Best Retirement Calculator 2026: 8 Tools Compared (With Real Feature Data)

Most retirement calculators differ less in their arithmetic than in what they model: a single assumed rate of return versus thousands of simulated paths, no taxes versus federal and state brackets, and whether health-insurance thresholds such as the ACA 400% FPL cliff and Medicare IRMAA surcharges enter the projection at all. Those choices can move a 30-year estimate by six figures.

Each of the eight tools below publishes a feature description on its own site. This page collects those descriptions in one place so you can see, feature by feature, what each vendor says its tool does.

How This Comparison Was Compiled

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For each third-party tool we read the vendor's own public pages (home page, pricing page and, where they exist, help-center or release-note pages) on 2026-09-07 and recorded only what those pages state. We did not run the third-party tools, and this page contains no opinions about their quality, accuracy or completeness. The features tracked are:

• Monte Carlo simulation — whether the vendor documents it, and any simulation count the vendor publishes
• Tax modeling — federal and state income tax, as described by the vendor
• ACA and IRMAA — whether the vendor documents premium tax credit (400% FPL) handling and Medicare IRMAA surcharges
• Withdrawal sequencing — whether the vendor documents draw-down ordering across account types
• Reporting — documented export or report formats
• Plans — plan names only; for amounts, see the vendor's pricing page

“Not documented” means we did not find the capability described on the pages we checked — not that it is absent. Corrections from vendors are welcome at [email protected] and will be applied.

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1. QuantCalc

Made by: us — this is our tool, and the statements in this section describe what it does today (see the methodology).

URL: quantcalc.app

QuantCalc runs up to 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations using Sobol quasi-random sequences with Cranley-Patterson rotation for unbiased error estimates. It models federal and state income tax across all 50 states plus DC (51 jurisdictions), ACA premium tax credit cliffs at 400% FPL, IRMAA Medicare surcharges with separate medical inflation scaling, and Roth conversion optimization in both fixed-amount and bracket-fill modes.

It also models stochastic widowhood via Gompertz mortality draws (each simulation path draws when a spouse dies rather than using a fixed date), gender-specific life expectancy tables, QCD (Qualified Charitable Distribution) pre-RMD modeling, regime-switching volatility with bull/bear Markov states, and fat-tailed return distributions via Student-t mixtures.

The stress testing module includes a Breaking Point Finder that identifies the asset level at which a plan fails.

What it does:

• 51-jurisdiction state tax, ACA cliff and IRMAA modeling in one simulation
• 6 published forecast sets derived from publicly available research
• Stochastic widowhood and gender-specific mortality modeling
• One-time payment for Personal PRO — no recurring subscription

Scope notes:

• Free tier runs 100 simulations per run (3 runs per day)
• Runs in the browser; no download or account required
• No account aggregation; you enter balances yourself

2. ProjectionLab

URL: projectionlab.com · pricing page

Statements in this section are as published on projectionlab.com (home page, pricing page, help center and the v4.6.0 release notes), checked 2026-09-07.

ProjectionLab's site describes Monte Carlo simulations (“Gauge your chance of success with Monte Carlo simulations”), historical backtesting, tax analytics, and optimization that “coordinates Roth conversions, capital gain harvesting, drawdown order” while targeting “federal brackets, IRMAA cliffs, or ACA limits”. Its v4.6.0 release notes state that IRMAA surcharges are modeled with the 2-year income lookback. Its help page on moving between states states that “there are a few states with lower income taxes and you can account for that within ProjectionLab through Milestones” — a Move milestone with relocation to a chosen country and state; the pages we checked do not publish a count of supported jurisdictions. The pricing page lists three plans — Basic, Premium and Pro — with ACA subsidies, Roth conversions, Compare Mode (scenario comparison) and downloadable reports listed under Premium, and advisor client management under Pro.

