NewRetirement Review – A Smart Retirement Calculator
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Still new to the working world? You might think that it’s too early to consider retirement planning. Or maybe you’re so close to your after-work years that you think it’s too late to make any financial changes to boost your savings and retirement income.
You’d be wrong. It’s never too early or too late to set financial goals for your retirement years. And if you’re uncertain if you’ll have enough retirement savings to fully enjoy those years? You might consider giving NewRetirement a try.
This online financial planning tool can help you plan for retirement no matter how many years you’ve been working or what your planned retirement age is. Is NewRetirement the right retirement planning tool for you? Read our review to find out.
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What is NewRetirement?
On its Website, NewRetirement states that it is more than just a retirement calculator. That’s important: You can find plenty of retirement calculators on the Web that will estimate whether you are saving enough money for your retirement goals. NewRetirement does offer that service. But it also offers more.
NewRetirement is more like a complete financial planner that will calculate how much money you should be saving for retirement, help you with estate planning, run a financial wellness check on you and even connect you with a financial advisor if you want more money advice.
With NewRetirement, you can enter information about your income, expected Social Security payments, any money you might receive from annuities, the age at which you want to retire, where you live and what kind of lifestyle you'd like to live once you leave the workforce.
NewRetirement will then calculate how much you should be saving each year, how close you are to reaching your goals, the percentage chance that your financial plan will succeed and whether you'll have enough money to cover your expenses during your retirement years.
NewRetirement sets itself apart by including a wider range of variables when calculating your retirement savings plan. Yes, it includes your retirement income, such as Social Security payments, annuity payments and any dollars you receive from pensions.
But NewRetirement also considers factors such as the state and federal taxes you'll pay; any future real estate purchases you'll make; debt such as student loans, mortgages and credit card balances; the goals you want to meet; and healthcare costs, including whether you plan on paying for insurance protection in addition to Medicare.
NewRetirement also offers online classes that you can take to learn more about wealth management and retirement savings. You can also talk to a financial coach or tap the expertise of a financial advisor if you need more advice.
You can even join NewRetirement’s Facebook and Reddit groups to chat with others planning their retirements or listen to the company’s podcast that covers a variety of retirement and personal finance topics.
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With access to over 20 top-rated annuity companies, our advisors will help you find the best rates and terms on annuities that provide guaranteed income, security, and peace of mind.
How does NewRetirement work?
Once you sign up and create a user profile for NewRetirement – which you can do by clicking on the “Get Started Free” button on the top of the site’s home page – you can begin using the company’s retirement calculator to determine how much of your income you should be saving each month for a stress-free retirement.
Here’s an example of how this calculator looks:
According to NewRetirement, you can refine your financial planning as much as you’d like. As you can see on the sample image above, NewRetirement allows you to enter more than 250 factors that could impact your retirement planning.
As you add more information to your financial plan, NewRetirement will analyze your data and make suggestions for how you can save more or generate more income before retirement.
Here’s an example from NewRetirement’s website:
As you can see, NewRetirement might suggest conversions, such as converting a standard IRA to a Roth IRA, to reduce your yearly tax burden. It might also suggest a way to pay off your mortgage loan early.
You can use NewRetirement, too, to calculate how certain personal and financial decisions might impact your retirement goals.
As you can see in the screenshot above, NewRetirement can analyze how much more or less money you might spend or save by moving to a new location. It can do with a host of personal and financial decisions.
You can track your financial goals with NewRetirement, too, with the service analyzing your economic situation to determine how close you are to meeting your retirement savings target.
As the screenshot above shows, NewRetirement will track how much money you’ve saved in your brokerage and 401(k) accounts. It will also track how much you still owe on debt such as your mortgage or auto loans. It will even send you reminders such as the one above about tax time.
How much does NewRetirement cost?
You can choose from three different plans with NewRetirement.
There is a free version that allows you to build a personalized retirement savings plan and try various "what if" scenarios.
NewRetirement's PlannerPlus option costs $120 a year. This plan gives you everything included in the Basic plan -- the company's free option -- plus more factors that you can enter into your retirement calculator, a Roth conversion explorer, state and federal tax projections and more than 36 detailed retirement charts.
You can also access mathematical predictions of your total retirement savings based on the money you are now socking away, attend live online classes and tackle budget and income planning with the PlannerPlus model.
You can select the NewRetirement Advisors plan that allows you to collaborate with a Certified Financial Planner to help craft your retirement strategy. The cost of this plan varies, but NewRetirement says that it averages $1,650 a year.
