Why Kessavo exists
The retirement calculator that shows its work
Run the same plan through three retirement calculators and you'll get three different answers. None of them will tell you why. Kessavo does.
Why I built this
For most of my working life, personal finance was an "I'm sure it's fine" situation. I told myself that as an educated, capable adult, I could just read the material and understand the mechanics of retirement well enough on my own.
That was a mistake. Between Social Security claiming rules, tax brackets, Medicare surcharges and RMDs, the complexity piles up fast. I got overwhelmed, and procrastination took over. Then, almost without warning, retirement stopped being a someday problem and became a now problem.
If that sounds familiar, you're exactly who Kessavo is for. Retirement calculators don't agree with each other — run the same household through two popular tools and you can get two different answers, with no way to tell which one's right. We built the tool I wish I'd had: one that shows the formula behind every number, states plainly where it's simplifying, and tells you when a question is bigger than a formula should answer alone.
What "shows its work" actually means
Every number traces back to a formula you can see
RMD tables, IRMAA brackets, how Social Security gets taxed — inspect it, don't just trust it. See exactly how, on the Methodology page.
It tells you what it doesn't know yet
State tax outside our curated list, your exact cost basis, the timing of a Roth conversion — where the model simplifies, it says so, in plain language, right next to the number it affects.
It's built for the claiming decision, not just a balance projection
Claim at 62 or 70? Married or single? Kessavo runs the real Social Security math against real survival-probability tables, not one fixed "money runs out at age X."
It knows when to send you to a human
The "worth a conversation with a financial planner" note isn't a disclaimer buried in a footer. Some decisions are still worth a licensed professional's judgment, and Kessavo says so at the point it matters.
How much of this we actually cover
We scored ourselves, honestly, against the fears that show up everywhere in retirement content — running out of money, tax surprises, Medicare shocks, market risk. Here's where Kessavo is strong, where it's deliberately out of scope, and where it hands you to a professional instead of guessing. Hover any point for why.
What Kessavo is — and isn't
It is
- A modeling tool — it projects outcomes based on what you enter, not a prediction of the future.
- Runs entirely in your browser — no server ever sees your numbers.
- Built on formulas you can see — every RMD table, tax bracket, and IRMAA tier lives on the Methodology page.
- Honest about what it doesn't model yet — stated in plain language, next to the number it affects.
- Clear about when to see a real professional — the "worth a conversation with a planner" note shows up at the point it matters.
It isn't
- Not financial or fiduciary advice.
- Not a substitute for a licensed financial planner.
- Not an account-based product — no login or signup to use the free calculator.
- Not something that stores, sells, or shares your calculator data — it never reaches us in the first place.
What we collect — and what we don't
Rather than a general privacy paragraph, here's the itemized version. Full detail on the Privacy Policy page.
| What | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| Calculator inputs (savings, spending, Social Security, state, birth year) | Never collected — processed locally in your browser, never sent to us. |
| Account information | None required — no signup, email, or login for the free calculator. |
| Website analytics | None currently — no tracking script runs on this site today. |
| Cookies | None currently — no analytics, tracking, or session cookies. |
| Feedback you send us | Retained, to respond to you and improve the product. |
| Premium billing information | Not applicable yet — Premium isn't available for purchase. This row will name the real payment processor before it launches, not after. |
What Kessavo actually gives you
Kessavo gives you a fast, private, full picture of your Social Security claiming decision and your long-term plan — income, taxes, Medicare exposure, and how long your money is likely to last.
It's honest about its edges, too. A handful of things — real cost basis, state-specific credits, Roth conversion timing, couple-level claiming mechanics — are still worth a licensed professional's judgment, and Kessavo tells you when you've reached that point.
The result is a tool rigorous enough to replace running your numbers through two or three competing calculators, and honest enough to tell you when a formula alone shouldn't be the last word.
Curious what's actually happening between the 5 questions you answer and the plan you get back? See what one run actually computes.