In the realm of retirement planning, a myriad of tools and platforms vie for your attention, each promising to guide you through the labyrinth of financial decisions. From robo-advisors to comprehensive financial management platforms, the options can be overwhelming. This article delves into the best retirement planning tools, catering to various stages of your journey, and provides an in-depth analysis of each, highlighting their strengths and potential drawbacks. From the best overall to the best for set-it-and-forget-it investing, these tools are designed to help you navigate the complex world of retirement planning with confidence and clarity.
Best Overall: Fidelity
Fidelity Investments stands out as a comprehensive financial platform, offering a wide array of services that cater to various aspects of retirement planning. It provides a no-minimum-deposit account, making it accessible to a broad audience. The platform boasts zero commission fees for stock, ETF, and options trades, and no transaction fees for over 3,400 mutual funds, making it an attractive choice for cost-conscious investors. Additionally, Fidelity Go® portfolios utilize Fidelity Flex® mutual funds with zero expense ratios, and human advisors manage day-to-day portfolio decisions, ensuring a personalized touch.
One of the standout features of Fidelity is its retirement toolkit, which includes calculators for estimating monthly retirement income, comparing tax impacts of withdrawal strategies, and evaluating Roth conversions. This toolkit is a valuable resource for those seeking to sanity-check their retirement progress without the need for personalized financial advice. However, it's important to note that Fidelity Go® has a 0.35% advisory fee per year for balances of $25,000 and over, and it invests only in Fidelity Flex® mutual funds, with no third-party ETFs or individual securities available.
Best for Getting Started: SoFi
SoFi Invest shines as a user-friendly platform that strips away the intimidation factor often associated with retirement investing. It offers a $0 minimum deposit for active and automated investing, and a $5 minimum to own a fractional share of a company. SoFi's commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, and options, including no per-contract options fees, is a significant advantage. Additionally, SoFi provides complimentary access to a financial planner for a 30-minute session, making it an excellent choice for those seeking guidance.
SoFi's robo-advisor manages portfolios for a 0.25% annual advisory fee, and it offers a 1% match on eligible IRA contributions up to annual IRA limits. The platform also provides a detailed help center with hundreds of searchable articles and market insights, ensuring that users have access to comprehensive educational resources.
Best for Set-It-and-Forget-It Investing: Betterment
Betterment's robo-advisor is designed for those who prefer a hands-off approach to investing. It offers automated investing with portfolios built around your financial goals, timeline, and risk tolerance. The platform allows you to assign specific goals to each portfolio and invest using different strategies, providing a tailored investment experience. Betterment's resources hub offers expert-written guides on investing basics, retirement planning, and personal finance, helping investors make informed decisions.
One of the standout features of Betterment is its lack of account minimum, and its standard investing plan costs 0.25% annually or $5 per month for smaller balances without qualifying recurring deposits. Automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting are included at no extra cost, ensuring that your investments stay on track. Betterment also offers traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs, and complimentary support from its Licensed Concierge team for customers considering moving $20,000 or more to a Betterment IRA.
Best for a Complete Retirement Roadmap: Boldin
Boldin is a browser-based retirement planning platform that goes beyond a simple yes-or-no retirement readiness score. It offers tools to model your finances and stress-test decisions such as retirement age, Social Security claiming, and Roth conversions. The platform's PlannerPlus tier provides real-time account linking, state and federal tax projections, Medicare planning, and access to 250-plus customizable inputs, offering a comprehensive view of your financial future.
The free version of Boldin is sufficient for checking whether you're on track for retirement, while PlannerPlus adds more advanced planning features. However, it's important to note that account linking and most advanced features are locked behind the paid tier, which may be a consideration for those seeking a fully comprehensive solution.
Best Free Money Tracker: Empower
Empower is a free budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth. It offers a money-tracking dashboard, a net-worth tracker, and syncs to your bank and credit cards, providing a comprehensive view of your financial situation. The app also includes a Currency blog that offers financial planning tips, and security features such as data encryption, fraud protection, and strong user authentication.
Empower's Retirement Planner allows you to model different retirement scenarios, including Social Security and Roth conversion modeling. The Fee Analyzer helps identify investment fees, and the Investment Checkup assesses your portfolio's risk and allocation. While the app is free, investment management services come with a cost, which may be a consideration for those seeking a fully comprehensive financial management solution.
Best for Combining Retirement Planning and Banking: Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab's Investor Checking account is designed for those who want to manage their everyday banking and retirement accounts in one place. The platform is linked to a Schwab One brokerage account, allowing you to manage your cash and investments through the same platform. Schwab offers no monthly fee or account minimum, no foreign transaction fees, and reimburses ATM fees worldwide with no cap, making it a rare and attractive feature among brokerages.
On the retirement side, you gain access to Schwab's planning tools and IRA options without needing a separate banking relationship. You can also move cash between your checking and brokerage accounts in seconds, although transfer availability may vary outside regular business hours.
Best for Uncovering Money to Put Towards Retirement: Rocket Money
Rocket Money is a budgeting app that helps you easily view and cancel unwanted subscriptions, track your spending and credit score, automate savings, and lower bills. The basic plan is free, and Rocket Money Premium offers additional services like net-worth tracking, credit reports, and a subscription cancellation concierge service. The app's Bill Negotiation service can try to lower eligible bills, charging 35% to 60% of your first year's savings only if it successfully negotiates a reduction.
Rocket Money's Financial Goals feature can automatically move small amounts into an FDIC-insured account based on your cash flow, helping you redirect money towards an IRA or 401(k). While it won't manage your retirement portfolio, it can be a useful first step toward saving more.
