# RetireFlexi — Full Documentation Source: https://retireflexi.com/ Last updated: 2026-06-10 Format: Plain text for LLM consumption --- ## What RetireFlexi does RetireFlexi is a free, browser-based retirement planning calculator. It is designed for people with complex retirement situations — especially expats and international savers who hold accounts, pensions, or income in more than one country. All computation runs entirely in the user's browser. No financial data is ever sent to or stored on a server. The tool produces: - Year-by-year projection tables from retirement age to horizon age - A dashboard with RAG-status health indicators (portfolio longevity, withdrawal rate, Monte Carlo success probability, care cost coverage) - 5,000-scenario Monte Carlo simulation showing the probability that the plan survives every market scenario - Side-by-side scenario comparison (two complete plans simultaneously) - Tax estimates for 49 countries applied to retirement income --- ## Privacy model Financial data lives only in the user's browser. When a user saves a plan, RetireFlexi emails them a JSON attachment to their own inbox. The server handles the email delivery but never reads, stores, or has access to the plan contents. There is no user database, no login, and nothing to breach. --- ## Who RetireFlexi is for - Expats with retirement savings split across two or more countries - US citizens abroad with 401(k)/IRA and a foreign state pension - UK expats with a SIPP and US Social Security entitlement - Australian expats with superannuation and foreign pensions - Anyone comparing retiring at home versus retiring to another country - People with rental property portfolios, defined benefit pensions, or income in multiple currencies - Anyone who wants genuine stress-testing rather than a single best-guess projection --- ## Input sections ### 1. Setup Core parameters for the plan. - **Name**: Plan label (not stored anywhere, for display only) - **Current age**: Your age today - **Retirement age**: The age at which you stop working and start drawing from the portfolio - **Horizon age**: The age to which the plan is projected (typically 90–100) - **Drawdown currency**: The currency in which all outputs are displayed; live exchange rates convert all other currencies automatically - **Tax country**: The country whose income tax system is used to estimate tax on retirement income - **Inflation rate** (%): Used to convert between Today's Money and Future Money; typically 2–3% - **Income mode**: Whether to target a fixed annual income amount or a percentage of the portfolio - **Target annual income**: The gross annual retirement income the plan aims to deliver - **Max / min drawdown rate** (%): Guardrails on the percentage of the portfolio drawn each year - **Min annual spend**: A floor below which the plan never reduces spending, regardless of guardrails - **Go-go / slow-go / quiet years**: Ages defining the three spending phases of retirement (active travel phase, winding down, and quiet later years) - **Care costs**: Toggle, trigger age, annual cost, duration, and growth rate for late-life care planning ### 2. Retirement Accounts (retirementSpecific) Tax-advantaged accounts designed specifically for retirement. Typical examples: US 401(k), US Traditional IRA, UK SIPP, Canada RRSP, Singapore CPF OA/SA, India NPS. Fields per account: - **Country**: The country the account is held in - **Currency**: Account currency (converted to drawdown currency automatically) - **Product type**: Account type label (401(k), IRA, SIPP, RRSP, CPF, etc.) - **Nickname**: Free-text label for display - **Current value**: Balance today. Negative values are supported (see Other Investments for the mortgage liability use case) - **Annual contributions**: Amount added per year until retirement age - **Expected growth %**: Annual nominal return assumed for this account - **Risk profile**: Conservative / Balanced / Growth / Aggressive — used in Monte Carlo volatility modelling - **Minimum draw age**: The earliest age at which funds can be withdrawn without penalty (e.g. 59.5 for US IRA/401(k), 55–57 for UK SIPP). The calculator skips this account in drawdown until this age is reached - **Tax regime**: - EET — funded pre-tax, grows tax-free, withdrawals taxed (401(k), SIPP, RRSP) - TEE — funded post-tax, grows and withdraws tax-free (Roth IRA, ISA) - EEE — entirely exempt at all stages (India PPF, some ISA configurations) - Other — standard taxable account ### 3. Occupational / Employer Accounts (occupational) Workplace savings schemes, particularly where employer contributions are the primary funding mechanism. Typical examples: Australia Superannuation, Hong Kong MPF, employer-matched 401(k) treated separately. Fields are identical to Retirement Accounts above. ### 4. Other Investments (otherInvestments) General investment and savings accounts outside tax-advantaged wrappers. Also used to model financial liabilities. Typical examples: US brokerage account, UK ISA (TEE), Canada TFSA (TEE), India EPF/PPF (EEE), standard