Retirement planning education
Retirement decisions rarely work in isolation. Social Security timing changes portfolio withdrawals, Roth conversions change taxable income, and market uncertainty changes how long a strategy may support spending. These guides explain the connections in plain language before you compare them in the planner.
Reviewed August 2, 2026 · Educational information, not individualized advice
Retirement spending plan
Build and test a spending range using dependable income, taxes, healthcare, inflation, longevity, portfolio withdrawals, and the flexibility available during weaker markets.
Read the retirement-spending guide →Social Security claiming age
Compare starting benefits early, at full retirement age, or later—and understand how the choice affects dependable income, savings withdrawals, taxes, work, spouses, and Medicare.
Read the claiming-age guide →Roth conversion planning
Learn how No Conversion, Fixed, and optimized schedules can affect current taxes, future RMDs, Medicare IRMAA, spending coverage, and after-tax portfolio value.
Read the Roth conversion guide →Retirement risk analysis
Understand modeled probability of success, horizon and ending ages, cautious balance ranges, sequence risk, spending shortfalls, and the limits of simulated results.
Read the risk-analysis guide →IRMAA retirement planning
Understand the Medicare income-related adjustment, two-year lookback, MAGI, and how conversions, withdrawals, gains, and other retirement income can affect later Part B and Part D costs.
Read the IRMAA guide →Comparing retirement scenarios
Learn how to compare claiming and Roth strategies using consistent assumptions, ages, dollar bases, spending coverage, taxes, Medicare costs, balances, and uncertain outcomes.
Read the scenario-comparison guide →A useful order for exploring a retirement plan
- Start with spending and dependable income. Estimate what must be funded each year and when other income begins.
- Compare Social Security ages. Look beyond the monthly benefit to portfolio withdrawals and taxes while waiting.
- Evaluate Roth conversions. Compare the tax cost today with future flexibility, RMDs, and Medicare effects.
- Test uncertain outcomes. Run risk analysis on the most promising strategies using the same assumptions and ages.
- Stress-test the plan. Change spending, inflation, returns, and longevity instead of relying on one favorable result.
- Verify before acting. Confirm current rules and actual transactions with SSA, Medicare, tax, and financial professionals.
What the planner is designed to do
Retirement Income Planner compares Social Security claiming ages and Roth conversion approaches in one annual projection. It models spending, investment returns, inflation, federal and state taxes, required minimum distributions, Medicare and IRMAA estimates, and portfolio withdrawals. Optional risk analysis tests active strategies against shared market and inflation paths.
The planner is intended for education and sensitivity analysis. It does not prepare a tax return, select investments, predict markets, or replace individualized professional advice. Review the in-app Methodology page for calculation details and limitations.
Put the concepts into a side-by-side comparison
Enter your assumptions or load the example plan to see how the decisions interact. Financial inputs remain in your browser, and no account or financial-data upload is required.
Open Retirement Income Planner