Methodology

RetireFree is a deterministic, transparent planner. Every number you see is produced by a pure function from your inputs — never by an LLM. This page documents what each module estimates, what assumptions it uses, what it does not do, and where you should still talk to a qualified professional.

Retirement Life Planner shell

The planner shell is the connective tissue: it holds your household profile (ages, household type, headline assets, monthly spending) and lets each module read from and write to that one profile so module results compose into a single plan view rather than living in disconnected tabs.

• What it estimates: nothing on its own. The shell orchestrates inputs and surfaces module results.
• Required inputs: ages, household type (single/couple), assets by tax bucket, monthly essential spending, state. Other inputs are collected by individual modules.
• Source/model: a household profile schema validated with Zod plus a saved-plan persistence layer (Supabase) for authenticated users.
• Limitations: the shell does not aggregate across modules into a single “plan score.” Each module remains the source of truth for its own number.
• When to consult a professional: coordinate the full picture with a fee-only Certified Financial Planner before acting on any module result.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Retirement Spending Baseline (calculator)

The calculator takes your savings, expenses, age, and risk tolerance and returns an estimated sustainable monthly portfolio withdrawal, annual withdrawal rate, confidence band, and the top risk it surfaces. It uses runRetirementEngine, a pure function with no randomness, no model inference, and no third-party API call in the number path.

• What it estimates: a safe monthly portfolio withdrawal, annual withdrawal rate, horizon, and confidence band.
• Required inputs: current age, retirement age, savings, monthly expenses, risk tolerance, optional Social Security input.
• Formula summary: base safe withdrawal rate anchored to the 4% rule, adjusted by risk tolerance, allocation, and horizon, then clamped to a 2.5%–5.5% band; monthly figure is derived from that rate against savings.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-19, assumptions 2026-05-19, default inflation 3.0%, default life expectancy 90, default Social Security FRA 67.
• Limitations: no Monte Carlo simulation, no year-by-year drawdown projection, no tax modeling, no automatic inflation adjustment. The confidence band is a documented heuristic, not a probability of success.
• When to consult a professional: within five years of retirement, when your estimate is close to the edge of viability, or any time withdrawals interact with taxes, Roth conversions, or Social Security claiming choices.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Calculator assumption table

Roth Conversion Window Finder

Estimates how much taxable-income room you may have inside a target federal ordinary-income bracket before required minimum distributions begin. Educational illustration for learning purposes only; never a recommended conversion amount.

• What it estimates: bracket-fill conversion room per year, total room before RMDs, and an IRMAA-proximity flag.
• Required inputs: current age, filing status, current annual income, traditional/Roth/taxable balances, annual spending need, expected Social Security, optional target bracket, RMD age, state tax rate.
• Formula summary: headroom between taxable income (gross income minus the standard deduction) and the top of the selected target bracket; cap each year by the traditional balance spread evenly across years until RMDs.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-20, assumptions 2026-educational-federal-tax-v1. Federal brackets and standard deduction are 2026 educational values; refresh annually from the IRS Revenue Procedure.
• Limitations: state income tax not modeled (you may pass a flat rate), ACA premium tax credits not modeled, Net Investment Income Tax not modeled, Social Security taxation interaction and capital-gains stacking not modeled, multi-year rate forecasting not included.
• When to consult a professional: any actual conversion decision. Bring this estimate to a CPA or tax-aware CFP.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Not tax guidance.

Social Security Claiming Lab

Applies SSA actuarial reduction and delayed-credit factors to a Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) at 62, your Full Retirement Age, and 70. Computes lifetime cumulative benefit through your assumed longevity, pairwise breakeven ages, and an estimate of how much portfolio bridge you may need from retirement until benefits start.

• What it estimates: monthly benefit by claim age, lifetime cumulative benefit, breakeven age, and portfolio bridge cost. Single-filer plus couples coordination (beta) with survivor pickup of the larger benefit when the first spouse dies.
• Required inputs: birth year, FRA, PIA estimate (from ssa.gov/myaccount), longevity assumption, retirement age and year, optional portfolio for bridge cost. Couples mode adds the second earner's PIA.
• Formula summary: SSA actuarial reduction (5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before FRA, 5/12 of 1% per month beyond that) and delayed retirement credit (8% per year past FRA up to age 70). Lifetime sums are in nominal dollars without COLA.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21. Sources: ssa.gov age-reduction and delayed-retirement-credit tables, SSA full retirement age tables for the 1943–1960+ cohort map.
• Limitations: no COLA, no benefit taxation, no IRMAA interaction, no Windfall Elimination Provision or Government Pension Offset, no earnings-test reductions for continuing workers, no spousal-on-record or divorced-spouse benefits, no remarriage rules.
• When to consult a professional: claim coordination for couples beyond survivor pickup, divorced spouse and government pension situations, and any case where the breakeven framing materially affects retirement timing — bring it to a fee-only CFP.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Early Retirement Bridge Planner

Year-by-year drawdown projection from retirement to Medicare/Social Security eligibility, using a configurable account drawdown order and an optional ACA bridge cost.

