1. Best Retirement Planning Software 2019
2. Best Retirement Planning Software Reviews
3. Best Retirement Planning Software For Mac
4. Best Retirement Planning Software 2020
5. Best Free Retirement Planning Software

Press - Selected as one of 'The Best Retirement Planning Tools' by U.S. News & World Report - March, 2021. New Customers - Please continue reading below to see a complete list of the unique features TCRP has to offer. Existing Customers - Upgrade to the 2021 version for only $9.99! Use Discount Code: TCRP2021 at checkout. The final tool is the easiest to use. The Vanguard Retirement Nest Egg calculator is designed to tell you the odds of your nest egg lasting in retirement. There are only four inputs: how many years. Rounding off our list of the best retirement planning softwares is Vanguard’s Retirement Nest Egg Calculator. Vanguard is a revered name in the world of stock broking and it also has some fantastic funds for investors (especially ETFs and mutual funds). What we can say, after quizzing some of the providers of the tools and digging into the fine print of how they work, is that retirement-planning software is as much art as it is science.

If you’re looking for ways to track your savings and financially map out your retirement years, there are many digital options available. However, not all retirement planning tools and software are easy to follow. “There are many different types of calculators, including ones designed specifically for retirement planning, but often the learning curve to be able to use these can be long and tedious,” says Lamar Brabham, CEO and founder of Noel Taylor Agency, a financial services firm in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Some retirement planning software has hefty initial costs or ongoing subscription fees.

However, there are some retirement planning tools that may align with your needs and budget. “There are affordable, user friendly and effective options for the average person trying to get a grip on their finances,” Brabham says.

The best retirement planning tools and software include:

• Betterment Retirement Savings Calculator.
• Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator.
• Chris Hogan’s Retire Inspired Quotient Tool.
• Fidelity Retirement Score.
• Personal Capital Retirement Planner.
• Stash Retirement Calculator.
• The Complete Retirement Planner.

Here is a breakdown of these options, along with information regarding their cost and top features.

Betterment Retirement Savings Calculator

Betterment has a free calculator based on just four questions. You will be asked to enter information about your age, annual household income before taxes, the amount you’ve already saved for retirement and how much your household sets aside for retirement every year. The calculator then shows your projected annual spending in retirement. You can see how much you could potentially spend each year based on your investments and Social Security income. The calculator shows both likely and conservative scenarios for your spending each year in retirement.

Charles Schwab Retirement Calculator

Charles Schwab offers a free retirement savings calculator that will tell you if you are saving enough to cover your estimated annual retirement expenses. The calculator collects information from you, including your current age, planned retirement age and investment style. You also enter your current income, amount saved for retirement and monthly savings. The calculator asks when you plan to start receiving Social Security benefits and how much you plan to spend each year in retirement. The tool then offers a summary of your current projected retirement savings, along with the savings needed. It offers suggestions on what to change, such as your retirement age or annual contributions, to meet your savings needs by the time you retire.

Chris Hogan’s Retire Inspired Quotient (R:IQ) Tool

You’ll be asked to describe your retirement dream with the R:IQ tool, which is free. You’ll also note your current income, how much you expect to need each month during retirement, how many years until you plan to retire and what you’ve saved so far. The R:IQ tool allows you to then assess what you can expect to have in retirement, based on your current investments. It also shows how much you will need to save to reach your retirement goals. The tool can be used to set savings goals for each month that will enable you to live out your retirement dream.

Fidelity Retirement Score

This free tool can be used to provide a quick assessment of your savings strategy. You answer six questions about your age, income, current saved amount, monthly savings, expected retirement lifestyle and your 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.

Personal Capital Retirement Planner

Personal Capital provides a free retirement planner tool. You’ll be asked to enter certain data and link your accounts to the planner so it can analyze your savings and spending habits. It will calculate your chances of having a portfolio that will support your retirement goals. Since your accounts are linked, you can track your progress toward meeting retirement goals over time. The planner also covers variables including taxes, inflation, Social Security and spousal retirement.