Features of NewRetirement
An advanced retirement planning calculator
A robust retirement calculator is the top feature of NewRetirement. If you choose NewRetiremnet’s PlannerPlus model, you can add more than 250 inputs to the calculator to help determine whether you are saving enough for retirement or if you need to boost the dollars that you are stashing. These inputs include your income, debts and existing savings. But you can also enter the value of your home and other assets, the taxes in the region in which you live, your retirement goals and many others.
A Monte Carlo simulation
With the PlannerPlus model, you can run a Monte Carlo simulation, a mathematical formula that predicts the probability of different outcomes. With NewRetirement's Monte Carlo simulation you can enter different variables -- including how much you save and how your monthly income might change -- to determine the odds that you'll reach your retirement goals. It's an important tool in helping you understand how your financial decisions can directly impact how much money you'll have in retirement.
Classes
NewRetirement offers a series of pre-recorded or live online classes that focus on tax planning, portfolio and asset allocation strategies, Roth conversions, Social Security fundamentals, Medicare and healthcare issues and other topics.
Coaching
If you need extra advice, you can sign up for a coaching session. With these online sessions, you can speak with a live financial coach who can answer any questions you have about retirement planning, tax strategies, wealth management and other topics. These sessions are not free, though. You'll pay $250 for each session.
Podcast
A PlannerPlus subscription gives you access to NewRetirement's podcast. This podcast focuses on issues that can directly impact your retirement. Recent podcasts have focused on alternative investments, the role that insurance plays in financial planning and how important it is to educate the younger generation of Americans on personal finance issues.
Secure Retirement with Guaranteed Income for Life
With access to over 20 top-rated annuity companies, our advisors will help you find the best rates and terms on annuities that provide guaranteed income, security, and peace of mind.
Who should subscribe to NewRetirement?
New workers and those who have been in the workforce for decades
Most Americans have not saved enough for their retirement. It’s important, then, to start working on your retirement plan early. Even if you are just starting your career, you can benefit from NewRetirement’s planning advice. With the site’s calculator, you can determine how much you should be saving from each paycheck for retirement. NewRetirement is an important tool, too, even if you have been working for decades. It’s never too late to tweak your retirement savings. NewRetirement can help you determine if you need to be saving more money as you get closer to your retirement.
Those willing to spend
NewRetirement’s free Basic plan does provide valuable information and tools. But you’ll unlock the site’s most powerful features by upgrading your subscription to the PlannerPlus version. This does cost $120 a year but provides a deeper analysis of your retirement savings and how likely you are to reach your savings goals.
Those who aren’t afraid to do a little work
NewRetirement’s retirement calculator becomes more powerful the more information you provide it. Sure, you can simply input your debts, income and the amount of money you put into your 401(k). But if you also add information about your real estate and other assets, your plans to donate money to charity, the likelihood that your income will rise over the years and the amount of taxes that you pay each year? NewRetirement can provide you with a more detailed picture of how much money you might have at retirement.
Who should not sign up for NewRetirement?
Those on a very limited budget
NewRetirement’s PlannerPlus model offers the most bang for your dollars. Unfortunately, this plan isn’t free, costing $120 a year. If you’re not able or willing to spend that much, you might stick with the company’s free Basic plan or explore other lower-cost retirement calculators.
Those not willing to put in the effort
NewRetirement works best if you routinely tweak the numbers that you enter into the retirement calculator. If you get a raise, you should change your income. If you receive an unexpected bonus at work, you should factor that into your retirement planning strategy. If you aren’t willing to continually work with NewRetirement, you should not spend money on a plan.
Those who don’t have the time for classes
NewRetirement’s online classes are a key perk of signing up for a PlannerPlus plan. If you don’t have the time to sit through these classes? You might consider signing up with a different retirement calculator.
Pros and cons
Pros
- You can enter more than 250 factors to help determine how much money you should save for retirement.
- NewRetirement runs simulations to determine how likely you are to reach your retirement goals.
- NewRetirement offers additional perks such as online classes, coaching sessions and access to financial advisors.
- You can opt for a free version of NewRetirement’s calculator if you want to try the service at no cost.
Cons
- NewRetirement’s most popular and cost-effective plan, PlannerPlus, costs $120 a year.
- If you want access to NewRetirement’s roster of financial advisors, you’ll typically spend more than $1,500 a month.
- Online coaching sessions aren’t free, either, costing $250.
Secure Retirement with Guaranteed Income for Life
With access to over 20 top-rated annuity companies, our advisors will help you find the best rates and terms on annuities that provide guaranteed income, security, and peace of mind.
