Boldin is live · free plan, paid from $168/yr · last verified 6 Nov 2026 · viability healthy
Boldin
Boldin is DIY retirement planning software that models taxes, Social Security, Roth conversions and early-withdrawal penalties on your own
Boldin earns its $168/yr when you'll use the Roth Conversion Explorer, the Social Security Explorer and the tax projections side by side — the three places retirement plans actually go wrong. Having Boldin AI make plan edits instead of you retyping them kills the busywork that usually shelves a DIY plan by month three. If you want one clean number or automated portfolio management, this isn't the tool.
Verdict generatedVerified 8d ago · liveness 80/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/boldin
- People within five years of retirement modeling taxes, Social Security claiming and withdrawal ordering themselves
- DIY planners who run and compare multiple what-if scenarios instead of accepting one projection
- Couples optimizing Social Security claiming, including spousal benefits
- Retirees planning Roth conversions year by year to cut lifetime taxes
- Beginners who want a one-screen retirement calculator with no data entry
- Investors who want automated portfolio management or robo-advisory
- Anyone expecting to apply an investment strategy inside the tool today — Apply to Plan is listed as coming soon
We scan live Reddit threads, YouTube comments, X posts, G2 reviews and other communities — and hand you an honest verdict in under a minute.
- Honest verdict, not marketing
- Real pros & cons from real users
- Attributed quotes with receipts
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Skip Boldin if you want the software to manage your portfolio or hand you a single retirement number without entering assets, expenses and assumptions yourself.
PlannerPlus is $168/yr billed annually — the 14-day trial converts to a full year, not a monthly plan you can drop after a quarter.
At $168/yr billed annually, PlannerPlus undercuts a single session with most fee-only planners and sits far below Boldin Advisors' own $3,200 flat-fee checkup, so it fits DIY planners in the decade around retirement who will use the Roth and Social Security tools. If you only want a net-worth tracker or a one-screen projection, the free Basic tier covers that; if you want the plan written and stress-tested for you, budget for the advisory fee instead.
In short
Boldin — Boldin is DIY retirement planning software that models taxes, Social Security, Roth conversions and early-withdrawal penalties on your own. Best for People within five years of retirement modeling taxes, Social Security claiming and withdrawal ordering themselves, DIY planners who run and compare multiple what-if scenarios instead of accepting one projection, Couples optimizing Social Security claiming, including spousal benefits. Free to start; paid plans from $168/yr.
No head-to-head comparison for Boldin yet — the alternatives below are the closest matches we list.
What is Boldin?
Boldin — Boldin is DIY retirement planning software that models taxes, Social Security, Roth conversions and early-withdrawal penalties on your own. Best for People within five years of retirement modeling taxes, Social Security claiming and withdrawal ordering themselves, DIY planners who run and compare multiple what-if scenarios instead of accepting one projection, Couples optimizing Social Security claiming, including spousal benefits. Free to start; paid plans from $168/yr.
Boldin, formerly NewRetirement, is retirement planning software for people who want to build the projection themselves rather than accept a single savings number. Instead of one output, you get a model that folds in state and federal taxes, Social Security claiming, real estate purchases and sales, Medicare and IRMAA costs, long-term care, debt, pensions, annuities and a year-by-year future budget. The Basic tier is free and gives you a personalized plan on 100+ inputs, 10+ charts and two interactive explorers. PlannerPlus runs $168/yr billed annually after a 14-day free trial, and opens 250+ inputs, 25+ charts, Monte Carlo stress testing, the Roth Conversion Explorer, the Social Security Explorer, side-by-side scenario comparison, an encrypted Document Vault and printable reports. For hands-on review, Boldin Advisors is a $3,200 flat-fee checkup with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Boldin AI sits across the paid tiers: ask plain-language questions and it answers from your actual plan data, or hand it edits — new figures, changed assumptions, added accounts — and projections refresh as it works. Recent releases have kept the planner moving: the Document Vault (September 2026) stores tax returns, insurance policies and estate documents with AES-256 encryption and lets Boldin AI parse them when answering plan questions, projections now apply the 10% additional tax on withdrawals before age 59½ (October 2026), and Investments: Today added fund fee insights and tax diversification views (October 22, 2026). Around the planner sit an Investments: Today allocation view checked against your Risk Profile and the Investments: Future strategy explorer, which shipped September 24, 2026 and is explore-only until Apply to Plan arrives. Positioned against one-number retirement calculators, Boldin trades simplicity for modeling depth — the honest comparison is whether you'll actually fill in the inputs.
