Free and paid tools take different approaches to retirement planning. Find the one that fits the questions you want to explore.
Model federal and state taxes, Roth conversions, household Social Security claiming strategies, Medicare and IRMAA, and tax-efficient withdrawals in one plan. Compare changes side by side and stress-test your retirement with 1,000 simulations.
Every feature is free. No linked accounts, no stored retirement plans, no selling your personal information, and no requirement to share your plan with third parties.
| Tool | Access | Its Strength | IncomeWize Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| IncomeWize | Free · No signup | Detailed retirement decisions in one plan. | Every planning feature free. Model taxes, Roth conversions, household Social Security claiming, Medicare, withdrawals, and market risk. |
| FIRECalc | Free | Testing spending against historical market periods. | Add detailed tax planning. Visualize how retirement income fills each federal tax bracket, use Tax Minimizer to explore tax-efficient withdrawals, and test Roth conversions against a bracket you choose. |
| Empower | Free · Signup required | Linked account tracking and retirement scenarios. | Explore Roth and Medicare costs without signing up. Choose a tax-bracket target for conversions and see how they affect taxes and Medicare IRMAA. |
| Fidelity Retirement Planning | Free · Signup required | Retirement planning within a broader financial services experience. | Start without registration. Test a different retirement date, Roth conversion target, or spending level side by side with your current plan. |
| Boldin | Free + paid | Comprehensive household planning with advanced tools in PlannerPlus. | Get advanced planning without upgrading. Roth conversions, Tax Minimizer, tax-bracket visualizations, household Social Security optimization, Medicare IRMAA, side-by-side plan comparisons, and 1,000 AI-enabled simulations are included without a paid tier. |
| ProjectionLab | Free + paid | Visual projections, free simulations, and advanced planning in Premium. | Explore taxes and withdrawals without upgrading. Compare changes side by side with federal and state taxes, Roth conversions, and withdrawal modeling, all free. |
| MaxiFi | Paid | Optimizing sustainable household spending, Social Security, and withdrawals. | Plan without an ongoing subscription. Explore tax-bracket targets, claiming dates, and spending changes at no cost. |
Automatically compare household claiming strategies to find the highest projected lifetime Social Security benefits for your assumptions.
Model conversions up to a federal tax bracket you choose, then see how they affect future taxes and balances.
Plan for healthcare costs before age 65 and automatically estimate Medicare premiums and IRMAA surcharges after 65.
Compare changes side by side, run 1,000 simulations, and use Risk Radar to spot issues worth investigating.
The right planner depends on the work you want it to do.
Explore retirement income, tax choices, claiming dates, healthcare costs, and risk in one place.
IncomeWize does not link brokerage accounts, track daily spending, or provide one-to-one financial advice.
See how a Roth conversion, a different Social Security date, or a change in spending affects your plan. Explore the tax impact, compare the results, and stress-test your retirement. Every planning feature is free.
The access and strength shown for each tool come from the provider’s public product pages. Features with similar names can use different assumptions, and prices, access, and results can change.
Details about other tools come from each company's public pages as of October 17, 2026, and may have changed since. Check their sites for current plans and prices. All product names belong to their owners. IncomeWize is an educational tool and does not give financial advice.