If you plan to make a big financial purchase in the near future, like buying a home or paying for college, you can see how that would impact your retirement goals. The tool also factors in significant income events, such as a windfall, inheritance or rental income. You can create different scenarios to see how making changes could impact your retirement finances.

Stash Retirement Calculator

With the free retirement calculator at Stash, you can fill in the blanks to note how old you are, when you plan to retire, how much you earn each year before taxes, how much you’ve saved and what you’re currently putting toward retirement every month. Based on this information, the tool shows you how much money you can expect to have in retirement and how much you are likely to need. These two figures are displayed graphically to contrast the amount you’re on track to have with the amount that Stash advises you accumulate based on your entered data. The calculator also includes an analysis of your current savings strategy and resources to learn more about your retirement financial needs.

The Complete Retirement Planner

At $79.99, this planner allows you to create a customized and detailed financial plan for both before and after retirement. If you’re married, it allows annual amounts to be entered for each spouse in different categories, including multiple income sources, traditional 401(k) and IRA contributions, investment return rates and Social Security income.

TCRP is a digital download and remains with you, allowing you to enter personal information without having sensitive financial data stored in an outside source. There are integrated notes on complex topics like Medicare costs, Social Security benefits and common tax laws. The planner comes with a built-in Social Security calculator and helps estimate health care costs in retirement.

Copyright 2021 U.S. News & World Report

Having a plan for your finances is crucial, and a comprehensive financial plan may include budgeting, saving, investing, paying off debt and creating a roadmap to retirement. Working with a financial advisor can be helpful in creating your personal money plan, but DIY types might prefer to use a financial planning software instead. There are a multitude of options to choose from and each one has a different range of features. If you’re a financial advisor yourself, there are also plenty of software options that you can use to help you build plans for your clients.

Financial Planning Software for Individuals

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is a popular financial planning software option for both beginners and those more experienced with money management. The free version of the software includes all the features necessary for basic financial planning, including:

• The ability to link all of your financial accounts, including retirement and investment accounts, in one place
• A “net worth” tracker
• A tool to find hidden fees you might be paying for your investments
• Budgeting and cash flow tools to track spending
• Goal trackers for your spending and savings targets
• Tools for forecasting retirement and college savings outcomes

These features are included in the software at no charge and offer a comprehensive view of your finances. If you need help choosing investments, Personal Capital also offers robo-advisor wealth management services for a fee.

Quicken

Quicken offers multiple financial planning software solutions, depending on what exactly you want to do with your money. The Starter version, for example, lets you view all of your accounts in one place, create a budget, track your spending, manage your bills and categorize your purchases.

If you want to take a deeper dive into your finances, the Premier version may be more appropriate. This version lets you do everything the Starter version does, while also adding in some additional features and tools, such as:

• The ability to track loans, investment and retirement accounts in one place
• Access to Morningstar’s® Portfolio X-ray® tool
• Automatic bill pay
• Market comparison and investment tax planning tools

There’s also the Home & Business version, which might be helpful if you need a streamlined way to manage business and personal finances.

Intuit Mint

Mint is one of the most popular free financial planning tools on the market. There’s a lot you can do with Mint, including:

• Tracking all of your bank and credit card accounts in one place
• Setting your monthly budget
• Tracking and categorizing expenses
• Monitoring your credit score
• Tracking your investments
• Setting up bill pay reminders

“Mint is an incredibly popular online personal finance tool that’s great for all kinds of users. Aside from it being a great budgeting tool, it has a plethora of money management tools that you can also use,” says Brian Meiggs, founder of millennial finance site MyMillennialGuide.com.

Mint is more focused on basic budgeting and money management than it is on investing. You also can’t pay your bills through the software. Still, it’s got a good user interface that’s easy to navigate, and it’s great for users who are mainly interested in tracking their spending and keeping on budget. The app works on both mobile and desktop, so it might also be good for someone who wants to manage their finances on the go.

WealthTrace

Best Retirement Planning Software 2019

WealthTrace is a financial planning program that both individuals and advisors can use. Individual users can choose from three package tiers: Basic, Advanced and Deluxe. The cost of the software ranges from $229 to $309 for the first year, with lower rates for subsequent annual renewals.