Key features
- Boldin AI answers plain-language retirement questions grounded in your actual plan data
- Boldin AI edits plan figures, assumptions and accounts with projections refreshing as it works
- Document Vault with AES-256 encryption for tax returns, insurance policies and estate documents
- Boldin AI parses and references vault documents when answering plan questions
- 10% additional tax applied to projections for withdrawals before age 59½
- Investments: Today shows allocation across every account vs. your Risk Profile
- Fund fee insights showing what fund fees cost across your investments and their plan impact
- Tax diversification insights into how you're invested across tax types
- Investments: Future compares strategies by Risk Profile and Life Stage side by side
- Roth Conversion Explorer models conversions year by year to cut lifetime taxes
- State and federal tax projections side by side with tax-smart withdrawal ordering
- Monte Carlo stress testing against downturns, inflation and thousands of possible futures
- Social Security Explorer compares claiming ages and spousal benefits
- Medicare and IRMAA strategies to avoid surprise premium costs
- Connected accounts, printable reports, live classes and Q&A sessions
Behind the verdict
Where Boldin bites is data entry. There's no way around it: the value of the model depends on how much of your real financial life you put into it. If you'll sit down for an afternoon with last year's tax return and your account statements, the payoff is a plan that shows state and federal taxes next to each other, compares Social Security claiming ages for you and your spouse, and lets you model Roth conversions year by year. We'd reach for it in the five years before retirement, especially if you're weighing when to claim Social Security or whether to convert IRA dollars before RMDs. The Roth Conversion Explorer is the single most useful screen in the product for that crowd, and the October 2026 change that applies the 10% additional tax on withdrawals before 59½ makes early-retirement scenarios honest instead of optimistic. Where it bites is the learning curve. You're not getting a robo-advisor or automated portfolio management — Boldin doesn't rebalance anything or trade for you. Investments: Future, released September 24, 2026, compares strategies by Risk Profile and Life Stage side by side, but it's explore-only; Apply to Plan is listed as coming soon. If you want to execute an allocation in the tool today, that's a wait. The closest alternative depends on what you're after. If you want a planning model with depth and a human CFP option, Boldin's $3,200 flat-fee Advisors checkup is the add-on; if a free or cheap calculator with fewer inputs is enough, the Basic tier covers the basics without a card. Compare against dedicated tax-planning tools and you'll find Boldin's edge is breadth — it puts healthcare, Medicare and IRMAA, real estate and debt in the same projection as your portfolio. Caveats worth knowing before you pay. The 250+ inputs and 25+ charts on
Models under the hood
as of 2026-11-08
Limitations
- Advanced features — Roth Conversion Explorer, Monte Carlo simulations, state and federal tax projections, AI plan edits, Document Vault, and Investments: Today/Future — sit behind PlannerPlus at $14/month or $168/year billed annually after a 14-day free trial; the free Basic tier offers a more limited plan.
- Boldin AI answers depend on the accuracy and completeness of the plan data you enter.
- Investments: Future is explore-only, with Apply to Plan listed as coming soon.
as of 2026-10-23
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Is Boldin still active?
Boldin is live · free plan, paid from $168/yr · last verified 6 Nov 2026 · viability healthy.
Viability score
How well maintained and how widely used is Boldin? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: November 2026
How we score →What's new in Boldin
Checked 10 days agoAcross the latest 5 updates: 3 feature updates and 2 launches.
Investments Today: Fund fee insights and Tax Diversification Insights
PlannerPlus users can see fund fees across their investments and how they affect the plan, plus how they are invested across tax types and ways to improve tax diversification.
10% early withdrawal penalty now included in projections
Boldin's projections apply the 10% additional tax on retirement account withdrawals before age 59½, so plans reflect the true cost of tapping savings early.
Investments: Future released for PlannerPlus users
Compare investment strategies aligned with your Risk Profile and Life Stage side by side after retaking the Risk Tolerance Survey. Explore-only; Apply to Plan is coming soon.
Document Vault added with AES-256 encryption
A secure PlannerPlus space for tax returns, insurance policies and estate documents that Boldin AI can parse and reference when answering plan questions.
Planner Score released to all new users
A points-based bar at the top of the planner showing how complete your plan is, what is driving the score and which next actions earn points.