taxable investment accounts. **Negative current value**: A negative value represents a liability — for example, an outstanding mortgage balance on a rental property. The calculator includes the negative balance in the net portfolio total (correctly reducing net worth) but never attempts to draw from a negative-balance account. The balance stays fixed unless a non-zero growth rate is set (which would model accruing interest on the debt). ### 5. State Pensions (statePensions) State-provided pensions that begin at a government-set age. Add one entry per country where the user has built up entitlement. Partial entitlements are supported — if a user has 30 of 35 qualifying years, enter 30/35 of the full annual amount. Fields: - **Country**: Determines standard pension age and default annual amount - **Annual amount**: The pension expected per year - **Amount basis**: Today's Money (inflated to nominal at draw age) or Future Money (nominal amount as-is) - **Draw age**: The age at which the pension starts — can be deferred for a higher amount - **Annual escalation %**: How the pension grows once in payment (UK triple lock ≈ 3%; US Social Security uses CPI COLA) - **Taxable**: Whether the pension is taxable in the chosen tax country To model US Social Security alongside UK State Pension, add two separate entries — one for each country — with the appropriate draw ages and amounts. ### 6. Defined Benefit Pensions and Annuities (dbPensions) Final salary, career average, and guaranteed pension schemes that pay a fixed income for life, plus annuity contracts. These are modelled as guaranteed income streams that do not depend on market performance. Fields: - **Country and currency**: For conversion to drawdown currency - **Type**: DB Scheme (final salary / career average) or Annuity - **Normal retirement age (NRA)**: The age at which the full pension is payable - **Draw age**: The age at which the user plans to start drawing — can be earlier than NRA - **Early retirement factor (ERF) %**: The annual reduction applied per year drawn before NRA (e.g. 4% ERF means drawing 3 years early reduces the pension by 12%) - **Pension at NRA**: The annual pension payable at normal retirement age (Today's Money or Future Money) - **Annual escalation %**: How the pension grows once in payment - **Commutation lump sum**: Many DB schemes allow trading some annual pension for a tax-free lump sum at retirement. Enter the lump sum here; it is added to the investment portfolio at draw age. The pension amount entered should already reflect the reduced post-commutation figure. - **Taxable**: Whether income is taxable in the chosen tax country ### 7. Passive Income (passiveIncome) Regular income that does not come from the investment portfolio — rental income, employment or consulting income continuing into retirement, dividends paid outside investment accounts. Fields: - **Country and currency** - **Nickname**: Label (e.g. "123 Oak St rental", "Consulting") - **Annual amount**: Income per year - **Amount basis**: Today's Money or Future Money - **Growth rate %**: How the income grows annually - **Start age / end age**: The age range during which income is received. Leave end age blank for income running to horizon age - **Lump sum on end**: If the income stream ends with a capital event (e.g. selling a rental property), enter the expected net proceeds here. They are added to the investment portfolio in the year the income ends - **Taxable**: Yes / Partial / No **Modelling rental properties fully**: Three entries give a complete picture: (1) a Passive Income row for annual rental income; (2) an Other Investments row with a negative Current Value for the outstanding mortgage balance; (3) a Lump Sum on End in the passive income row, or a separate Lump Sum entry, for expected net sale proceeds. ### 8. Lump Sums (lumpSums) One-off capital events at a specific age — inheritances, property sales, business exits, maturing bonds. Fields: - **Description**: Label - **Currency** - **Amount**: The lump sum value. **Negative amounts are fully supported** and represent planned outgoings — college fees, gifted house deposits, large planned purchases. A negative lump sum deducts from the investment portfolio at the specified age. - **Age at receipt**: The age at which the event occurs. If this falls before retirement age, the lump sum is grown at the lump sum's own growth rate until retirement and then added to the portfolio at retirement. - **Amount basis**: Today's Money (grown from now to receipt at growth rate) or Future Money (fixed nominal amount) - **Growth rate %**: Only applies to Today's Money basis. Reflects appreciation (for a positive lump sum) or rising cost (for a negative lump sum). A negative amount of −$200,000 at 3% growth becomes approximately −$239,000 ten years later. ### 9. Drawdown Strategy (drawdownStrategy) Controls the order in which investment accounts are drawn down in retirement. - **Recommended mode**: Draws TEE (tax-free) accounts first, then Other/taxable accounts, then EET (tax-deferred). This is