What's the best free online retirement calculator? And how do you plan for all possible outcomes?

By Alessandra Malito

Have a question about your own retirement savings? Email us at HelpMeRetire@marketwatch.com

Dear MarketWatch,

What's the best free retirement calculator I can download?

See: I'm 60 with $6,100-a-month in Social Security disability and a pension. I want my money to work for 20 years -- what do you recommend?

Dear Reader,

I don't have one best calculator in mind, but I do have some suggestions of calculators that will give you a good overview of what to expect when you finally hang up your boots.

Many of the free online retirement calculators available look similar, so pay attention to their features. Start with the basics: how much money have you already saved? How much do you contribute and how often? What are your financial goals and time horizon? What are your estimated interest and return rates? With all of that, the calculator will give you an idea of how much you should have saved for retirement.

MarketWatch offers its own retirement-planning calculator. (I would, of course, be remiss not to mention it.) This calculator offers many options. For example, you can include current and future assets, estimated retirement spending, life-expectancy assumptions and tax rates. You can even adjust for housing-inflation estimates, as well as transportation and medical expenses. Under the "future income" umbrella, you can add multiple income sources, including Social Security, a pension or annuity, or a one-time gain (like an inheritance or voluntary-redundancy payment).

There's so much more that goes into retirement planning than calculating the financial figures. MarketWatch also has a "Where to Retire" tool that asks questions about ideal circumstances in your neighborhood during the later years in life. Users can pick a state to live in, or keep it open-ended, and then choose factors they must have, or would like to have, such as temperatures, transportation, political leanings, culture and arts and media home prices. There is also a Where Should I Retire? column in which my colleagues answer readers' questions on where to live in retirement.

AARP incorporates lifestyle into its calculator. This includes marital status, or whether you're in a relationship but not married. The calculator also asks questions about how your spending may change after retirement.

Social Security also has free retirement calculators. You can set up an account on the Social Security Administration's website, which would allow you to see estimates for your benefits at various claiming ages (as well as check that your information is correct). SSA offers calculators for individual and spousal benefits, disability benefits, earning tests and life expectancy.

Bankrate's calculator includes expected income increases until retirement, the percentage of pre-retirement income you'll need, and how long you expect retirement to be. Like the MarketWatch calculator, you can also include whether you expect Social Security.

Remember: What you put into the calculator is just as important as the features. The wrong information can create confusion -- or despair. Check the calculators to see if they need you to include your pre- or after-tax contribution rates or income requirements. Be reasonable and realistic with your estimates.

Run a few scenarios -- don't be afraid to be both overly conservative and overly optimistic with your estimates. The truth may lie somewhere in between. If the default investment-return rate in one calculator is 6%, for example, calculate what your figures would look like with just 2%, and then again with 8%.

But as with all retirement planning, whether you're using an online calculator or a financial adviser, it is ultimately best to err on the side of caution.

Related: How much money do you need to retire? Better consider these 8 often-overlooked things.

Readers: Do you have suggestions for this reader? Add them in the comments below.

Have a question about your own retirement savings? Email us at HelpMeRetire@marketwatch.com

-Alessandra Malito

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11-21-23 1036ET

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