What do users say about Boldin?
What people actually say about Boldin — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
Researched46 mentions across 3 sources (Hacker News, YouTube, Lemmy) · researched Aug 24, 2026.
Average across the 3 sources that answered — each source counts once, not each post.
- +Monte Carlo analysis is highly valued and eye-opening for success probability
- +Deep what-if scenario modeling including side-by-side comparison and Roth conversions
- +Detailed budgeter lets you model 'like to spend' vs 'want to spend'
- +Automatic updates (when accounts linked) appreciated by users
- +Useful for both pre-retirees and those already in retirement
- −Basic single-number budgeter is overly simplistic and inaccurate
- −US-centric; poor modeling for UK users and likely other non-US countries
- −Roth conversion recommendations can be aggressive vs professional software
- −Required manual adjustments for workplace contribution stop dates
- −Account linking not necessary; some prefer manual entry
- • No hidden costs reported, but the $144/year is required for all advanced features; the free tier is very limited
- • Advisors tier is a one-time $3,200 fee, which may surprise those expecting ongoing subscription
How we verified this
Every listed fact about Boldin — pricing, features, links, status — is re-read from the vendor's own pages by our verification pipeline and each change is logged with a date; the last pass ran on 6 Nov 2026. Analysis is drafted with AI models and checked against our editorial standards before publishing; see how we verify.
Verification history
We have re-verified Boldin 23 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — changed pricing tiers, features, who should skip it, who it suits, our verdict, description, summary
- — changed link health, limitations, pricing page
- — changed link health
- — changed who should skip it, switching out, limitations, integrations, hidden costs, summary, description, setup time, pricing fit, pricing tiers, our verdict, who it suits, switching in, features, use cases, pricing page
- — changed description, who it suits, our verdict, features, who should skip it, pricing tiers, summary
- — changed who it suits, our verdict, summary, description, who should skip it, pricing tiers, features
Showing the 6 most recent of 23 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
How much does Boldin cost in 2026?
Boldin: Free to start; paid plans from $168/yr. Pricing last verified 6 Nov 2026.
Plans compared
Every published Boldin tier, its price as the vendor publishes it, who it fits, and what it adds over the tier below. The 12-month cost projection follows.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | — | Someone testing whether a real retirement model beats a one-screen calculator, or tracking net worth while deciding whether to commit.Adds: Free entry point: 100+ inputs, 10+ charts, two interactive explorers and limited Boldin AI plan Q&A. |
| PlannerPlus | $168/yr | yearly | DIY planners within a few years of retirement who will actually use Roth conversion, Social Security claiming and year-by-year tax projections.Adds: $168/yr billed annually adds 250+ inputs, 25+ charts, unlimited Boldin AI with plan edits, Monte Carlo, Roth Conversion Explorer, Document Vault and Investments views. |
| Boldin Advisors | $3,200Vendor: “$3,200 flat fee” | — | Households that want a fiduciary to review and stress-test the plan, or that would rather not build the model themselves.Adds: $3,200 flat fee adds a comprehensive checkup with a CFP® professional, a written plan of action and portfolio allocation suggestions. |
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Boldin's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
At $168/yr billed annually, PlannerPlus undercuts a single session with most fee-only planners and sits far below Boldin Advisors' own $3,200 flat-fee checkup, so it fits DIY planners in the decade around retirement who will use the Roth and Social Security tools. If you only want a net-worth tracker or a one-screen projection, the free Basic tier covers that; if you want the plan written and stress-tested for you, budget for the advisory fee instead.
Has Boldin's pricing changed?
No plan price for Boldin has moved since we began logging in Aug 2026; the pricing page is re-read on every verification pass.
Who should pick Boldin?
Pick Boldin if you are People within five years of retirement modeling taxes, Social Security claiming and withdrawal ordering themselves, DIY planners who run and compare multiple what-if scenarios instead of accepting one projection, Couples optimizing Social Security claiming, including spousal benefits, Retirees planning Roth conversions year by year to cut lifetime taxes.
Look elsewhere if you are Beginners who want a one-screen retirement calculator with no data entry, Investors who want automated portfolio management or robo-advisory, Anyone expecting to apply an investment strategy inside the tool today — Apply to Plan is listed as coming soon, Buyers who need fund-level concentration-risk insights now — those views are still listed as coming soon.
