Retirable Review: a Digital Retirement Planner
Made for both retirees and those approaching retirement, Reitrable aims to simplify financial planning. While other apps focus primarily on saving for retirement, Retirable also offers a diverse array of assistance that helps you manage your finances leading up to and through retirement.
If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to an in-person financial planner, Retirable is an option worth considering.
FYI: If you’re in the stages of retirement planning, be sure to check out our guide to retirement.
Retirable Pros and Cons
Pros
- All your finances in one place: Retirable can track all accounts and incomes related to your retirement, giving you an up-to-date picture of where you stand financially.
- Easy to use: The Retirable interface is simple, intuitive, and easy to use both on computers and smartphones.
- Ongoing financial advice: Retirable provides ongoing, dynamic financial management services before and through retirement, helping you manage your cash flow and expenses.
- Human assistance: While there’s no in-person component to Retirable, users can video chat with the service’s licensed financial advisors.
- Proprietary debit cards: Retirable offers proprietary debit cards connected to your account.
Cons
- No in-person assistance: While we appreciated the digital-first nature of Retirable, those who don’t like video calls will likely want to look elsewhere.
- Fees: Although we liked the transparent fee structure of Retirable, the $250 minimum annual fee for accounts below $33,000 seemed a bit excessive. Those with minimal holdings might consider a different service.
How Retirable Works
First Meeting
At the heart of Retirable’s approach is its team of certified financial advisors. During your initial call with this person –– held over video or phone –– your advisor will review all of your income sources: savings, Social Security, and anything else needed for retirement. Your advisor will also ask you about your goals for retirement as well as your financial needs.
Did You Know: It’s never too late to invest! To learn more, read our guide for safe investments for seniors.
Plan Discovery
From there, your advisor will build a customized plan that incorporates investments as well as spending allowances to ensure that your money will last. They will also roll your savings over into Retirable’s own IRAs, allowing you to take advantage of tax savings.
Before you make any decisions, your advisor will present the plan to you, allowing you to make changes as needed. In our experience, this meeting took place four days after our initial call.
Onboarding
Once you’ve reviewed your plan, you can begin rolling over money into your Retirable account.
You’ll start receiving a monthly income through Retirable. This will allow you to spend, knowing that you’re living within your means. If you need to make a withdrawal from your account, you can do so with a Retirable debit card. Additionally, if you’re unsure about how much to withdraw, you can contact your financial advisor to discuss the implications of doing so.
Ongoing Support
Your advisor will remain in touch with you for as long as you have a Retirable account. All of Retirable's advisors are fiduciary financial advisors. This means they are legally required to invest with their client’s interests in mind rather than selling services for which they earn commissions.
Unsure if you're ready for retirement? To learn more, read our guide: How Much Money You Need to Retire.
Retirable vs. Other Retirement Planning Tools
Compared to similar services, Retirable is a highly cost-effective option. While we weren’t so excited about the 0.75% annual fee on our account balance, it is below the industry average of 1% for traditional financial advisors.
That said, many of the tools available from Retirable, particularly those related to financial tracking, are available through other free services. Most likely, your bank already has software that can compile your different accounts, track balances, and determine how much you can afford to spend each month.
Because of this, the main draw of Retirable is how they put everything on autopilot. Once you’ve created a plan with your advisor, you don’t have to worry about managing your money, while a free solution requires you to actively monitor accounts and manage investments.
Pro Tip: Planning long-term care is an essential part of retirement planning. To get started, take our free long-term care planning quiz.
Retirable Costs
Compared to similar services, Retirable is affordable and transparent in its pricing. Users will pay an annual fee of 0.75% of their balance on the first $500,000 in their account. Any monies greater than this will not be taken into account with the fees.
If, however, your average annual account balance falls below $33,333, you’ll pay a flat fee of $250 per year to use Retirable.
Bottom Line
While many online and app-based tools exist to help plan for retirement, Retirables is the only one we’ve seen to incorporate actual financial planners to assist you. For those unfamiliar with investing and the different types of retirement accounts, these advisors will likely be an essential tool for you. In this case, it makes Retirable well worth the fees.
If, however, you are confident in your ability to manage your income and monitor your investments, then there are plenty of online tools that allow you to do this for free.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Does Retirable charge fees?
Retirable charges a 0.75% fee for the first $500,000 in your account. For accounts with annual balances less than $33,333, Retirable charges a flat annual fee of $250.
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Do I have to be a senior to use Retirable?
Retirable is available to people of any age; however, their investment strategies tend to be on the more conservative side, making them less than ideal for young investors who may want to consider more aggressive investments.