Also documented by the vendor:

• Historical backtesting and black-swan event modeling
• “Plan as a couple”; “Model estate planning and what you leave behind”
• Display-currency choice and international account types

3. Boldin (formerly NewRetirement)

URL: boldin.com · pricing page

Statements in this section are as published on boldin.com (home page, pricing page and help center), checked 2026-09-07. The site's footer reads “NewRetirement, Inc. d/b/a Boldin”.

Boldin's home page describes a financial planner covering taxes (“State modeling, itemized deductions, brackets”), income sources (work, Social Security, annuities, pensions), real estate, debt, budgets, Medicare and long-term care, what-if scenarios, and Monte Carlo analysis, plus an AI planning assistant, coaching sessions and access to CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. The pricing page lists a Basic plan, a PlannerPlus plan and a Boldin Advisors service; Monte Carlo analysis, state and federal tax projections, the Roth Conversion Explorer, withdrawal strategy, “Print reports or export data” and “Link accounts via the top 3 aggregators” are listed under PlannerPlus. Its help center states that the Medicare estimator includes premiums, copays, out-of-pocket costs and IRMAA (Medicare assumptions article), and that ACA-plan medical expenses before 65 are entered net of premium tax credits (ACA health plan article).

Also documented by the vendor:

• Roth Conversion Explorer and a standalone Roth conversion calculator
• Coaching sessions and a fee-only CFP® advisory service
• AI retirement planning assistant that answers questions about your plan

4. FIREproof (by the creator of cFIREsim)

URL: fireproofme.com · pricing page

Statements in this section are as published on fireproofme.com (home page and pricing page), checked 2026-09-07.

FIREproof's site identifies its author as the creator of cFIREsim.com and describes tax-aware simulation covering “Income tax, capital gains with cost basis, FICA, RMDs, and 72(t) SEPP”, backtesting “against 150 years of market history”, ACA healthcare and premium tax credits with marketplace premium lookup by ZIP code, a Roth Conversion Optimizer that models the 5-year rule, and withdrawal strategies including Guyton-Klinger guardrails, Variable Percentage Withdrawal, a three-bucket strategy and risk-based guardrails. It can be tried without an account. The pricing page lists Basic and Pro plans and, among their contents, “Saved simulations”, “Monte Carlo custom assets”, “Account withdraw order”, “Compare multiple simulations”, “Roth conversions & 72(t) SEPP”, “Bracket-filling tax-optimized withdrawals”, “ACA subsidy optimization”, “Bucket strategy” and “TIPS Bond Ladder/Tent”; which plan includes which is per the vendor’s pricing page.

Also documented by the vendor:

• TIPS bond ladder / tent modeling
• Real estate modeling including rentals and 1031 exchanges
• Saved simulations; Compare multiple simulations

5. RetirePro

URL: retirepro.io (plans and pricing are on the same page)

Statements in this section are as published on retirepro.io, checked 2026-09-07.

RetirePro's site describes Monte Carlo analysis as “Summary only” in the Free tier and “Full (1,000 scenarios)” in Pro and Premium, federal and state tax brackets, RMDs, capital gains and Social Security taxation, tax-aware withdrawals and projections, a Social Security claim-age optimizer, and Roth conversions among its tax strategies. It states “No signup required to start” and that data stays in the browser. The site lists Free, Pro and Premium tiers, with a best and worst case market stress test, HTML reports, budget planning and a mortgage calculator under Pro and Premium, PDF reports plus inheritance and estate tax calculators under Premium, and net worth tracking listed as “Basic” in Free and “Advanced” in Pro and Premium. Portfolio tracking is listed as a feature without a tier split.

Also documented by the vendor:

• No signup required to start; data stays on your device
• Social Security claim-age optimizer
• Portfolio tracking (all tiers); net worth tracking (Basic in Free, Advanced in Pro and Premium); budget planning and mortgage calculator (Pro and Premium); inheritance and estate tax calculators (Premium)

6. Empower

URL: empower.com/tools · Retirement Planner page

Statements in this section are as published on empower.com (financial tools page, Retirement Planner page and an Empower article on retirement numbers), checked 2026-09-07.

