Free Retirement Calculator for the US
Most retirement calculators treat federal taxes accurately but ignore state taxes entirely, or apply a single national average. That’s a significant gap. A retiree in California pays 9.3% state income tax on retirement income above $66,295. A retiree in Florida, Nevada, or Texas pays zero. The difference on a $100,000 annual withdrawal is roughly $9,000 per year — about $270,000 over a 30-year retirement. Where you live matters as much as what you save.
Cinderfi’s US retirement calculator includes full federal and state tax engines for all 50 states. It models Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), and HSA account types with correct contribution limits, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), and the tax treatment of withdrawals from each. Enter your account balances, expected contributions, Social Security estimate, and target spending, and Cinderfi projects your retirement year by year.
Social Security modeling is central to US retirement planning, and Cinderfi handles the key trade-offs. Claiming at 62 reduces your benefit by up to 30% from your full retirement age amount. Delaying to 70 increases it by 8% per year past full retirement age. The SSA’s retirement benefits page has official guidance on eligibility and benefit calculation. The right answer depends on your health, other income sources, and whether you’re married — Cinderfi models all of this including spousal and survivor benefits.
What Makes Cinderfi Different
- All 50 state tax engines: Real state marginal rates including California’s bracket structure, New York City’s city tax, and the 9 states with no income tax — applied to the correct income types in each state.
- RMD calculations: The calculator automatically applies the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table starting at age 73 (SECURE 2.0), projects mandatory distributions forward, and shows the taxable income impact each year.
- Roth conversion modeling: Model annual Roth conversions during the years between retirement and RMD onset to reduce future mandatory distributions and manage IRMAA Medicare premium surcharges.
- Social Security optimization: Compare claiming ages from 62 to 70, including the break-even analysis and the impact on a spouse’s survivor benefit.
- HSA triple tax advantage: Model your HSA balance as a retirement asset. Contributions are pre-tax, growth is tax-free, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax-free. After 65, HSA withdrawals for any purpose are taxed like a Traditional IRA.
- 401(k) and IRA coordination: Model the interaction between pre-tax 401(k) balances, Roth accounts, and taxable investments to find the withdrawal sequence that minimizes lifetime taxes.
- Monte Carlo simulations: Run 1,000+ scenarios with randomized market returns to see the probability your plan survives under different conditions, not just the straight-line average.
- Estate projections: See the projected account balances at death and the tax treatment for heirs under current SECURE 2.0 rules.
Build Your Plan
Enter your income, savings, and state — Cinderfi projects your retirement year by year with real federal and state tax brackets. See exactly how your 401(k), IRA, and Social Security work together.