Most retirement calculators hand you one optimistic number. Retirement Scenario Lab runs your scenario through thousands of simulated futures, strong markets, weak markets, a crash in year one, so you can see the whole range, and which choices actually move it. Free, in your browser, no account, nothing to install.
See a sample retiree's odds →No account · your financial figures never leave your device.
It shows you the math. It never sells you a product or tells you what to do, that part stays yours.
You've saved for decades, and still the question sits there. What if you live to 95? What if the market drops 40% the year after you stop working? A single “you're on track” number can't answer that, because retirement doesn't happen on average. It happens once, in one particular sequence of years. That's exactly what this lab lets you test, before you're living it.
I built Retirement Scenario Lab because the retirement question deserves a better answer than one hopeful number.
No one can predict markets, and no one knows how long they'll live, but you can understand how the pieces move together, and that understanding changes everything.
This is a safe place to explore: retire a year earlier, spend a little less, let a crash land at the worst possible moment, and watch the whole range of outcomes respond. Every formula is disclosed, and the math re-checks itself on every load.
Julie Clarkson, founder · Jacobus Company, LLC
Change one thing at a time, spending, retirement age, a crash's timing, inflation, taxes, and watch the full range of outcomes respond, with every figure explained in plain language.
Thousands of simulated futures from a market model you control, plus optional replays of real historical crashes — a probability the money lasts and a sampling margin, not a rosy single number.
Slide a real historical crash to any year of retirement and see why when it lands matters, sequence-of-returns risk made clear, so you can plan for it.
Income-mix ring, success gauge, the money over time, estate range and composition, the trade-offs made obvious.
Pre-tax / Roth / taxable buckets, tax-smart withdrawals, RMDs, and Social Security taxation, the real mechanics.
Two lifespans, the survivor transition, and a long-term-care "what if", the real-life factors a single number skips.
Share a scenario as a file, export outcomes to CSV, or print a polished PDF report — all part of Pro.
Often one number, and many hand your contact info to a sales team. This runs on your device, sells nothing, and shows the whole distribution.
Spreadsheets average the market. They can't show why a crash in year 1 is a different retirement than the same crash in year 15. The crisis-timing slider can.
Many want your accounts linked. Here the full lab is free, Pro is a one-time $14.99 for a year, and the figures you type never leave your device.
The same downturn lands very differently early in retirement versus later. Slide a real crash (the Depression, the 1970s, 2008, COVID) across your timeline and watch the ending estate respond, so you can see for yourself how much the timing of a crash matters. Every number is clickable for what it means and which input changes it.
Each figure traces to a plain-language explanation on the Method page, and a live self-check suite (currently 30 checks) runs in your browser on every load. Historical stock and inflation figures are drawn from public records and spot-checked; bond totals are a close approximation. No black box, no "trust us." This tool is independent and not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any index provider.
Whether retirement is decades away or right around the corner, it's a place to pressure-test the scenario before you commit.
See how saving, retiring a bit later, and market ups-and-downs shape whether the money will last.
Stress-test the number, test Social Security timing and flexible spending, and pressure-check bad-market timing.
Have clients explore scenarios before the meeting, so they arrive informed and ask the right questions.
Age, savings, spending, Social Security, and a plan-to age, round, hypothetical numbers are perfect. No personal details.
Add taxes, care costs, a couple, flexible spending, and a real crash at any point, watch the odds move live.
The probability the money lasts, the year-by-year path, the estate range, and what drives each number.
Finish knowing which choices move the outcome and the right questions to bring to a professional. It's a learning tool, not advice, so the decisions stay yours.
The full simulator, Monte Carlo, crash testing, every chart, is free forever. Pro is for when one scenario isn't enough and you want to line your what-ifs up side by side.
One-time $14.99 for a full year of Pro, it does not auto-renew. One license covers up to 5 device activations. No refunds.
The financial figures you enter never leave your device — they're computed in your browser. The only things ever sent are a Pro license key to verify a purchase, and your email if you opt in — never your scenario figures. Because it's an open page rather than a locked vault, work in round numbers and skip names and account IDs; ballpark figures are all the math needs anyway.
Just open it and explore. You only provide an email if you choose to get updates or subscribe to Pro.
The numbers you type stay in your own browser on your device, we never receive or store them. To keep one, export it; clearing your browser erases it.
It runs in your browser, so you can open View Source and see exactly what it does.
It runs in your browser, so everyone is automatically on the newest release, nothing to download or update.
No. It's an educational illustration tool that runs math on the assumptions you provide, and it never recommends a specific product or strategy. Use it to understand trade-offs, then consult a licensed fiduciary and a CPA before acting.
Your financial figures never leave your device — they're computed in your browser and live in its local storage. The only things ever sent are a Pro license key to verify a purchase and your email if you opt in — never your scenario figures. Export a scenario to keep it, or clear your browser data to erase it. Because it's an open page rather than a locked vault, work in round numbers and skip names and account IDs; ballpark figures are all the math needs anyway.
The math is standard and transparent, and the market history is the 1928–2023 record (stocks and inflation verified against the public record; bond totals closely approximated); accuracy depends on the assumptions, which are dated and adjustable. It maps a range of plausible futures, it's not a prediction.
No. It's a web page: open the link and you're in. It works in any modern browser on any operating system, with no account.
Unlimited saved scenarios so you can compare many what-ifs side by side, plus unlimited sharing, print report (PDF), export outcomes (CSV), import a scenario, and backup and restore, with every update during your license year. Pro is a one-time $14.99 for a full year and does not auto-renew. One license covers up to 5 device activations, and is non-refundable.
Three ways: it models the mechanics most free calculators skip (account-type taxes, RMDs, Social Security taxation, couples and the survivor transition, long-term care); it shows the full range of outcomes instead of one number; and it's private, no account, no lead-gen, your figures never leave your browser.
Retirement Scenario Lab is built by Julie Clarkson under Jacobus Company, LLC (North Carolina, USA). Questions: scenario-labs@julieclarkson.com.
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Run the what-ifs tonight, free, no account, and walk into your next conversation (with your spouse, or a fiduciary) already knowing which levers matter.