Congratulations on taking an interest in your retirement planning!

This is a tool I built to help myself with retirement planning and thought it could help others.

There are some caveats that should be taken into consideration:

  1. This website is a work in progress and may not always have the latest tax brackets for each state or correct financial calculations because it was generated using AI.
  2. This is a tool to give you a general idea of when you can retire and how long your money could last. It does not model major financial downturns, using your home equity for retirement funds, or complex retirement situations.
  3. Finally, I am not a licensed financial advisor or planner. What I share comes from my own research/experience. Always consult a professional financial advisor with your specific financial goals and risk tolerances before making any financial decisions.
Checking tax brackets…
Crunching the numbers…
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No. 2026-RFS · Version J

www.myretirementpathway.com

Your Retirement Planning Calculator

This is a planning tool, not personalized financial or tax advice.
Always consult a professional financial advisor with your specific financial goals and risk tolerances before making any financial decisions.
Fill out all fields then click on "Crunch the Numbers".

01Your Details
02Drawdown Table
03Expense Breakdown
04Withdrawal Stress
05SS Timing
06Roth Ladder
07Healthcare Bridge
08Tax Plan
09Summary

Enter your information here

Every field on this page feeds every tab. Click "Crunch the Numbers" below once you've made your edits — nothing recalculates until you do, and your entries are saved to this browser automatically each time you click it. This is a local browser calculator. No information you enter is uploaded. All entered data stays local.

Basic Information

Leave blank to calculate the optimal retirement age. Optimal = the earliest age that fully funds retirement at your target success rate, with the lowest tax (shown on Tab 2).
Overrides the default, which automatically delays as late as possible (up to age 70) to maximize your monthly benefit — but only as late as your retirement funds can actually support without running short, backing off toward age 62 otherwise. Enter an age from 62 to 70 to model claiming at that age instead.
Switches the surviving spouse to file as Single, while inheriting the 401K/IRA, whoever has the higher Social Security benefit, and any pension with "Survivor Benefit?" checked. This also narrows the IRMAA MAGI cap the Roth ladder (Tab 6) checks against, to the single-filer threshold.
Leave Spouse information blank if Single.
Leave blank to use her optimal retirement age (shown on Tab 2), found together with yours.
Overrides her default of claiming at her Full Retirement Age. Enter an age from 62 to 70 to model her claiming at that age instead.
Switches the surviving spouse to file as Single, while inheriting the 401K/IRA, whoever has the higher Social Security benefit, and any pension with "Survivor Benefit?" checked. This also narrows the IRMAA MAGI cap the Roth ladder (Tab 6) checks against, to the single-filer threshold.
This drives state income tax in every calculation. California uses real progressive brackets (exact); the 9 no-tax states use 0% (exact); the 14 flat-tax states use their real current flat rate (exact); every other state uses a single representative rate as a simplified stand-in for its actual bracket structure — verify with a CPA before relying on those. Covered California's ACA subsidy backstop (Tab 7) only applies if California is selected.
Leave blank if not moving.
Will recalculate State taxes based on the year moved. See the Tax Plan tab for lifetime taxes saved/increased. This is only State taxes saved/increased and does not account for increases/decreases in property taxes.

Planning horizon is calculated from real SSA actuarial data — each of your own real longevity percentile (set below), whichever lands later in your age (or until funds run out).

Variables

Your expected average investment return BEFORE subtracting inflation. Used as-is for 401k/IRA/Roth growth, RMD projections and the Roth ladder, since those project future dollars (spending, tax brackets and Social Security all grow with inflation too). Tab 1's success-target section works in today's dollars, so it converts this to an after-inflation return internally.
Plan to the age by which this % of people your age and sex have died (per SSA actuarial data) — 85% is a conservative, tail-risk planning assumption, not the statistical average.

Spending & inflation

Monthly spend drops by the full mortgage payment the year after this (maintenance and upkeep are assumed to already be part of your Monthly Spend).
Added on top of Monthly Spend as an ongoing cost — continues after the mortgage is paid off. In California it grows 2%/yr (Prop 13's cap on assessed-value increases); in other states it grows with your inflation rate.

Savings (Cash)

Cash is only withdrawn above this value (never refilled from other accounts); excess above it sweeps to Roth as allowed. Recommend minimum 1yr in savings during retirement to protect from stock market downturns. Use cash in down markets to allow time for the markets to recover and replenish in up markets. This is today's dollar figure — the reserve itself grows every year at your "Cash/savings interest rate" below, so it keeps pace rather than staying fixed while spending grows around it.

