So I was not sure if this was the best forum or not but I need some analysis on this to determine if I can trust this calculator.
My employer uses Voya for their 401(k) and I took a look at their financial calculators and found a retirement calculator that seems much more robust than I assumed any of these firms would have. It links live to all your accounts, much like a Personal Capital, so that your data is always updated. It then gives you details on how many years of your retirement you have funded at whatever level you want to do and surprisingly also lets you know two data point if you are ahead (as we appear to be according to this calculator): How much you could spend each year in retirement (Says $79,000 versus our target of $48,000) or when I can retire instead (says 58). IF, and that's a big if, it's accurate, this is a very simple way to keep track of my path towards FIRE, and again totally unexpected when I went to check it out. I was expecting some simply things like Vanguard or others have but this was a lot more detailed in what you entered into it. The problem is the math behind it is all a bit behind the curtain. As it sits now it is telling me we'd be leaving behind a bit over $4.5MM if I worked until full retirement age of 67. Curious what other think of the numbers and if they look reliable.
A few notes that might help, it says it is using the inflation rate (3% as set) to figure out the income and expenses in retirement. The only income in retirement is SS for the 27 years. My wife is 3 years younger than me so the 27 years goes until she is 90.
If it seems to work I can change any of the numbers, including inflation rate (which it set lower at 2.44% on it's own, but I raised up to assume we will not stay in low inflation for the next 47 years) to test our various scenarios pretty easily, so I'm trying to get a view on if people who are much better at the calculators than I feel this thing is painting an accurate picture or doing some hanky panky behind the scenes.