What WealthTrace offers in exchange for these prices is the ability to budget your money and set specific savings goals. You can plan for both retirement and college savings, as well as attain some insight into how to minimize your tax liabilities.

Like some of the advisor-focused programs on the market, WealthTrace also allows you to run scenarios on things like market downturns, life insurance needs and retirement income. If questions come up as you use the program, you can connect with a WealthTrace expert by phone, email or live chat to get help.

Financial Planning Software for Financial Advisors

MoneyGuidePro

MoneyGuidePro is a client-centered financial planning software used by professional financial advisors. It’s focused on alternatives to the standard methods of retirement planning. One of the features that’s integrated within this software is called Play Zone, which utilizes sliders for retirement age, financial goals and more to illustrate how financially successful a client’s retirement could be.

This software comes in three forms: One, Pro and Elite. One is the most basic version, as it comes with a risk tolerance assessment tool, financial and lifestyle goals planning and more. Pro boasts all of the features of One, as well as a bunch of extras, like risk management, estate planning and Social Security optimization. The Elite edition offers everything, in addition to secure income modeling, total income modeling and advanced lifetime protection.

In March 2019, Envestnet purchased MoneyGuidePro for $500 million and took over its operations. Envestnet is a large financial services company that focuses on various advisor-centric wealth management platforms.

eMoney Advisor

eMoney Advisor offers a hefty suite of financial planning services for advisor firms and large advisory enterprises. The program is based around three distinct packages of services (Plus, Pro and Premier), with a fourth tier reserved for customized enterprise relationships.

Customers who purchase the Plus tier receive bare-bones access to eMoney’s customer website and mobile app, foundational financial planning services and advanced financial analytics. If you need more than that, the Pro version upgrades the basic foundational financial planning services for an advanced level, in addition to advanced financial analytics. Premier customers gain access to everything that eMoney has to offer.

eMoney Advisor can be integrated with other popular advisory services from Morningstar, Salesforce, Fidelity, Envestnet and more.

Money Tree

Best Retirement Planning Software Reviews

Money Tree is an advisor platform that uses a three-pronged approach to financial planning. The software allows advisors to complete a big picture, in-depth and advanced cash flow analysis for their clients.

With Money Tree, advisors can create a financial plan independently of, or in collaboration with, their clients. The software also features an interactive tool that allows advisors to quickly and easily run “what-if” scenarios to determine different outcomes. The program’s design is also capable of helping advisors pinpoint the potential shortfalls in their clients’ financial plans and find solutions for closing the gap.

RightCapital

Advisors can use RightCapital to develop financial plans through an innovative platform. It’s the software Jason Ball, a CFP at Ball Comprehensive Planning in West Linn, Oregon, uses for his clients. What he likes best about the software is its “ability to integrate accounts, client vaults and strategic tax planning for retirement planning.”

RightCapital also offers a mobile-friendly user-interface, which tech-savvy advisors may appreciate. The inclusion of tax planning tools is one of the most important things that sets the software apart from its competitors.

Bottom Line

Whether you do it yourself or work with an advisor, it’s important to build a comprehensive financial plan. Fortunately, there are several online services that make it easier to build a financial plan and track your saving and spending.

Best Retirement Planning Software For Mac

Before you make a firm decision as to which software you want to partner with, it might be worth writing down what goals you want to plan for. By doing this, you can ensure that the benefits of whatever software you select align perfectly with your overall needs.

Financial Planning Tips

Best Retirement Planning Software 2020

• Consider working with a financial advisor to build a financial plan that’s tailored to your life. While financial planning software can help you get control of your money, it’s not a complete substitute for the human touch. SmartAsset’s advisor matching tool can connect you with up to three suitable advisors in your area. Get started now.
• Before selecting a financial planning software, assess your needs. For instance, are you looking for a program that focuses on weekly and monthly budgeting? Do you need something that includes long-term retirement planning and other tools to help you grow your wealth? The answers to these questions will lead you to the best options for you.

Best Free Retirement Planning Software

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