Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center vs The Complete Retirement Planner

Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center9.3Visit TCThe Complete Retirement Planner8.9Visit

Higher score Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center #2 in Retirement Planning Software 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Fidelity

vs

TC The Complete Retirement Planner #5 in Retirement Planning Software 8.9/10 Paid ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit The Planner

• Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center fits best

  Fidelity customers wanting free, connected planning

• The Complete Retirement Planner fits best

  U.S. households wanting a low-cost one-time purchase

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Side by side

Feature	Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center 9.3/10 Visit ↗	TCThe Complete Retirement Planner 8.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.9
Ranking	#2 in Retirement Planning Software	#5 in Retirement Planning Software
Best for	Fidelity customers wanting free, connected planning	U.S. households wanting a low-cost one-time purchase
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Free	$89.99 one-time
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Desktop
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS
Integrations	3 integrations	1 integrations
Features Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center 5/5 · The Complete Retirement Planner 5/5
Income projection	✓	✓
Savings growth projection	✓	✓
Withdrawal planning	✓	✓
Social Security modeling	✓	✓
Scenario analysis	✓	✓
Specs
Tax modeling	Detailed	Detailed
Account synchronization	Read_only	None
Our review
Pros	Models retirement income, savings growth and withdrawal strategies Estimates federal, state and local taxes and Social Security benefits Connects Fidelity and external accounts through Full View	Projects income, expenses, savings, taxes, and distributions year by year Models Social Security, RMDs, Roth conversions, Medicare, and healthcare costs Supports what-if scenarios and sequence-of-returns testing
Cons	Plans are informational and hypothetical, not actual tax calculations External account data is read-only; manually entered accounts do not update Investment expenses and trading or transaction fees may still apply	Requires paid Microsoft Excel 2016 or later Uses user-entered financial information rather than account syncing Available as a downloadable Excel tool, not a cloud-based planner
Our verdict	Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center gives Fidelity customers and workplace-plan participants a free way to assess retirement readiness and plan other financial goals. It considers savings, future contributions, income sources, expenses,… Read the review →	The Complete Retirement Planner is downloadable Microsoft Excel software for households planning before or during retirement. It builds year-by-year projections from user-entered financial information, covering income, expenses, savings,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center — where it wins

  • Models retirement income, savings growth and withdrawal strategies
  • Estimates federal, state and local taxes and Social Security benefits
  • Connects Fidelity and external accounts through Full View

  Where it doesn't

  • Plans are informational and hypothetical, not actual tax calculations
  • External account data is read-only; manually entered accounts do not update
  • Investment expenses and trading or transaction fees may still apply

• The Complete Retirement Planner — where it wins

  • Projects income, expenses, savings, taxes, and distributions year by year
  • Models Social Security, RMDs, Roth conversions, Medicare, and healthcare costs
  • Supports what-if scenarios and sequence-of-returns testing

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires paid Microsoft Excel 2016 or later
  • Uses user-entered financial information rather than account syncing
  • Available as a downloadable Excel tool, not a cloud-based planner

• Fidelity Planning & Guidance Center9.3/10 · Free plan

  A free planner with tax, Social Security, withdrawal and what-if analysis.

  Visit FidelityFull verdict →
• TCThe Complete Retirement Planner8.9/10 · Paid

  A one-time Excel planner for year-by-year retirement, tax, and Social Security modeling.

  Visit The PlannerFull verdict →