Comparison

RetIQ vs Trips Expense

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

RetIQ

This app helps you plan your retirement income by modeling complex financial interactions like Social Security timing, Roth conversions, and tax-aware withdrawal strategies. It performs all calculations locally to ensure your financial data remains private and secure on your device.

Highlights
  • Private, local financial data processing
  • Social Security timing and spousal benefits
  • Roth conversion optimization
  • Tax-aware drawdown strategies
  • Survivor and legacy planning
  • Medicare IRMAA surcharge modeling
  • Monte Carlo simulations
Features
Read full description

Retirement income is complicated. Social Security timing, Roth conversions, tax-aware drawdown, withdrawal order, taxes, Medicare costs, RMDs, and legacy goals all interact — and getting any one wrong affects everything else. RetIQ models all of it. Privately. Accurately. What RetIQ does RetIQ is a retirement decumulation planner for people who want to understand their finances — not hand them off. It answers the questions that matter most after you've saved: When should I claim Social Security? Should I convert to Roth before RMDs hit? Which accounts do I draw from, and in what order? How do Roth conversions affect my Medicare premiums? What happens financially if my spouse dies? What's my real probability of not running out of money? What makes it different Every calculation runs locally. Your financial data never leaves your phone — not during setup, planning, or ever. We cannot see your numbers because we never receive them. The AI Guide answers questions about your plan and is free on every tier. Use the built-in guidance, or optionally connect a cloud AI provider with your own key. Your key is never stored by RetIQ, and your plan never leaves your device. No subscription. No advisor required. Start free and buy only the modules you need — or unlock everything with a single purchase. All future updates are included. Modular pricing Start free with core planning, Monte Carlo, and the AI Guide. Add Essentials for full input control, the complete dashboard, scenarios, and relocation — now including Federal Employee and muni support. Then add specialist modules — Roth & Tax Optimizer, Survivor Planning, Healthcare & Medicare, Self-Employment & Business, and Legacy & Estate — each available separately, or unlock everything with a single Full Unlock. Pay once for what you use. What it models — Tax-Aware Drawdown: fill low tax brackets before RMDs hit, with proceeds reinvested in brokerage at full cost basis — Roth conversion optimizer: hundreds of strategies ranked by lifetime taxes saved — Strategy Report: 10+ alternatives auto-tested and ranked by your goal — Social Security timing from 62 to 70, spousal and survivor benefits, breakeven analysis — Survivor Center: model either spouse's death with filing status change, survivor SS, pension payouts, and life insurance — Federal Employee (FERS / CSRS) setup: annuity, the Special Retirement Supplement bridge to 62, survivor elections, and taxable percentage, with government-pension state treatment — Municipal bond (tax-exempt) interest: free of federal income tax and NIIT, still counted toward Social Security taxation, Medicare IRMAA, and ACA, with per-state and relocation-aware treatment — Multi-account withdrawal system: pre-tax, Roth, brokerage, cash/HYS, HSA, inherited IRAs, and annuities — Medicare and IRMAA surcharge modeling (Roth conversions and drawdowns affect your premiums) — Monte Carlo simulation with normal and bear-market stress paths — Required Minimum Distributions with SECURE 2.0 rules — Scenarios: 10+ named scenarios including Retire at 40 and Retire at 50, plus allocation-aware bear market stress test — ACA subsidy modeling for pre-Medicare retirees — Progressive state income tax — all 50 states + DC — Pension and annuity income with survivor benefit options — Long-term care costs and insurance modeling — Life insurance with term/permanent policies and tax-free death benefits — Income events, income streams, and one-time expenses — PDF report export from Dashboard — Automated tests verified against IRS, SSA, and CMS sources Verified accuracy Tax brackets, Medicare premiums, contribution limits, and Social Security parameters are sourced from IRS publications, SSA actuarial tables, and CMS Medicare data. An embedded Validation tab shows every test, expected value, and source citation, so you can verify the math yourself. RetIQ is a planning tool, not financial advice. All calculations run locally on your device.

About

Trips Expense

Features
Read full description

expenseCal is a travel expense tracker for groups, shared purchases, personal spending, wishlists, and friend shopping requests. Create a trip group, add expenses as they happen, and keep every member's share visible throughout the journey. expenseCal helps you organize who paid, who joined each item, what still needs settling, and which shopping requests are still open. Key features: - Manage shared trip expenses in one group - Track personal expenses, group buys, wishlists, and friend buys - Review member balances, payable items, and receivable items - Support multi-currency display for overseas trips - Keep activity records for easier checking later From planning before the trip to settling up after everyone gets home, expenseCal keeps the small details easier to understand. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

RetIQ4 screens
Trips Expense4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Trips Expense at 18.0 against RetIQ's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. RetIQ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Trips Expense sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RetIQ ships an update every 5 days, Trips Expense every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
RetIQ versus Trips Expense: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetIQTrips Expense
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRetIQ Studio LLCChi Yu Cheng

In-app purchases

1 purchases

RetIQ

One-time1
  • RetIQ Full$69.99
2 purchases

Trips Expense

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Pro Annual$19.991 Year

Questions

Is RetIQ free?
RetIQ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Trips Expense free?
Trips Expense is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do RetIQ or Trips Expense have ads?
Neither RetIQ nor Trips Expense shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RetIQ or Trips Expense?
RetIQ ships an update every 5 days, and Trips Expense every 3 days. Most recently, RetIQ was updated on October 1, 2026 and Trips Expense on September 15, 2026.

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