NewRetirement vs. the competitors
How does NewRetirement stack up against competing retirement-planning sites? Here’s a look:
Site | Cost | Features | Good for |
NewRetirement | $120 a year for PlannerPlus | Retirement calculator with more than 250 inputs; podcast; online courses; virtual coaching; retirement projections; tax tracker; budgeting tools. | Both those beginning their careers and those who have been in the workforce for years |
Empower | Most features are free, but you’ll pay 0.89% of your funds for investment management services. | Add accounts from more than 16,000 financial institutions; retirement projections; tax tracker. | Those who want a more holistic approach to financial planning |
MoneyLion | Fees vary. A savings account with MoneyLion charges a $1 monthly administrative fee; managed investment account fees run from $1 to $5 a month; membership in Credit Builder Plus program is $19.99 a month. | Investment management; high-yield savings accounts; cash advances; credit-builder loans. | Those who need to build credit to help ensure a brighter retirement. |
Credit Karma | Free, but plenty of advertising | Free credit scores and credit reports; you can use the site to search for loans and credit cards; identity theft monitoring; net worth tracker | Those interested in boosting their credit scores. |
Empower
The Empower app offers its own budgeting and retirement calculators, letting you enter key financial information to determine if you are on track to meet your retirement and other savings goals. Empower is a general personal finance tool. Unlike NewRetirement, its focus is on lifelong savings and wealth building, not just planning for retirement.
You can link your personal financial information from more than 16,000 financial institutions. This way, Empower can track your credit card balances, how much you’ve saved and the performance of your investments and retirement accounts.
Most of the app’s budgeting and financial planning features are free. However, if you sign up for Empower’s investment management service, in which Empower guides your investment strategy, you’ll pay 0.89% of the funds you’ve invested in accounts that Empower is managing.
MoneyLion
MoneyLion is a different type of financial app. Its main benefit is for consumers who need quick access to cash or to build their credit, though the app also offers investment management services.
You can get $500 in instant cash advances against your paycheck; investment-management services; credit-builder loans, in which you borrow and pay back a small amount of money to improve your credit score; personal loans of up to $100,000; and high-interest savings accounts with APYs as high as 5.25%.
The pricing for these services varies. If you take out a managed investment account, you'll pay $1 a month if your balance is up to $5,000, $3 if your balance is $5,000 to $25,000 and $5 monthly if it is more than $25,000.
Instant cash advances are free unless you want the money deposited in your account in minutes instead of days. Then you'll pay from 49 cents to $8.99 per cash advance depending on the dollar amount and whether you are depositing the money into a MoneyLion account or external checking or savings account. Membership in MoneyLion's Credit Builder Plus program is $19.99 a month.
Credit Karma
Credit Karma focuses mainly on credit scores. If you sign up for the service, you can get your three-digit credit scores and two credit reports for free. Do expect several ads, though. Credit Karma will frequently advertise credit cards, loan products and other financial services to you. The company makes its money when you click on these ads.
You can also use Credit Karma to search for loan products and credit cards. Its Net Worth feature lets you track your savings and wealth management. You can even sign up for online checking and savings accounts offered by Credit Karma.
If you want to build your credit, you can sign up for Credit Karma’s Credit Builder service. As with other credit builder programs, you’ll take out a small loan that you pay back with regular payments. Credit Karma reports these payments to the three national credit bureaus, which helps you build your credit score.
FAQs
Is NewRetirement free?
That depends on the plan for which you sign up. You can subscribe to NewRetirement’s Basic plan for free. But if you want more features, you’ll need to spend $120 a month for the company’s PlannerPlus option.
Who is NewRetirement best for?
The app and website offer features that benefit both those just starting to save for retirement and those nearing the end of their working years.
Does NewRetirement offer features in addition to a retirement savings calculator?
Yes. The site offers a Monte Carlo simulation that allows you to calculate your odds of successfully reaching your retirement goals; a tax tracker that charts the impact of your retirement savings; a podcast; online classes; online coaching; and access to financial advisors.
The bottom line
It’s never too early, or too late, to start building your retirement nest egg. The NewRetirement app and web site can help. You can track your retirement savings, calculate how much you need to save to meet your retirement goals and run simulations showing how much retirement money you have depending on how much you save. This app is a worthwhile one for both new and veteran members of the working world.
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Writer
Dan Rafter is a freelance writer who has more than 20 years experience covering personal finance. He's written for the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Bankrate, CreditCards.com, Rocket Mortgage, NortonLifeLock and several others.
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