Best 7 Retirement Calculators 2025
Did you know that 55% of retirees wish they had planned their finances earlier? Finding the right retirement calculator can make a huge difference in ensuring a financially secure future. But with so many options, how do you choose?
Planning for retirement requires more than guessing how much money you’ll need. It’s about creating a strategy that accounts for multiple income sources, taxes, inflation, and personal financial goals. A great retirement calculator should go beyond basic savings projections, allowing you to include different asset types (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.), model cash flow over time, and adjust for taxes and inflation. It should also be visually clear, easy to use, and flexible enough to test different scenarios, such as early retirement or part-time work.
With so many options available, finding the right tool can be overwhelming. The best retirement calculators provide in-depth insights while remaining user-friendly and reasonably priced. While some free tools offer solid basic projections, premium options should justify their cost with advanced features —without requiring a fortune to access. Below, we explore the top 7 retirement calculators that stand out for their features, accuracy, and value for money.
Top Retirement Calculators
- FIREkit for comprehensive yet intuitive planning
- ProjectionLab for those who want deep customization
- Boldin for broad retirement projections
- Engaging Data for quick exploring
- Networthify for quick, no-frills FIRE estimate
- Empower Retirement Planner for detailed U.S. retirement planning
- Nerdwallet for savings-focused retirement planning
- + SECRET BONUS for getting your retirement date
🥇 FIREkit Retirement Calculator
FIREkit Retirement Calculator offers a realistic, customized financial plan by supporting multiple assets — stocks, bonds, ETFs, real estate, and more. It allows users to set different financial goals like early retirement, travel, or home purchases, each with its own timeline and funding sources. With a year-by-year cash flow breakdown, it factors in taxes, inflation, and withdrawals, ensuring precise projections. Clear visualizations and flexible scenario testing help users assess their plans, optimize investments, and explore different retirement paths — whether aiming for FIRE or traditional retirement.
Pros and cons:
✅ Comprehensive asset support
✅ Multi-goal planning
✅ Detailed cash flow analysis
✅ User-friendly & visual
🔸 Manual data entry
Price: FREE
🥈 ProjectionLab FIRE Calculator
Projection Lab is a highly customizable financial planning tool that lets users map out expenses, income sources, and investment growth over time. It includes detailed tax modeling and scenario testing, making it ideal for those who want to fine-tune every aspect of their retirement strategy. While powerful, its depth and complexity require careful setup to get the most accurate projections.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Highly customizable planning
✅ Detailed tax modeling
✅ Expense & income mapping
✅ Scenario testing
🔸 Complex setup required
Price: 0$ for Basic, 9$ per month for Premium, 45$ per month for Pro
🥉 Boldin Planner
The Boldin Calculator offers a range of tools for estimating retirement readiness, including a basic retirement calculator, a FIRE-focused planner, and a lifetime annuity estimator. It provides quick insights into how savings, income, and expenses impact retirement timelines. While easy to use and versatile, it focuses more on broad projections rather than in-depth financial modeling or asset-specific planning.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Multiple retirement tools
✅ Quick and easy to use
✅ Good for broad retirement estimates
🔸 Lacks detailed financial modeling
🔸 No asset breakdown
Price: 0$ for Basic, 120$/y for PlannerPlus
Engaging Data FIRE Calculator
The notorious Engaging Data FIRE Calculator helps users estimate their financial independence timeline based on income, savings rate, and investment returns. It offers interactive visualizations, making it easy to experiment with different scenarios. While useful for quick insights, its older UI and focus on static models make it more of an exploratory tool rather than a comprehensive planner.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Interactive visualizations
✅ Quick FIRE timeline estimates
✅ Easy scenario adjustments
🔸 Retro-style UI, more for data enthusiasts
🔸 Lacks long-term planning features
🔸 No asset breakdown support
Price: FREE
Networthify FIRE Calculator
Networthify is a simple, no-frills FIRE calculator that helps users estimate how long it will take to reach financial independence based on their savings rate, income, and expected investment returns. The tool emphasizes the impact of savings over market performance, making it easy to see how adjusting expenses or increasing savings can shorten the path to early retirement. While its minimalist approach is great for quick estimates, it lacks detailed asset breakdowns, tax considerations, and long-term planning features, making it more of a starting point than a comprehensive retirement tool.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Simple and easy to use
✅ Quick FIRE timeline estimates
✅ Focuses on savings rate impact
🔸 Minimalist UI with basic features
🔸 No asset breakdown or tax considerations
🔸 Lacks long-term planning features
Price: FREE
Empower Retirement Planner
The Empower Retirement Planner is a detailed financial tool designed to help users in the United States assess their retirement readiness. It allows for income, expense, and savings inputs, providing personalized projections based on expected retirement age and potential life events. Users can adjust scenarios to see how different factors impact their long-term financial security. While it offers robust planning features, its U.S.-specific focus means it primarily caters to tax rules, Social Security, and retirement accounts relevant to American users.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Detailed retirement projections
✅ Scenario adjustments for life events
✅ User-friendly interface
🔸 U.S. focused, not ideal for international users
🔸 No multi-currency or global tax support
🔸 Encourages sign-up for financial advisory services
Price: FREE
NerdWallet Retirement Calculator
The NerdWallet Retirement Calculator is a straightforward tool that helps users assess their savings progress and retirement readiness by factoring in income, savings, contributions, and expected expenses. It provides quick estimates and suggests recommended savings rates, making it useful for those who want a basic snapshot of their financial future. While it allows for some adjustments, it focuses more on general guidance rather than in-depth financial modeling.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Easy to use with quick results
✅ Provides recommended savings rates
✅ Allows adjustments for key variables
🔸 Lacks detailed cash flow projections
🔸 No multi-asset or tax modeling
🔸 More focused on general guidance than deep planning
Price: FREE
BONUS: FIREkit FIRE Calculator
The FIREkit FIRE Calculator helps users determine when they can achieve financial independence based on their savings, expected investment growth, and spending habits. It allows for customizable inputs, including inflation rates, withdrawal strategies, and different retirement scenarios, providing a more realistic and flexible approach compared to basic FIRE calculators. With clear visualizations and intuitive controls, it helps users see how their financial choices impact their FIRE timeline, making it a powerful tool for planning early retirement.
Pros and Cons:
✅ Interactive visualizations
✅ Quick FIRE timeline estimates
✅ Different FIRE strategies
✅ Easy scenario adjustments
🔸 Focused on FIRE planning
Price: FREE
Final Thoughts on Choosing the Best Retirement Calculator
Finding the best retirement calculator depends on your financial goals—whether you're planning for traditional retirement, pursuing FIRE, or simply evaluating your savings progress. The top tools provide personalized projections, tax modeling, cash flow analysis, and flexible scenario testing to help you make informed financial decisions. While some calculators offer quick estimates, others allow for detailed, goal-based planning. The key is to choose a tool that aligns with your retirement strategy, helps you track progress, and adapts to changes in your financial situation. No matter where you are on your journey, using the right retirement calculator can bring clarity and confidence to your future.