's Retirement Income/Savings

Your monthly take-home pay, in today's dollars — grows with inflation each year going forward, same as your spouse's field in her own section below. Only matters if your spouse retires before you do: offsets the household's withdrawal need directly for every year you're still working past her retirement, up to your own desired retirement age.
Auto-delayed to 70 (×1.24) for the actual income stream
*** Get this number from the Social Security web site.

401K

This and the IRA/Roth IRA contributions below all grow with inflation (Tab 1's inflation rate) each year you're still contributing — a level % of a growing paycheck means a growing dollar contribution — so the amount you're saving keeps pace with your pay increases rather than staying flat in nominal dollars.

IRA

Roth IRA (tax-free)

State Pension (Teacher/Police/Firefighter, etc.)

Your first-year payment. Grows 2%/yr if you live in California (CalPERS' standard COLA); otherwise with your inflation rate.

Other Fixed Pension (No COLA)

Your Spouse's Retirement Income/Savings

Her monthly take-home pay, in today's dollars — grows with inflation (Tab 1's inflation rate) each year going forward, the same way Monthly Spend does. Offsets the household's withdrawal need directly for every year up to her desired retirement age below, while she's still working.
*** Get this number from the Social Security web site. This will auto-bump the spousal amount (50% of PIA) if it is higher in calculations on other tabs.

401K

This and the IRA/Roth IRA contributions below all grow with inflation each year she's still contributing, same as yours above.

IRA

Roth IRA (tax-free)

State Pension (Teacher/Police/Firefighter, etc.)

Her first-year payment. Grows 2%/yr if you live in California (CalPERS' standard COLA); otherwise with your inflation rate.

Other Fixed Pension (No COLA)

Expected inheritance — If you will receive an inherited IRA/ROTH IRA/401K from a parent, calculate if you will take the lump sum or you can divide and take the mandatory 1/10 per year for 10 years to spread out the tax hit. Real Estate could be liquidated for cash here or added to a monthly income stream if you expect rental income. Add the approximated home value at the expected year of sale to add this to your retirement funding. Set any portion inherited as untaxed if that's the case and any appreciated value as taxed.

Roth conversion ladder settings

Auto-set from the 2026 IRMAA Tier 1 threshold — $218,000 if a spouse is entered above and neither of you is marked "Deceased?" (married filing jointly), $109,000 once either "Deceased?" box is checked or there's no spouse (single). Once Medicare starts, the MAGI caps in this tool — the Roth conversion's 22%-line fill and minimum (Tab 6) and Tab 2's own 401K/IRA withdrawals for spending — are sized to this SAME real, current filing-status threshold shown here (the extra conversion that keeps RMD years in check may go past it when paying the surcharge leaves more at the end than holding under it; the plan then charges that year's real IRMAA surcharge two years later): the wider MFJ number while both of you are actually alive, the narrower single-filer one only once a "Deceased?" box is actually checked. MAGI = Modified Adjusted Gross Income (get this from your previous tax year filing). IRMAA = Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount — the increased cost you'll pay for Medicare if your MAGI from 2 years prior is above this threshold.
Optional forced top-up ADDED on top of whatever the ladder strategy (Tab 6) already solves for — if set, every year from retirement through age 75 gets this much MORE conversion than it already had, including years that would otherwise convert $0. Because the ladder already fills each year to just under the 22% federal bracket, this pushes those years this far into 22%; leave it blank to keep every year under 22%. Still limited by the IRMAA MAGI cap (a real Medicare premium cost) and by the "Maximum to convert per year" cap below, if also set — either can reduce this year's forced amount below the full minimum, but never below whatever the ladder strategy already had. Leave blank for no minimum.
Optional extra cap on top of the ladder strategy (Tab 6) — if set, no year converts more than this amount, even if that strategy — or the minimum above — would otherwise call for more that year. Leave blank for no additional cap.
Off: the ladder fills each year to just under the 22% federal bracket, then converts more only if a later RMD year's RMD + Guaranteed Income would top that year's Annual Living Expenses + the previous year's tax. On (default): every year from retirement through the year before RMDs converts until MAGI — everything on the tax return: wages either of you still earns, cash/savings interest, pensions, Social Security's taxable part, 401K/IRA withdrawals and the conversion itself — reaches IRMAA Tier 1 (the threshold above, grown with inflation) — never past it, so there's never a Medicare surcharge from a conversion — and the extra RMD-driven conversion is skipped; any later RMD beyond spending + tax simply goes to cash. Tab 6 shows both plans side by side either way. "Maximum to convert per year" still caps this.

