Retirement Financial Planning Calculators Often Inaccurate

At a recent retirement conference, financial advisers complained that retirement financial planning calculators are often inaccurate. The software relies too heavily on outputs and neglects outliers, retirement planners say.

The online calculators are intended to provide users with a snapshot of the kind of retirement they can achieve with their current path. Ideally, users should be able to estimate what kind of nest egg they'll have given their present income and assets.

However, retirement software manufacturers have struggled to find an accurate model. Some financial advisers want a big-picture look at clients' retirement outcome, while others want a more detailed formula that accounts for things like inflation and market fluctuations.

To mitigate the inaccuracies of these calculators, advisers recommend accepting a degree of uncertainty. No software model can possibly predict future events perfectly, so allow for variations in your retirement plan.