Smart Start Retirement Planner
What will your retirement actually cost — where you live?
Most retirement planning starts with a number — "save $1.5 million." But you can't plan a life around an abstract number. SMART Start works the other way around. It walks you through 10 questions about how you want to live in retirement, then uses AI to estimate what that lifestyle will actually cost — adjusted for where you live.
SSpecific
Define what retirement looks like for you — life, location, pace, purpose.
MMeasurable
Capture your key numbers: income, savings, benefits, expenses.
AActionable
Identify the levers you can pull — savings, debt, timing, income.
RRealistic
Name real constraints (caregiving, health, work) and plan around them.
TTime-based
Turn ideas into deadlines so your plan doesn't drift.
What your retirement lifestyle will cost
10 questions. AI-adjusted for your city. Real numbers, not guesses.
Before you start — this is your space, not a test.
There are no right or wrong answers here. Nobody is grading you. Your only job is to be honest about how you actually want to live in retirement — not what sounds modest, not what sounds impressive. Just honest.
A lot of women skip this step because they're not sure what retirement looks like yet. That's exactly why this tool exists. Even a rough picture is better than no picture — and you can always come back and adjust as your vision gets clearer.
Enter your city and state below, then answer the 10 questions. When you finish, you'll get:
- Your estimated monthly and annual retirement lifestyle cost — adjusted for your location
- A breakdown of where your money goes by category
- AI-powered context about what your choices mean for your specific city
- A side-by-side comparison with your projected retirement income
Use this as your starting point. Every number you refine brings your retirement plan one step closer to real.
Adjusting your estimates for your city...
Our AI is comparing your lifestyle choices against local cost-of-living data. This takes about 10–15 seconds.
Here's what your retirement lifestyle could cost.
Where your money goes (monthly)
Compare with your monthly retirement income
Add up your expected Social Security, pensions, withdrawals, rental income, part-time work — anything coming in monthly. Enter the total below to see if you'll have a surplus, a gap, or land right around even.