No black boxes. No advisor upsells. A transparent retirement planner that shows exactly how your money grows, when RMDs kick in, and whether your portfolio will last — down to the year.
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Multi-bucket retirement analysis with RMD tracking · Period: 03/2025
Most tools tell you a number. Four Buckets shows you the math behind it — and lets you change every assumption.
Tax-Deferred, Tax-Free (Roth), Taxable, and HSA — tracked separately because they grow, get taxed, and get withdrawn differently. Your net worth is not just one number.
Required Minimum Distributions calculated year by year from the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table — including the SECURE 2.0 change to age 75 for those born 1960+. No estimating.
1,000 randomized scenarios test your plan against market volatility. See the probability your money lasts, not just the optimistic straight-line forecast.
Compare claiming at 62 vs. 67 vs. 70. See the crossover age and lifetime total for each option. The right answer depends on your specific situation.
Your mortgage is part of your retirement plan. Track payoff age, interest cost, and how your payment affects the portfolio draw year by year.
Pre-retirement return, in-retirement return, spending goal, SS claiming age — all configurable. No black-box assumptions you can't see or change.
Most planners stretch one spending number across 30 years. In reality, retirement moves through three phases — and Four Buckets models each one.
The active early years: travel, hobbies, helping the kids, the things you retired for. Discretionary spending is at its highest — and your plan should expect it, not pretend you'll live lean from day one.
The pace eases. Less long-haul travel, more time close to home. Spending typically settles 20–30% below the Go-Go years — which can meaningfully extend how long your portfolio lasts.
Activity slows further, but healthcare and potential long-term-care costs can rise. Four Buckets lets you taper discretionary spending while flagging a separate medical bump for these years.
Set a separate annual spending level for each phase — and watch how the curve, not a single flat number, changes whether your money lasts. Every phase boundary and amount is yours to edit.
| Four Buckets | Empower | Boldin | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four-bucket tracking | ✓ | Partial | ✓ | — |
| RMDs calculated from IRS table | ✓ | — | ✓ | — |
| SECURE 2.0 (age 75 for 1960+) | ✓ | — | Partial | — |
| Go-Go / Slow-Go / No-Go spending phases | ✓ | — | Partial | — |
| Monte Carlo simulation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| All assumptions visible & editable | ✓ | — | Partial | ✓ |
| No data selling / advisor upsells | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly cost | ~$7 | Free* | $10–17 | Free |
*Empower is free but monetizes your data and pushes advisor relationships.
"I built Four Buckets because every retirement tool I tried either hid its math, sold my data, or pushed me toward an advisor. I wanted to see exactly how RMDs, Social Security timing, and bucket sequencing actually played out — year by year, with every assumption editable. So I built it for myself first. The waitlist is open if you want it too."
Early access members get 1 month free and influence the roadmap.
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