tax-efficient for most situations. - **Custom mode**: User sets a priority number for each account. Lower number = drawn first. Accounts with the same priority number are drawn proportionally. Accounts with a Minimum Draw Age are always skipped until that age is reached, regardless of strategy mode. --- ## Calculation methodology ### Growth to retirement Each investment account balance is grown from today to retirement age using compound growth: FV = currentValue × (1 + g)^years + contributions × ((1 + g)^years − 1) / g Where g = growthRate / 100 and years = retirementAge − currentAge. If g = 0, contributions are multiplied by years directly. ### Annual projection loop From retirement age to horizon age, each year: 1. Lump sums falling in this year are injected into the first account with a positive balance (or a spillover bucket if all accounts are empty) 2. Passive income, state pensions, and DB pension income are summed 3. The income shortfall (target minus guaranteed income) is drawn from investment accounts in drawdown priority order, subject to min/max guardrail rates and minimum spend floors 4. Accounts with a minimum draw age are skipped if the current age is below that threshold 5. Accounts with zero or negative balance are skipped (a negative balance account is never drawn from) 6. Tax is estimated on taxable income using the selected country's tax system 7. Remaining account balances grow at each account's own growth rate (growth is only applied to positive balances) 8. The year's data (income, drawdown, tax, net income, ending portfolio balance) is recorded ### Monte Carlo simulation 5,000 iterations are run. In each iteration, annual returns are randomised around each account's growth rate with a volatility (standard deviation) determined by its risk profile: - Conservative: σ ≈ 5% - Balanced: σ ≈ 10% - Growth: σ ≈ 15% - Aggressive: σ ≈ 20% A plan is considered to "succeed" in an iteration if the portfolio never reaches zero before the horizon age and the full income target is always met. The success probability is the percentage of the 5,000 iterations in which the plan succeeds. ### Today's Money vs Future Money All outputs can be shown in either mode: - **Future Money**: nominal amounts as they will actually be received or spent - **Today's Money**: amounts deflated back to today's purchasing power using the inflation rate, so users can understand what future sums feel like in current terms --- ## Special modelling patterns ### Dual state pensions (e.g. US Social Security + UK State Pension) Add two entries in the State Pensions section — one for each country. Set the draw age independently for each. RetireFlexi converts both to the reporting currency using live rates and adds them together in the income stream. ### Rental property portfolio Three entries capture a rental property completely: 1. **Passive Income** — annual rental income, with growth rate and end age 2. **Other Investments** (negative current value) — outstanding mortgage balance. Negative balances are included in net worth but never drawn from. Set growth rate to 0 for a fixed balance or to the mortgage interest rate if the debt is accruing 3. **Lump Sum on End** (in the Passive Income row) or a separate **Lump Sum** — net sale proceeds at the expected sale age ### Planned outgoings (children's education, house deposits, gifts) Enter a negative lump sum at the relevant age. The calculator subtracts it from the portfolio in that year. Use Today's Money basis with a growth rate to model a cost that will rise over time. ### Pre-retirement lump sums A lump sum with Age at Receipt before Retirement Age is rolled forward: it grows at its own growth rate from today until retirement and is added to the portfolio at retirement, not at the original receipt age. ### Defined Benefit commutation Enter the commutation lump sum in the DB pension entry. It is added to the investment portfolio at draw age. The annual pension figure should already reflect the reduced post-commutation amount. --- ## Supported countries (49) Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and others. State pension age, standard annual amount, and basic income tax rules are modelled for each country. Accounts and income can be held in any supported currency with live exchange rates. --- ## Dashboard health indicators - **Portfolio longevity**: The age at which the portfolio is projected to be exhausted. Green if it reaches horizon age, amber if within 5 years of horizon, red if shorter. - **Withdrawal rate**: Year 1 drawdown as a percentage of the portfolio. The 4% rule is a common benchmark; rates above 5–6% are considered elevated. - **Monte Carlo success**: The percentage of 5,000 market scenarios in which the portfolio survives to horizon age. Above 85% is considered robust; below 70% warrants plan adjustments. - **Care cost coverage**: Whether projected income in later years can cover the modelled care costs without exhausting the portfolio. --- ## Account type quick reference | Account | Section | Tax regime | |---|---|---| | US 