• What it estimates: per-year cash flow by account type, ending balances, and a depletion risk flag if the bridge exhausts taxable/traditional/Roth funds before Social Security starts.
• Required inputs: retirement age, life expectancy, balances by tax bucket (taxable / traditional / Roth / cash), monthly cash need, optional ACA bridge cost, optional Social Security start age and monthly amount, optional drawdown order, optional growth rate.
• Formula summary: each year subtract the annual cash need from the configured account stack, apply the optional nominal growth rate, and track depletion. Default order favors taxable then traditional then Roth.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: nominal-dollar projection, no tax modeling on withdrawals, no sequence-of-returns simulation, no required minimum distribution interaction past the bridge.
• When to consult a professional: sequencing of taxable / traditional / Roth withdrawals interacts with brackets and ACA subsidies — discuss with a fee-only CFP.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Healthcare Bridge & ACA Planner

Estimates ACA marketplace premium and subsidy ranges from early-retirement age to Medicare eligibility at 65, using national average premiums and the published Premium Tax Credit schedule.

• What it estimates: educational monthly premium range, subsidy band, and a bridge-to-65 cost estimate.
• Required inputs: current age, retirement age, household size, projected MAGI, optional state.
• Formula summary: federal poverty level applied to household size, ACA Applicable Percentage table applied to MAGI tier, second-lowest-cost-silver-plan national educational averages used as the premium baseline.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21. Premium baselines are national averages; state pricing varies materially.
• Limitations: educational national averages, not plan-specific quotes; no Cost-Sharing Reduction modeling; no state-by-state premium calibration; no income-stacking with short-term capital gains harvesting.
• When to consult a professional: bring this to a licensed Medicare/healthcare broker or state ACA navigator before enrollment.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Numbers vary by state and household; ranges are educational.

RMD Planner

Projects required minimum distributions starting at age 73 or 75 (SECURE Act 2.0) and a marginal-rate tax estimate on each year's distribution.

• What it estimates: annual RMD amount and a marginal-rate tax estimate per year.
• Required inputs: birth year, traditional/401(k) balance, marginal tax bracket, optional projection horizon, optional growth rate.
• Formula summary: Uniform Lifetime Table divisor for each age applied to the prior-year-end traditional balance; marginal rate applied to the RMD for the tax estimate; optional flat growth rate to forward-project balances.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21. Source: IRS Uniform Lifetime Table; SECURE Act 2.0 starting-age rules.
• Limitations: single-spouse table only (no Joint Life table option), no inherited-IRA rules, no state tax modeling, marginal rate is a single bracket and does not stack across brackets year by year.
• When to consult a professional: Roth conversions ahead of RMD years and any inherited-IRA situation — talk with a CPA.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Retirement Risk Profiler

Compares your capacity to weather retirement risk (income floor, asset buffer, debt, insurance coverage) against your tolerance for risk (Likert-scale reactions to market drops, variable income, and horizon). The output is a discussion prompt, not an allocation recommendation.

• What it estimates: a capacity vs tolerance gap, surfaced as discussion prompts.
• Required inputs: monthly floor income, monthly essentials, liquid assets, debt, healthcare/LTC coverage indicators, eight Likert-scale tolerance questions.
• Formula summary: capacity score from income floor coverage and asset buffer net of debt; tolerance score from weighted Likert answers; the gap drives the discussion prompts.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no allocation recommendations and no glide-path output; the profiler frames conversations, it does not produce investment guidance.
• When to consult a professional: any actual allocation or investment decision — talk with a fee-only CFP or an Investment Adviser.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. No allocation recommendations.

Spending Permission Coach

Translates remaining plan headroom into green/yellow/red spending bands for a one-time splurge and an annual lifestyle add.

• What it estimates: green/yellow/red bands for discretionary one-time spends and annual lifestyle additions.
• Required inputs: base monthly withdrawal, monthly essentials, monthly discretionary, optional one-time splurge, optional annual lifestyle add.
• Formula summary: headroom = base withdrawal − essentials − current discretionary. Splurges and lifestyle adds are bucketed against multipliers of that headroom.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no Monte Carlo, no sequence-of-returns; the bands are heuristics anchored to a single-year headroom snapshot.
• When to consult a professional: for any spending decision that meaningfully changes long-term withdrawal capacity, bring it to a fee-only CFP.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Medicare Decision Navigator

Compares Medicare Advantage vs Medigap paths with an IRMAA surcharge projection and a decision checklist. No plan-specific recommendations.

