How we answer "Can I retire?"

Most retirement calculators ask three questions and draw a line. We model what actually happens to your money — year by year, dollar by dollar, after taxes.

What we model

Every factor that affects how much you can actually spend — not just how much you've saved.

Taxes — federal and state

We compute your tax bill year by year using actual progressive brackets — not a flat "25% tax rate" guess. Every withdrawal and income source hits the right bracket.

Healthcare costs

The gap between employer coverage and Medicare (ages 55–65) is the most expensive surprise in early retirement. We model ACA premiums, subsidies based on your income, IRMAA surcharges, and out-of-pocket costs.

Social Security income

Your Social Security benefit is factored into your projection at your expected claiming age — including how much of it gets taxed (up to 85%) and how it interacts with your other income sources.

Account-type-aware modeling

$1M in a traditional IRA is not the same as $1M in a Roth. We track traditional, Roth, and taxable accounts separately — because each has different tax treatment that changes how much is actually yours to spend.

Income from all sources

Salary, rental income, pensions, part-time work, Social Security — each source has different tax treatment. We layer them correctly so your brackets are accurate.

Inflation-adjusted projections

$80K/year today won't buy the same in 20 years. Every number in your projection is in today's dollars so you can compare apples to apples across your timeline.

Also built into every projection

Required Minimum Distributions

At 73, the IRS forces withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts. We model RMDs using IRS life expectancy tables and factor the tax impact into your plan.

Capital gains & dividends

Taxable accounts generate annual tax drag from dividends and realized gains. We track cost basis and apply the correct rates — long-term, short-term, and qualified dividends.

Couples & spousal planning

For married couples filing jointly, we model both spouses' accounts, RMDs, Social Security benefits, and what happens financially when one spouse passes.

How most calculators work vs. what we do

Most calculators
Lumifin
Flat tax rate assumption (e.g., "25%")
Year-by-year federal + state progressive brackets
All savings treated as one bucket
Traditional, Roth, and taxable tracked separately
Healthcare costs ignored or static
ACA premiums, subsidies, IRMAA, Medicare modeled by year
Social Security as a flat number
Social Security with taxability modeling at your claiming age
"You need $X to retire"
"You can spend $X/year and end with $Y at age Z"

What you walk away with

1

Your confident spending number

The amount you can spend every year — after taxes, after healthcare — without running out. Not a guess. A number backed by a year-by-year projection.

2

Your ending balance at 1–2 retirement ages

How much you'd have left if you retire at 60 vs. 63 — or when you'd run out if spending is too high. The number that answers "can I afford to stop?"

3

A 45-minute walkthrough

We walk you through your projection together — what the numbers mean, what drives them, and what to pay attention to. You'll leave with a clear picture, not a spreadsheet you have to decode.

4

A written one-page summary

Your key numbers in one place: confident spending, ending balance, tax impact, and the assumptions behind them. Something you can refer back to and share with your partner or planner.

Ready to see your number?

Get full Lumifin app access for $199/yr and model every retirement decision yourself — withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversions, ACA strategy, as many scenarios as you want.

Join free today. We'll email you in July 2026 to claim your spot ($199/yr, 30 spots); access starts August 2026.