Skip it if Skip Boldin if you want the software to manage your portfolio or hand you a single retirement number without entering assets, expenses and assumptions yourself.
GeneratedReal-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Boldin actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You load accounts and expenses into PlannerPlus, link accounts via the aggregators, then ask Boldin AI to add a second home purchase in year two and adjust your retirement date forward.
Outcome: Projections refresh with the new figures, and the 10% pre-59½ penalty shows up in the tax line so you can see the real cost of the earlier date.
You run the Social Security Explorer across claiming ages for both spouses, then test matching Roth conversions in the Roth Conversion Explorer against the resulting tax brackets.
Outcome: You get a year-by-year conversion schedule and a claiming pair you can compare side by side with your current plan in the scenario comparison view.
You upload prior tax returns, insurance policies and estate documents into the AES-256 encrypted Document Vault, then ask Boldin AI questions that depend on them.
Outcome: Answers reference the parsed documents alongside your plan data, so the projection has the context a bare input form would miss.
Use cases
- Model retiring three years early and see the impact on savings, taxes and the pre-59½ penalty.
- Compare Roth conversion strategies year by year to minimize lifetime tax burden.
- Ask Boldin AI 'What happens if the market drops 30%?' and get scenario results from your own plan.
- Check whether a second home purchase is affordable in retirement.
- Run a Monte Carlo simulation to stress-test your plan against market volatility.
- Optimize Social Security claiming age, including spousal benefits, with real-time income projections.
- Store tax returns and insurance policies in the Document Vault so Boldin AI can reference them.
- Track your Planner Score to see which unfinished inputs are holding your plan back.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Boldin — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Pre-retiree with statements in hand: about an hour to enter accounts, income and expenses, and a weekend to get a full PlannerPlus plan worth trusting. Couples optimizing Social Security: budget an extra session for claiming comparison. Retiree uploading documents: the Vault takes minutes, and Boldin AI gets more useful with each file.
Switching to or from Boldin
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From a spreadsheet: re-enter assets, income and recurring expenses into the 250+ inputs, then use Planner Score to find what is still missing.
- →From a free retirement calculator: import nothing — rebuild the same inputs in Basic, then upgrade to PlannerPlus when you need tax and Roth modeling.
- →From a robo-advisor projection: keep the account, but enter holdings in Investments: Today to check allocation against your Risk Profile.
- ↗To a fee-only planner: use View Full Plan and the printable plan report as the brief you hand over.
- ↗To a spreadsheet: print or export the plan report and rebuild the year-by-year cash flow there.
- ↗To Boldin Advisors: no migration needed — the CFP® checkup starts from the plan you already built.
Resources & guides
- Resourceboldin.com
How (and Why) to Blog Your Retirement
Helpful link from boldin.com
- Resourceboldin.com
Retirement Planner Release Notes
Helpful link from boldin.com
- Resourceboldin.com
Boldin AI | AI-Powered Retirement Planning With Your Real Data
Helpful link from boldin.com
- Resourceboldin.com
Retirement Planner Pricing
Helpful link from boldin.com
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Boldin”, and we withheld 4: 4 could not be judged, because “Boldin” is a single word that other videos use for other things. Showing the 2 we can prove are about Boldin.
Official links
What are the best Boldin alternatives?
The closest alternatives to Boldin we list are Monarch, Origin and Preso Budget. Ranked by direct product-type match, not category overlap.
| Alternative | Pricing | Starts at | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monarch | Paid | Pricing not published | — |
| Origin | Paid | Pricing not published | — |
| Preso Budget | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
Alternatives to Boldin
View all
Monarch
Monarch syncs 13,000+ banks into one dashboard for budgeting, net worth tracking, and joint money planning.
Origin
Origin is an AI financial advisor that finds dollar-quantified money moves across your budget, investments, and taxes.
Preso Budget
Preso Budget builds a self-tracking budget from your real transactions, then carries those same numbers into a years-long retirement and net worth plan.
Tools that pair well with Boldin
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Boldin, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Monarch
Monarch syncs 13,000+ banks into one dashboard for budgeting, net worth tracking, and joint money planning.
Origin
Origin is an AI financial advisor that finds dollar-quantified money moves across your budget, investments, and taxes.
Preso Budget
Preso Budget builds a self-tracking budget from your real transactions, then carries those same numbers into a years-long retirement and net worth plan.
Frequently asked questions
Categories
Best-of guides
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