• What it estimates: educational premium and out-of-pocket bands by path, IRMAA tier projection, and a decision-prompt checklist.
• Required inputs: age, modified adjusted gross income, state, plan preference, filing status.
• Formula summary: Medicare published premium and deductible reference values for the current plan year; IRMAA tier looked up from CMS thresholds for the filing status.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21. IRMAA thresholds and Part B/D base premiums refresh annually.
• Limitations: no plan-specific recommendations; state-level Medigap premium variation is approximated with published ranges; supplemental dental/vision/hearing not modeled; drug formulary differences not modeled.
• When to consult a professional: always work with a licensed Medicare broker or State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor before enrolling.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Numbers vary by state and plan; no plan-specific recommendations.

Long-Term Care Shock Planner

Stress-tests the plan against a 2-, 3-, or 5-year long-term-care episode using national-average cost bands by care setting.

• What it estimates: multi-year cost block by care setting and an at-home spouse cash-flow impact when applicable.
• Required inputs: care-shock start age, care setting (home / assisted living / nursing home), shock duration (2 / 3 / 5 years), optional state, optional LTC insurance daily benefit, optional at-home spouse essentials.
• Formula summary: national-average daily/monthly cost for the chosen care setting, applied across the shock duration; LTC insurance daily benefit subtracted from daily cost; at-home spouse cash flow modeled if provided.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21. Source: published industry cost-of-care surveys for the current year.
• Limitations: educational national averages, not state-by-state market quotes; Medicaid spend-down rules not modeled; LTC policy benefit periods, elimination periods, and inflation riders not modeled.
• When to consult a professional: bring this to an elder-law attorney and a long-term-care insurance broker.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Numbers vary by state and household.

Housing & Relocation Planner

Compares five housing scenarios — age in place, downsize, relocate, sell and rent, or move to a 55+ community — against your current housing cash flow.

• What it estimates: monthly housing cash flow and a one-time move cost for each scenario you populate.
• Required inputs: current home value, current mortgage, current monthly housing cost; optional downsize target, target relocation state, cost-of-living multiplier, rental alternative, 55+ community fees.
• Formula summary: per-scenario monthly cash flow and one-time move cost computed from the inputs you provide; cost-of-living differences are applied as a multiplier when a target state is supplied.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21, assumptions 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no per-state property tax modeling; no specific HOA/insurance underwriting; mortgage refinance terms not modeled.
• When to consult a professional: talk to a real-estate professional, a mortgage broker, and a tax professional before a move decision.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Numbers vary by state and household.

Travel & Snowbird Budget Planner

Turns travel intent (one big trip, two medium trips, snowbird, or RV) into an annual cost and an affordability band against your plan's remaining headroom.

• What it estimates: total annual travel cost and a green/yellow/red affordability band relative to base annual headroom.
• Required inputs: annual travel budget, trips per year, travel style, optional snowbird months and rental rate, optional base annual headroom.
• Formula summary: style-specific cost composition (e.g., snowbird = monthly seasonal rental × months); affordability band is the ratio of cost to headroom.
• Source/assumptions version: engine 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no airfare/cruise-line market data, no per-destination cost-of-living modeling, no exchange-rate or inflation curve.
• When to consult a professional: for tax residency implications of long snowbird stays, talk with a tax professional.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Family Support & Care Network Planner

Surfaces caregiving capacity, family-support cost estimates, and emergency-contact readiness.

• What it estimates: annual family-support spending, caregiving-network gaps, and emergency-contact readiness flags.
• Required inputs: nearby support count, primary caregiver presence, driving ability, annual gifts to children and grandchildren, emergency contact count.
• Formula summary: simple aggregation of gifts and a binary checklist for caregiver/contact readiness.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: not a substitute for a written caregiving plan; does not model gift-tax limits.
• When to consult a professional: talk with an elder-law attorney about caregiving agreements and gift tax; a family therapist for caregiver burnout planning.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Purpose, Work & Time Planner

Maps a target retirement week (paid work, volunteer, caregiving, social, hobby, learning, fitness, travel, rest) and lets you toggle an optional part-time-income scenario against the plan.

