I tried FireCalc. The interface is so terrible. It looks like a website from 1995. Yikes.
I bet if some of you got a free trip to the International Space Station then you'd complain about the noise or the food or the toilet paper. FIRECalc was developed by an early retiree for free, including a total of three versions which went through brutal beta-testing. Instead of going corporate with it, he left it free for anyone to use and critique.
Luckily we have other choices, and many of them are also
worth what you pay for them free. Here's a rundown on retirement calculators:
FIRECalc is the best historical calculator, assuming that there's any validity to using historical calculators to predict retirement success. It was based on a late-1990s spreadsheet developed by John Greaney at The Motley Fool's early retirement forum. (John modeled his spreadsheet from the Trinity Study. When TMF began charging for access, John started RetireEarlyHomePage.com and continued the discussion there.) Another reader, Dory36, programmed John's spreadsheet into FIRECalc v1.0 along with starting his own discussion board (Early-Retirement.org).
http://www.firecalc.com/intro.php FIRECalc v2.0 and v3.0 were developed by Dory36 with plenty of reader feedback. Shortly after 3.0 debuted he sold Early-Retirement.org and FIRECalc to its current owner, Andy Robinowitz. For at least four years, Andy has been seeking a programmer to overhaul the code. Several professionals have recoiled at the task (Andy's been unwilling to pay their prices) and many amateurs have failed. I believe that if you think that you can fix FIRECalc then your programmer's credibility is suspect. If you actually can fix FIRECalc then you're probably unwilling to do it for free. If you want to contact the original programmer then I can point you in his direction, but he may not be interested in responding.
http://www.firecalc.com/notes.php The best Monte Carlo program (or at least the most detailed) is FinancialEngines.com. (I'm assuming that Monte Carlo is a suitable method of modeling reality.) Its biggest advantage is being able to recommend mutual funds & ETFs to match the user's parameters for their 401(k) choices. It's probably free if your 401(k) provider offers it, but if you're looking for an extremely detailed check on your ER progress then FE is worth the membership fee.
http://corp.financialengines.com/helping_you/how_we_do_it.html Todd Tresidder's calculators avoid both of the pitfalls of historical and Monte Carlo calculators. Before you use Todd's calculator you should review his assumptions, which may not match your own retirement planning philosophy.
http://financialmentor.com/free-articles/retirement-planning/how-much-to-retire/why-retirement-calculators-cant-be-trusted http://financialmentor.com/calculator/retirement-calculator Todd's calculators and research and writing are much more in-depth than a typical blogger or financial analyst, me included. You may feel that you're drinking from a 2.5" 250-psi firehose. Consider that Todd graduated from college with debts and achieved seven figures of financial independence in just 12 years. Since then he's had nearly 20 years to think through the process of showing others how to do it. He makes over 80 different calculator tools available for free to any blogger who wants to feature them in their posts. You can also use any of them on Todd's website.
At the other end of the calculator spectrum is usability. Several years ago USAA noted that fewer than 10% of their clients would actually get through a web-based calculator, so they came up with several simplified models. They may not be stochastically rigorous, but they're much easier to use and much more likely to set people on the right path.
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/02/20/usaas-retirement-planner-and-financial-goal-planning-tools/ http://the-military-guide.com/2012/06/13/usaas-savings-goals-and-529-plan-calculators/ Here's a rundown of several more calculators, including:
ESP
Otar's calculator
Bob Clyatt's 4%/95% system
Bud Hebeler's system
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/12/01/retirement-planners-and-calculators-part-2-of-2/ For the most detailed survey that I've ever seen, try the Bogleheads Wiki:
http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Retirement_calculators_and_spending By the time you've finished sailing the high seas of retirement calculators, FIRECalc may start lookin' pretty good...