Free retirement plan builder
Answer a few questions about your household, income, savings, and spending. You'll see the monthly income you can expect, what your spending would need, how your savings could hold up year by year — and which decisions change the picture most.
They open your plan with step one already filled in. The full picture takes 10–15 minutes, and every answer can be changed later.
Your answers stay on this device unless you choose to save them to a free account.
Rather look first? Preview an example plan.
Example plan · fictional couple
Savings at retirement about $1.8M, in today's dollars. Educational estimates built from the example's assumptions — not a prediction, and not advice.
Preview the full example planHow it works
Round numbers are fine. Everything can be changed later, and the plan saves itself in your browser as you go.
Step 1
Who the plan is for, when you'd like to retire, your income sources including Social Security, your accounts and savings, any debts, and what you expect to spend.
Step 2
A year-by-year picture: expected income by source, planned spending, the withdrawals your savings would cover, taxes and required distributions, and how the plan holds up across many market scenarios.
Step 3
Retire a little earlier or later, claim Social Security at 62 or 70, spend more or less — side by side, with a plain summary of what changed. Save with a free account, print, or export.
Step 4
When you're ready for advice on your own situation, Downshift introduces you to a specialist who fits — a financial advisor, retirement planner, or CPA. Free to you, no obligation, and you can send your plan along so they start from your numbers.
Quick answers
Each calculator answers one question in a few minutes, shows its assumptions, and points to the next step. No email needed to see results.
Compare the income your savings could produce with your spending goal at your target age.
Line up Social Security, pensions, and other dependable income against expected expenses.
See the monthly check at every age from 62 to 70, lifetime totals, and break-even ages.
See which federal brackets a conversion fills and how much room is left in your target bracket.
Test a monthly withdrawal against inflation and returns and see when the balance would run out.
Check whether your income crosses an IRMAA cliff — and how close you are to the next one.
All 14 retirement calculators →·7 guided planning exercises →
By stage
The right next step depends on how close retirement is. Each path is a short sequence with a recommended place to begin.
Still building
The job is steady saving and avoiding unforced errors. Start with the trajectory, then check the yearly decisions.
Where your current pace lands you — start here.
What a bigger contribution really costs per paycheck.
Which tax treatment fits the years ahead.
When you want to see it all together.
Decision season
Claiming ages, conversion windows, healthcare costs, and turning a nest egg into a monthly paycheck all land now.
The full picture in 10–15 minutes — start here.
The single biggest lever for most households.
What the low-income years before RMDs are worth.
Healthcare, cash, and the first withdrawals.
Making it last
Pace the withdrawals, plan for required distributions, and keep Medicare premiums from surprising you.
Turn accounts into a monthly paycheck — start here.
Is the current pace sustainable?
This year's required amount and the years ahead.
Stay clear of the premium cliffs.
Why trust Downshift
Every tool is free and the site carries no ads. When you ask to be connected with a specialist, that specialist pays Downshift for the introduction — you pay nothing, and nothing on the site is sold or promoted for a fee.
About Downshift and how it's fundedFormulas follow IRS revenue procedures, SSA rules, and CMS premium tables for the labeled year. The math lives in tested code that is separate from the design, and annual figures are reviewed when the agencies publish updates.
Methods and sourcesEvery result sits beside its assumptions. Plans show ranges across many market scenarios rather than a single score, nothing is guaranteed, and nothing here is individualized investment, tax, or legal advice.
Read the disclosuresLearn
Social Security
When Should You Claim Social Security?
Understand the claiming-age rules and trade-offs before you lock in a monthly check for life.
Free PDF guide · 8 pages · emailed to you
Taxes
The Roth Conversion Window Most People Don't Notice Until It's Closing
Why the years between retiring and RMDs can be the cheapest time to move money to Roth.
Article · 7 min read
Retirement income
The Retirement Income Checklist
A step-by-step way to turn a pile of accounts into a dependable monthly paycheck.
Free PDF guide · 8 pages · emailed to you
Optional
When the IRS, SSA, or Medicare publish new figures, or a new tool ships, we send one plain email — at most about once a month. No sales sequences, and you can unsubscribe with one click.
Before you start
Yes. You can build and view your complete plan without an account or an email address. A free account is only needed if you want to save the plan, share it, or come back to it on another device.
Answers stay in your browser unless you choose to save them to an account or ask us to email you something. We never ask for account numbers, Social Security numbers, or passwords, and financial inputs are never sent to analytics.
They are estimates built from the assumptions shown beside them — IRS, SSA, and CMS figures for the labeled year, and your own inputs. They are meant to make the decision clearer, not to guarantee an outcome. Every calculator lists what it simplifies.
No. Downshift is educational. Nothing here is individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. When you want advice for your own situation, Downshift can introduce you to a specialist — a financial advisor, retirement planner, CPA, or other professional — free to you and with no obligation. The specialist pays Downshift for the introduction, which is how the site stays free.
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