• What it estimates: a weekly hour map and an optional part-time-income scenario impact.
• Required inputs: weekly hours by category, optional annual part-time income.
• Formula summary: hour-bucket totals plus a straight annual income overlay if provided.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no self-employment tax modeling, no Social Security earnings-test interaction in this module (see the SS Lab limitations for that).
• When to consult a professional: for self-employment retirement planning (SEP, Solo 401(k)), bring this to a CPA.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Widowhood & Survivor Plan Builder

Stress-tests the plan after the first spouse passes — survivor Social Security pickup, pension survivor option, and single-filer bracket compression.

• What it estimates: survivor monthly cash flow, single-filer bracket impact, and a readiness flag for beneficiary/titling gaps.
• Required inputs: survivor age at first death and life expectancy, each spouse's Social Security at FRA, optional joint pension monthly amount and survivor percentage, joint monthly essentials and discretionary.
• Formula summary: survivor SS = larger of the two benefits; pension drops to the survivor percentage; filing changes to single, with the resulting bracket compression applied; cash-flow band derived from essential and discretionary coverage.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no remarriage rules, no beneficiary-by-account modeling, no jurisdiction-specific probate timing.
• When to consult a professional: talk with an estate attorney; coordinate beneficiary designations with a fee-only CFP.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice.

Estate Flow Mapper

Maps account titling, beneficiary designations, and probate exposure into a printable estate-attorney discussion packet.

• What it estimates: a probate-exposure flag per account, a beneficiary-mismatch checklist, and a printable discussion packet.
• Required inputs: state, accounts (type, titling, beneficiary presence, approximate value), will/trust/healthcare- directive/POA indicators, heir counts.
• Formula summary: per-account exposure based on titling (joint/TOD/POD/trust/individual) and beneficiary presence; a discussion checklist generated from missing core documents.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: legal education only, no jurisdictional legal guidance; state-specific probate thresholds and small-estate procedures are not modeled.
• When to consult a professional: always work with a licensed elder-law or estate attorney before signing documents.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. Legal education only; no jurisdictional legal guidance.

Aging-in-Place Readiness

Scores the home and routine for aging in place and proposes a modification budget band.

• What it estimates: a readiness score, a home-modification cost band, and an urgent-risk escalation prompt for very low readiness or high fall-risk combinations.
• Required inputs: home type, stairs, driving dependence, transit access, fall-risk concerns, grab-bar / walk-in-shower / first-floor-bedroom presence, modification budget interest.
• Formula summary: weighted checklist score and a modification cost band derived from common contractor cost ranges.
• Source/assumptions version: version 2026-05-21.
• Limitations: no in-home medical assessment, no contractor-quote integration, no clinical fall-risk screening.
• When to consult a professional: if the urgent-risk prompt fires, consider speaking with an occupational therapist, a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) contractor, or your primary care provider.
• Disclaimer: Educational estimate only, not personalized financial advice. No medical assessment.

What role does the AI play?

AI is not the source of truth for any number on the site. Every module's number comes from a deterministic engine; the AI layer only adds a plain-English explanation of what the engine computed. If the AI provider is unavailable or returns text that fails our schema validation, RetireFree falls back to a templated explanation built from the same engine output — the numeric result still renders and is unchanged.

When to consult a professional

RetireFree is built for self-directed pre-retirees who want a fast, transparent estimate before paying for an advisor. If you face any of the following, please consult a qualified professional:

• You are within a few years of retirement and your estimate is close to the edge of viability.
• You are considering Roth conversions, tax-bracket-filling, or any move with material tax consequences.
• You expect a complex Social Security situation (spousal, divorced-spouse, government pension offset).
• You have estate planning, business equity, or jurisdictional legal questions.
• You are evaluating long-term care insurance or Medicaid planning.
• You are considering a relocation or major housing decision.
• The aging-in-place urgent-risk prompt fires.

Every page and module on RetireFree is an educational tool. They are not financial, tax, legal, or medical advice, and they do not establish an advisor relationship of any kind.

Change log

• 2026-05-22 — Methodology page rewritten to cover every shipped planner module (planner shell, calculator, Roth, SS Lab, bridge, healthcare bridge, RMD, risk profiler, spending coach, Medicare, LTC, housing, travel, family, purpose, survivor, estate, aging-in-place) with explicit anchors, versions, and limitations.
• SS Lab 2026-05-21 — couples coordination (beta) with survivor pickup of the larger benefit.
• Roth 2026-05-20 — Initial Roth Conversion Window Finder with IRMAA-proximity flag.
• Calculator 2026-05-19 — Initial deterministic engine; numeric recommendations moved out of AI into pure functions; assumption disclosure shipped alongside.