Retirement is the goal that keeps most clients up at night, and it's usually the one where advisors overcomplicate things.
The question is simple: will they have enough money to live the way they want when they stop working? The answer comes down to a few inputs, not a 30-page projection.
How I think about it
Forget projecting portfolio values out to age 92. What matters is the gap between what they'll need and what they're on track to have. If there's a gap, we identify the changes to close it. If there's no gap, we move on.
The retirement calculator in Kerdora works backward from spending. Start with what the client needs to spend in retirement, back out other income like Social Security, and figure out how much their portfolio needs to cover. That gives you the target.
The inputs
The calculator walks through it step by step:
Years until retirement — defaults to age 65, but you can adjust it
Inflation assumption — how much spending will grow between now and retirement
Retirement spending need — what they need to spend annually, after tax, in today's dollars. Pulls from their cash flow profile but you can override it
Expected tax rate — grosses up the spending need to account for taxes on withdrawals
Other income — Social Security, pensions, annuities. Income that doesn't come from the portfolio
Withdrawal rate — how much they'll pull from the portfolio each year (the classic 4% rule, or whatever you use)
From those inputs, Kerdora calculates the target: how much they need saved at retirement.
What you get out
Three numbers that tell the story:
Target needed — the portfolio value they need at retirement, shown in today's or future dollars (your choice)
Monthly savings needed — how much they should be putting away each month to get there
Fully funded today — the lump sum they'd need right now to be done saving entirely (useful for context, not because anyone's writing that check)
If you've assigned accounts to this goal, the progress bars show where they stand against these targets.
The details that matter
You can get more precise when the conversation calls for it:
Lump sums — expecting an inheritance, selling a property, or a bonus? Add lump sum contributions in specific years and the calculator factors them in.
Staged returns — instead of one flat return assumption, you can model different return rates for different periods. Higher returns while they're aggressive in their 40s, dialing down as they approach retirement.
Savings growth — if they plan to increase contributions over time (raises, lower expenses as kids leave), you can model that. The calculator compounds growing contributions rather than assuming a flat savings rate.
You don't need to use any of these for a quick plan. But when a client asks "what if I get that inheritance?" or "what if I move to bonds in my last 5 years?", you can answer it on the spot.
Quick tip: goal inputs like spending are annual, not monthly. That trips people up.