401(k) | Retirement Accounts | EET | | US Traditional IRA | Retirement Accounts | EET | | US Roth IRA | Other Investments | TEE | | UK SIPP | Retirement Accounts | EET | | UK ISA | Other Investments | TEE | | Canada RRSP | Retirement Accounts | EET | | Canada TFSA | Other Investments | TEE | | Australia Superannuation | Occupational | EET | | Singapore CPF OA/SA | Retirement Accounts | EET | | Hong Kong MPF | Occupational | EET | | India NPS | Retirement Accounts | EET | | India PPF/EPF | Other Investments | EEE | | US brokerage (taxable) | Other Investments | Other | | UK GIA (taxable) | Other Investments | Other | | Rental mortgage balance | Other Investments | Other (negative value) | --- ## Frequently asked questions **Who is this calculator designed for?** Expats, international savers, and anyone with pensions or accounts in more than one country. If you have ever tried to get retirement advice covering two countries at once, you will know the problem — advisers are typically licensed in one jurisdiction only. RetireFlexi puts it all in one place: a US 401(k) and UK State Pension, Australian superannuation alongside a SIPP, Canadian RRSP and Social Security from years working on both sides of the border, or any other combination. **I have pensions in two countries. Can I model both together?** Yes, that is exactly what RetireFlexi is built for. Add each state pension separately, select the country, and set the age you expect to start drawing each one. US Social Security and UK State Pension side by side, Canada CPP and US Social Security, UK State Pension and Australian Age Pension — whatever the combination. RetireFlexi converts everything to the reporting currency using live rates and shows total retirement income as a single number. **How private is my financial data?** Completely private, by design. The calculator never sends financial data to any server. Balances, pension values, income figures, and projections exist only in the browser. When a plan is saved, it is delivered as an email attachment to the user's own inbox. RetireFlexi handles the sending but never reads, stores, or has access to the contents. **What is Monte Carlo simulation and how does it stress-test a retirement plan?** Instead of assuming investments grow at the same rate every year, Monte Carlo runs 5,000 randomised market scenarios — some with strong early returns, some with crashes, some with prolonged downturns. Real markets are volatile, and the order of returns matters enormously early in retirement. The result is a probability of success: for example, the plan survives in 84% of scenarios. That is a more honest picture than a single best-guess projection. **Can I model a guaranteed company pension from any country?** Yes. The Defined Benefit section covers final salary and career average schemes from any country. You can enter the Normal Retirement Age, an Early Retirement Factor for drawing before NRA, annual escalation, and an optional commutation lump sum. **How do I work out when I can afford to retire and where?** Use the Scenarios tab to compare two complete retirement plans side by side — different retirement ages, different countries, different income targets. The Dashboard provides an immediate RAG health check. Adjust any input and results update instantly. **Which countries are supported?** State pension and tax data for 49 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico, Ireland, New Zealand, and Singapore. Popular destinations for retiring abroad — Portugal, Spain, Mexico, France, and Italy — are all fully supported. Accounts and income can be held in any supported currency with live exchange rates. **What types of assets and income can I model?** US 401(k), 403(b), IRA and Roth IRA; UK ISA and SIPP; Canada RRSP and TFSA; Australia Superannuation; Singapore CPF; Hong Kong MPF; India NPS, PPF and EPF. Also Defined Benefit and annuity pensions from any country, state pensions for 49 countries, rental income, employment income, and one-off lump sums. Negative lump sums model planned outgoings. Negative investment values model liabilities. Any account not listed can be modelled as a general investment account with the appropriate growth rate and tax treatment. **What is the difference between Today's Money and Future Money?** Future Money is the nominal amount that will actually be received. Today's Money adjusts for inflation to show what that amount would feel like right now. A pension of $30,000 per year in 20 years is $30,000 in Future Money but significantly less in Today's Money after two decades of inflation. **Why is RetireFlexi free?** It started as a personal project. Michael, who built it, is an expat who needed the tool for himself and could not find anything that handled his situation. He shared it with expat friends who found it useful, then made it available to everyone. The service is sustained by occasionally sharing relevant retirement planning resources with users who save a plan. Financial data is never sold or shared — there is none to share.