Empower's tools page states that the Personal Dashboard and financial tools are free, that you can “connect all your accounts in one place”, and that sign-up requires an email address and phone number. The Retirement Planner page describes test-driving retirement scenarios and setting up retirement withdrawals. An Empower article on retirement numbers states that its Monte Carlo software uses 5,000 scenarios and that the planned Social Security claiming age is an input. Advisory services are also offered; see Empower's site for terms.

Also documented by the vendor:

• Portfolio Analysis tool showing where your money is invested and how diversified you are
• Budgeting and net-worth tracking in the same dashboard

7. Firenum

URL: firenum.com

Statements in this section are as published on firenum.com, checked 2026-09-07.

Firenum's site describes 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations combined with historical backtesting on the Shiller S&P 500 monthly dataset from 1871 to the present (“153 years of market data tested”), three withdrawal strategies (tax-efficient, proportional, or custom order) with age-59½ early-withdrawal rules built in, six stress tests (crash, job loss, expense spike, high inflation, early or late retirement), nine asset types, nine currencies, and CSV export and import. It states “No account, no email, no sign-up” and that nothing is held behind a paid tier.

Also documented by the vendor:

• Historical backtesting across every market period since 1871
• No account required; CSV export and import
• Life events, and income and expense lines with individual inflation and growth rates

8. FIRECalc

URL: firecalc.com

Statements in this section are as published on firecalc.com, checked 2026-09-07.

FIRECalc describes its method as analyzing “what would have happened if you retired in 1871, in 1872, in 1873 and so on” — historical rolling periods rather than Monte Carlo. Its inputs include Social Security and pension payments in today's dollars, several spending models (constant spending, Bernicke's Reality plan, percentage of portfolio), portfolio allocation choices including a mixed-portfolio option based on performance since 1927, expense ratios and lump-sum portfolio changes, an “Investigate Changes to the Retirement Plan” section, and an option to provide data and formulas in a spreadsheet format. The site states that it does not store the information you enter.

Also documented by the vendor:

• Social Security and pension inputs
• “Investigate Changes to the Retirement Plan” options and optional spreadsheet data
• Does not store the information you enter

Feature Comparison Table

How to read this table. Entries for third-party tools describe what each vendor's own public pages stated when checked on 2026-09-07. “Not documented” means we did not find the capability described publicly — not that it is absent. Products change; check the vendor directly before relying on any row. Corrections are welcome at [email protected] and will be applied.

Reading the Table for Your Situation

This page does not rank the tools. The rows that matter depend on your plan:

If you will buy marketplace health insurance before Medicare: look at the ACA row. ProjectionLab’s pages list ACA subsidies and ACA limits, FIREproof’s list ACA premium tax credits, and QuantCalc models the premium tax credit cliff; QuantCalc also models the 2026 OBBBA change that removed repayment caps above 400% FPL.

If you are planning Roth conversions in your 60s: look at the IRMAA and Roth rows together, because conversions raise the income that sets Medicare premiums two years later. ProjectionLab, Boldin and QuantCalc document IRMAA handling.

If you want to see how a plan would have fared through past markets: Firenum, FIRECalc, FIREproof and ProjectionLab all document historical backtesting; QuantCalc offers a historical block-bootstrap return model alongside its forward-looking forecasts.

If you want to link accounts: Empower’s tools page documents connecting your accounts, and Boldin’s pricing page lists account linking via aggregators under PlannerPlus.

If plan cost matters: each vendor's plan names are listed above and amounts are on the linked vendor pages. QuantCalc's Personal PRO is a one-time payment; the free tier includes the full tax-aware engine at 100 simulations per run.

QuantCalc is an independent educational tool. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any referenced firm including BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Vanguard, GMO, Schwab, Invesco, ProjectionLab, Boldin, FIREproof, RetirePro, Empower, Firenum, or FIRECalc. Return assumptions derived from publicly available research. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Third-party product statements are as published by each vendor on the dates noted and may change. Not financial advice.