard, retirement optimizer, federal 1040 tax estimator, AI assistant Finn, and community access. The Social Security Maximizer estimates suggested claiming dates, personal and spousal benefits, lifetime benefits and taxes, and end-of-life liquid assets. The site describes the calculator as designed for people age 55 and older preparing to retire. However, it is no longer available to new users; access is reserved for individuals and families working directly with Parker Financial LLC, while existing users can continue using accounts for now. Listed premium prices are $9.95 a month, $95 a year, and 195.00 USD for lifetime access. The privacy policy says AI chatbot interactions may be monitored and should not be considered private or confidential.