Why RetiSquare exists
The retirement calculator that shows its work
Run the same plan through three retirement calculators and you'll get three different answers. None of them will tell you why. RetiSquare does.
Why we built this
Retirement calculators don't agree with each other. Run the same household through two popular tools and you can get two different answers, with no way to tell which one's right — that's not a knock on either tool, it's what happens when the math stays hidden. Independent reviewers who've compared them side by side reach the same conclusion: run more than one before acting on any single result.
We think that's a bad place to leave someone making one of the biggest financial decisions of their life. So RetiSquare does the opposite of what every other tool in the category does — it shows the formula behind every number, states plainly where it's simplifying, and tells you when a question is bigger than a formula should answer alone.
What "shows its work" actually means
Every number traces back to a formula you can see
RMD tables, IRMAA brackets, how Social Security gets taxed — inspect it, don't just trust it. See exactly how, on the Methodology page.
It tells you what it doesn't know yet
State tax outside our curated list, your exact cost basis, the timing of a Roth conversion — where the model simplifies, it says so, in plain language, right next to the number it affects.
It's built for the claiming decision, not just a balance projection
Claim at 62 or 70? Married or single? RetiSquare runs the real Social Security math against real survival-probability tables, not one fixed "money runs out at age X."
It knows when to send you to a human
The "worth a conversation with a financial planner" note isn't a disclaimer buried in a footer. Some decisions are still worth a licensed professional's judgment, and RetiSquare says so at the point it matters.
How much of this we actually cover
We scored ourselves, honestly, against the fears that show up everywhere in retirement content — running out of money, tax surprises, Medicare shocks, market risk. Here's where RetiSquare is strong, where it's deliberately out of scope, and where it hands you to a professional instead of guessing. Hover any point for why.
What RetiSquare actually gives you
RetiSquare gives you a fast, private, full picture of your Social Security claiming decision and your long-term plan — income, taxes, Medicare exposure, and how long your money is likely to last.
It's honest about its edges, too. A handful of things — real cost basis, state-specific credits, Roth conversion timing, couple-level claiming mechanics — are still worth a licensed professional's judgment, and RetiSquare tells you when you've reached that point.
The result is a tool rigorous enough to replace running your numbers through two or three competing calculators, and honest enough to tell you when a formula alone shouldn't be the last word.