The Retirement Financial Planning Spreadsheet is a $39 Google Sheets template that projects portfolio growth across conservative, base, and optimistic scenarios, maps income from pensions and other sources, and flags whether your savings last through retirement. You enter your balances, set return and inflation assumptions, and read a year-by-year projection out to age 95. One-time purchase, runs entirely in Google Sheets.
The Retirement Financial Planning Spreadsheet is a Google Sheets template that projects retirement savings growth, models income sources, and shows whether current savings are on track. Here’s what it does and how to set it up.
Wondering calculator vs template? See Retirement Template vs Calculator for when each tool fits.
What the Template Covers
| Section | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Savings & Contributions | Tracks total current retirement savings and the amount added each year |
| Expense Projections | Models retirement expenses with inflation adjustments |
| Savings Growth | Projects portfolio growth across conservative, base, and optimistic scenarios |
| Income Sources | Maps pension or Social Security, rental, and other income streams |
| Goal Tracking | Shows progress toward your target retirement age and milestone multiples like 25x annual expenses |
| Safety Checks | Flags when the withdrawal rate runs high or the portfolio could run short before life expectancy |
The summary dashboard from the Retirement Financial Planning Spreadsheet (Premium tier): portfolio at retirement, the conservative, base, and optimistic balance chart, and the safety-check row.
Setup Walkthrough
Step 1: Enter current financial data. Income, retirement account balances, annual contribution amounts. Use actual numbers from your most recent statements.
Step 2: Set your assumptions. Expected return rate (5-7% after inflation is a common range), inflation rate (2-3%), and target retirement age. The template lets you run all three scenarios at once.
Step 3: Define retirement expenses. Estimate annual spending in retirement. A starting point: 70-80% of current pre-retirement spending, adjusted for changes (no commute, more travel, higher healthcare).
Step 4: Map income sources. Enter your expected pension or Social Security benefit, the age it starts, and any other income such as rental or part-time work. Social Security retirement benefits can begin as early as 62 and rise for each year you delay, up to 70, per the Social Security Administration, so the benefit figure you enter depends on the claiming age you plan for. The template then shows how these sources combine year by year.
Step 5: Read the projection. The template calculates whether projected income covers projected expenses through your expected retirement length, and prints a year-by-year table out to your life expectancy. A gap means adjustments are worth exploring.
The year-by-year table tracks portfolio balance, income, expenses, and the withdrawal rate at each age through retirement.
Example Scenario
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Current age | 35 |
| Current savings | $120,000 |
| Annual contributions | $18,000 |
| Employer match | $6,000 |
| Expected return | 6% (after inflation) |
| Target retirement age | 62 |
| Annual retirement expenses | $55,000 |
Projection result: At 6% returns, $120K growing with $24K/year in contributions for 27 years reaches approximately $2.1M. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that is about $84,000/year, well above the $55K expense target.
Adjusting to a 5% return changes the projection to roughly $1.8M, or about $70,000/year at a 4% withdrawal. Running both scenarios shows the range instead of betting on one number. Want to sketch a target before you open the sheet? The Retirement Calculator below gives you a quick first estimate.
Spreadsheet vs Software vs Advisor
| Approach | Cost | Control | Customization |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet template | $39, one-time | Full: see every formula | Complete: edit anything |
| Financial software (Boldin, ProjectionLab) | $129-144/year | Moderate: prebuilt models | Limited to provided options |
| Financial advisor | $1,000-5,000+/year | Low: they run the numbers | Varies by advisor |
Boldin’s paid PlannerPlus plan runs $144 a year and ProjectionLab’s Premium tier is $129 a year, both billed annually. Where those tools still win is depth: Monte Carlo simulation, tax and Roth-conversion modeling, and account linking that a spreadsheet does not replicate. The spreadsheet approach wins on transparency and cost. You see exactly how every projection is calculated, you can adjust any assumption directly, and it is a single $39 purchase rather than a recurring subscription.
Related
- Retirement Calculator: How Much Do You Actually Need? - The math behind retirement targets
- Retirement Template vs Calculator - Which tool for which purpose
- Big Improvements to Our Retirement Planning Spreadsheet - Latest template updates
- Retirement Financial Planning Spreadsheet - Get the template
- Financial Planning Template - Broader financial planning beyond retirement
Frequently asked questions
Does the retirement spreadsheet work in Excel?
It is built for Google Sheets, which is free to use with a Google account. Some people copy it into Excel, but the scenario projections and safety checks are set up with Google Sheets functions, so that is where it runs as intended.
Do I have to enter Social Security manually?
Yes. You enter your expected benefit and the age you plan to claim it. Social Security retirement benefits can start as early as 62 and grow for each year you wait, up to 70, so the figure you use depends on your claiming age.
What return rate should I put in?
The template runs three at once, so you do not have to settle on one. A common range is 5 to 7 percent after inflation for a stock-heavy mix and lower for a conservative one. The conservative, base, and optimistic columns show the spread rather than a single guess.
How is this different from the free retirement calculator?
The calculator answers a single question in your browser. The spreadsheet keeps your inputs, models income and expenses year by year to age 95, and adds what-if scenarios and safety checks. The template-versus-calculator guide covers when each one fits.
Sources
- PlannerPlus Pricing - Boldin
- Pricing & Subscriptions - ProjectionLab
- Benefits Planner: Delayed Retirement Credits - Social Security Administration
About this article
Template features and sample figures checked against the Retirement Financial Planning spreadsheet (Google Sheets). Financial-software pricing checked against Boldin's and ProjectionLab's public pricing pages. Last reviewed August 2026.