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Hello, first time user, been reading posts for awhile. I’m looking to fully retire in July from farming and go see our county’s sites & visit friends down south during the winters. I still want to manage our money, My question is: Is there reliable and very secure software (our info is on the dark web through no fault of our own & had to freeze all) out there that can give me options on how, when & where to draw down my accounts when needed? Sincerely, Dave
I use Quicken which has a Lifetime Planner. However, I’ve been using it or another personal financial planning tool for many years and have data in my current version since 1995. I’m familiar with Bodin, but have only used the free version as a verification tool. Ditto for Firecalc.com. Quicken uses my savings, retirement and assets to determine its projections. It allows me to decide on inflation rate, savings return of traditional and non-taxed accounts. I also have decided to include a 20% social security benefit reduction in my plan. Quicken allows me to explore “what ifs” as well as “change assumptions” at any time. I do have some unusual expenses earmarked for the future and can increase or decrease those, or add to them. Some quibble about the cost of subscriptions, but I consider this to be an investment in my education and future.
If you’ve not already discovered it, I recommend the Humble. Dollar money guide.
See the index to the retirement section;
https://humbledollar.com/money-guide/retirement/ including retirement income and portfolio withdrawals.
I second recommendations for Bolden (nee New Retirement). Fairly comprehensive.
Good educational materials. But as with all software: what you get out is only as good as what you put in.
Happy planning.
From a contrarian point of view regarding using planning software you may also want to consider the thinking in a recent 2/10/2025 article from Bill Bernstein.
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/articles/2025/02/10/merton-share-why-dont-use-retirement-calculators
For a more in depth reading of Dr. Bernstein’s thinking I really enjoyed his book The Four Pillars of Investing, second edition released in 2023. The forward to the book was written by Jonathan Clements.
I also enjoyed the segment of the 2024 Bogleheads conference titled Financial Historian Richard Sylla in Conversation with William Bernstein that you can watch at the following link –
https://boglecenter.net/2024conference/
Best, Bill
Boldin and Projection Lab are pretty nice, DIY, big plan tools. Most of these tools are kind of the same in that if you make sure all the inputs/assumptions are the same, they give you the same or perhaps 99% the same answers.
Some people seem to love Pralana.
I don’t think anyone has found a definitive best product as they all seem to have their fans.
What’s best will be unique to you, your income needs, your investments, your risk tolerance, and your potential longevity. Whatever plan you make, be sure to include margin for surprises, wherever you can. Over 30-40 years, you’ll have plenty of those.
My advice (as a long-time software engineer): Don’t cede your responsibility to think about what you uniquely want and need to the software. Good software can be a helpful tool, but it can also create a false sense of security.
Oh and this: there are many steps you can take to harden your online security in a world in which our privacy data is no longer private. I’ve written a few pieces about this. You’ll find those on my HD writer’s page: https://humbledollar.com/author/david-powell/
Considering your history with security I don’t know if you would be interested in web based sites. Two I would recommend are Boldin and Maxifi Planner. Boldin is your basic Monte Carlo calculator and has ability to show where to draw your income. Maxifi is more confusing as it was designed by an economist named Larry Kotlikoff. I created a plan on each. One for a free trial where I received the information that I wanted then canceled before payment began. The other I paid a reasonable price for a one year subscription. I will return to one in a few years before I and my wife turn 70 to perform a tuneup.
Before you use any software, you hopefully know what your needed income will be to sustain your desired lifestyle, how much and when you will, count on Social Security. The type of accounts you are talking about matters as well. Try Boldin. https://www.boldin.com/
I suggest you log on to an AI like Grok or Chat GPT. Put in your goals and information. It will give you a starting point to evaluate your situation. The cost is $0. It is not a financial advisor. I did this and it was amazing what Grok AI spit out for my consideration.