RMD Forecaster vs Bruce's Retirement Planner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RMD Forecaster
This app forecasts future Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) amounts and retirement account balances. It helps visualize how your IRA/401K might grow or shrink over time based on your anticipated market returns. Use it to explore different financial scenarios for your retirement planning.
- Forecast future RMD amounts
- Project IRA/401K balances
- Input custom market rates of return
- Simulate account growth/shrinkage
- Visualize long-term financial trends
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There are many web sites where you can calculate the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) for next year. But what about all the future years? The IRS Distribution Period table requires a larger and larger percent of tax deferred retirement accounts be withdrawn each year. How long is your retirement account going to last? How large is your RMD going to become? The Distribution Period table was designed by the IRS to ensure the owner withdraws all the retirement account by the time they are age 120. If your retirement account is invested in the stock market and if the market goes up, the market growth will slow the account decrease. What does this mean to your future? The RMD Forecaster app gives you an idea of how RMDs and IRA/401K balances will grow and shrink in the future. Enter the current year, owner date of birth, prior end-of-year IRA/401k account balance, and the stock market rate-of-return that YOU anticipated for the future. RMD Forecaster uses the initial balance and the applicable IRS distribution period to calculate the RMD amount. It subtracts the RMD from the account balance. Then the stock market rate-of-return is used to forecast how the remaining account balance will grow during the year. This calculation is repeated each year until age 120. The rate you entered will not be correct each year so the forecast will not exactly correct. But you can get an indication of your future income by trying a lower, conservative rate of return and trying a higher, optimistic rate. Neither may be the actual future rate, but seeing the trend of future RMD amounts and account balances is helpful. The anticipated future stock market rate-of-return is a "best guess" entered by the user. The taxes due on the RMD amounts are not calculated by this app. The IRS could change the Uniform Lifetime Table and the tax laws at any time. The forecasts provided should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice. This tool is intended for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current tax laws or regulations. You should consult with a qualified tax professional or financial advisor before making any decisions based on the information provided by this tool.
Bruce's Retirement Planner
This app simulates thousands of market futures and lifespans to estimate your chance of financial solvency in retirement. It models income, expenses, accounts, debt, and life events with a real US tax engine. Understand key insights and track your progress against your plan.
- Monte Carlo retirement simulations
- Comprehensive financial modeling
- Real US tax engine
- Couples planning
- Social Security optimization
- Healthcare cost projection
- Life event scenario planning
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Project all your finances to estimate when you can retire and how much you can spend. Free while we earn our first reviews. Data stays private on your phone. Built by an actuary, on the models banks use for markets and insurers use for lifespans. PLAN YOUR WHOLE FINANCIAL LIFE • Income, expenses, your home and mortgage, 401(k), 457(b), Roth, and HSA accounts, pensions, stocks, other real estate and debt, cash • Couples in full: two lifespans, survivor benefits, spousal rollovers, and the tax change when filing status switches • Healthcare in three phases: employer coverage, the pre-Medicare gap with ACA subsidies, then Medicare including IRMAA surcharges • Social Security with claim age math from 62 to 70, cost of living increases, survivor rules, and the taxation of benefits • Life events: windfalls, college, a new child, buying or selling a home, paying off the mortgage early, de-risking your portfolio, moving states in retirement • Pension handling: defined benefit pensions with cost of living increases, survivor elections, and each state's pension tax rules, plus annuity quotes priced against mortality tables SIMULATE THOUSANDS OF FUTURES • A multi asset market model (US and international stocks, bonds, REITs, cash), not a single straight line return • How long you live varies too: each future draws a lifespan from Social Security life tables, or from your answers to 10 quick questions about health and lifestyle, so your odds cover a long retirement as well as a short one • The 2026 US tax code: federal plus all 50 states and DC, capital gains, NIIT, RMDs, payroll taxes, the new senior deduction • Roth conversion strategies, 401(k) and 457(b) contributions with employer match, and SEPP 72(t) withdrawals • Dynamic spending guardrails: cut spending in downturns, and see how often cuts happen and what they add up to UNDERSTAND WHAT MATTERS • One clear answer: the chance your plan survives • Every year, line by line: open any year to see income, spending, taxes, required withdrawals, Roth conversions, and the balance in every account, in today's dollars or that year's • Sensitivity analysis ranks what you can't control (returns, inflation, how long you live, work ending early, a long-term care stay) by how far your outcome swings with each • Improve Your Plan finds what you could change to improve your odds (spending, claim age, withdrawal order, de-risking) and applies your pick to a copy of the plan • Compare scenarios side by side, lock one in as your plan, and track your net worth against it in the Journal PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your financial data stays on your device, with automatic backup to your own private iCloud. There is no account to create, no sign up, and no ads, and nothing that identifies you or your finances ever leaves your phone. To make the app better we count which features get used, anonymously and never your numbers, and you can switch that off in Settings. An optional Face ID lock keeps your plans private even if someone borrows your phone. FREE FOR EARLY ADOPTERS The full app is free while we earn our first reviews, and advanced features may move to a subscription later. If you find a bug or want a feature, write to us from Support in Settings, and the person who wrote the code will answer. Bruce's Retirement Planner is a planning tool, not financial advice. Projections are estimates based on the assumptions you enter, not predictions or guarantees. For decisions about your money, consult a qualified professional.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bruce's Retirement Planner at 4.9 against RMD Forecaster's 1.0. Bruce's Retirement Planner also leads on ratings volume (32 vs 1). RMD Forecaster's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bruce's Retirement Planner holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bruce's Retirement Planner has 32 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | RMD Forecaster | Bruce's Retirement Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.9 (32 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 32 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thom Baker | Hailcat LLC |
In-app purchases
RMD Forecaster
No in-app purchases
Bruce's Retirement Planner
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RMD Forecaster free?
Is Bruce's Retirement Planner free?
Which has better reviews, RMD Forecaster or Bruce's Retirement Planner?
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