Healthcare bridge (pre-65) settings

All medical costs on this tab (premiums and Medicare) are entered in today's dollars and grow a fixed 6%/yr, not your inflation rate, since healthcare has historically risen faster than general inflation. Each person's costs stop at their death; the survivor's continue.

Medicare-era (65+) healthcare settings

Per person, once that person is on Medicare — Part B, Part D, and any Medigap/supplemental plan. Applied once you're on it, again once she's on it too. Pre-filled with the real, current standard Part B premium (no IRMAA) — Part D and any Medigap/supplemental plan vary by the specific plan you pick, so add your own researched estimate for those on top of this starting number.
Per person on Medicare, added on top of the base cost above, in today's dollars. Shown here for your Medicare start year; the plan figures every Medicare year's surcharge separately from the real 6-tier CMS schedule (Part B + Part D combined), using the household's MAGI two years earlier (Medicare's 2-year lookback) and that year's filing status — single's lower thresholds once the survivor files alone. CMS raises the income thresholds with inflation every year, so each year's income is compared in the same terms as today's thresholds.
Rough placeholder; enter your own researched estimate of what healthcare insurance would run for your spouse or spouse/depends when you switch to Medicare.

Drawdown Table

A single expected-return projection (not Monte Carlo) showing your account balances year by year through retirement — sequenced to minimize taxes and grow wealth: Cash first (only above your reserve), then 401K/IRA (only what's needed, plus the RMD once forced), then Roth last so it keeps compounding tax-free the longest.

401K/IRA balance by age
Roth IRA balance by age
Cash balance by age
Total combined balance by age (401k/IRA + cash + Roth)

Expense Breakdown

Annual Living Expenses from the Drawdown Table, split into Living Expenses, Medical Expenses, and Taxes — the final column matches Tab 2's "Annual Living Expenses" plus "Tax paid" columns exactly.

Withdrawal Rate Stress Test

Stress-tests your actual plan — the same real, grown-to-retirement balance and real year-by-year net withdrawal schedule Tab 02's Drawdown Table computes — against random market-return variance, alongside generic fixed/guardrail withdrawal-rate rules for comparison, then illustrates sequence-of-returns risk with a matched pair of return paths run in opposite order using your own real numbers. This is a different question from Tab 02's own deterministic projection: that one assumes a fixed return every year, this one asks what happens if actual returns vary around it. Excludes any scheduled inheritance, same as Tab 1's own guidance not to rely on it. This tab shows results only and updates when you hit "Crunch the Numbers" there.

Social Security Timing Analyzer

Compares claiming at 62, full retirement age, and 70 — cumulative dollars at each age, and the breakeven ages between strategies. Full retirement age (FRA) is 67 for anyone born 1960 or later.

Roth Conversion Ladder Designer

Builds a year-by-year conversion schedule from your traditional balance, converting each year up to just under where the 22% federal bracket begins (filling the 10% and 12% brackets) — then, if any year's RMD + Guaranteed Income would still top that year's Annual Living Expenses + the previous year's tax, spreading more conversion across the ladder years (above 22% if needed) until none do — and compares the RMD you'd otherwise face (IRS uniform lifetime divisor).

Healthcare Bridge Plan (Pre-65)

Years from retirement to Medicare, with ACA subsidy estimates under the reverted, pre-2021 federal rules now back in force for 2026 (enhanced credits expired 12/31/2025, restoring the 400%-FPL subsidy cliff) — plus Covered California's state-level backstop specifically if California is selected on Tab 1.

Tax Minimization Plan

Sequencing and structural moves to lower lifetime tax paid by you, your spouse, and eventually your kids as heirs. Uses your bracket assumptions from Tab 6.

Summary — The Optimized Strategy

One synthesized plan - pulling the best answer from each tab into a single timeline.

Sample figures reflect the numbers you provided · Educational planning tool, not tax, legal, or investment advice · Verify against a CFP®/CPA before acting

Issues, problems, suggestions? E-mail admin@myretirementpathway.com

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