Retirement Planning Without a Financial Advisor: DIY Guide

Nearly half of workers, 48%, have never estimated how much they'll need each month in retirement. That number comes from the EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey 2025 (Fact Sheet 3). It matters because the rest of a retirement plan depends on it. If you're considering retirement planning without a financial advisor, here's the short answer. Yes, you can do it. The difference that shows up in the research isn't really advisor versus no advisor. It's people who have a plan versus people who are guessing.

This guide walks through the process one step at a time. It covers what you take on when you skip the advisor and how to tell when you've reached the limits of doing it yourself.

Can You Do Retirement Planning Without a Financial Advisor?

Plenty of people already do. According to AARP's research on retirement advice, 38% of adults 50 and older have used a financial professional for retirement planning. Among those who haven't, the most common reason (41%) is that they'd rather handle it themselves.

Wanting to do it yourself is fine. Doing nothing is the risk. The surveys point to a planning gap:

• Dalbar found that 75% of investors with an advisor had built a retirement funding plan in the past five years. Among investors without one, it was 30%.
• A 2019 Voya survey reported by NAPA found 57% of people with an advisor felt "very prepared" for withdrawal decisions. Only 22% of people without an advisor said the same.

One caveat: both sources work in the advice industry, and the Voya data is several years old. Still, the point holds. An advisor's main value is often that they make you sit down and write a plan. You can do that yourself.

What You Save, and What You Take On

Fees are why many people go it alone. A 2025 WDIV/ClickOnDetroit analysis modeled a hypothetical $1 million portfolio earning 6% before fees over 20 years. In that model, a 1% assets-under-management fee cost about $163,636 more than a $6,000 flat fee rising 1% a year, and the portfolio ended about $219,738 smaller.

That's a large number. But it's a hypothetical, and there's another side. Derek Tharp of Kitces argues that the usual fee comparisons don't capture the full picture, and that a flat fee rarely makes sense for small balances.

The fair way to think about it: if you skip the fee, you take on the work. Here's what that work includes.

None of this needs a license. It does need consistency.

A Step-by-Step DIY Retirement Plan

Step 1: Know your monthly number

Begin with spending, not savings. Work out what you actually spend each month now, then adjust for what will change once you retire: no commute, possibly no mortgage, more travel, and different insurance. This is the step that 48% of workers have skipped. Doing it already puts you ahead.

Step 2: Count what you have

Add up your retirement savings across all your accounts. Write down any other income you expect, such as Social Security, a pension, or part-time work. Social Security timing and taxes can change your numbers a lot, so note when you plan to claim. If you're unsure, model more than one claiming age.

Step 3: Plan for a long life

Many DIY plans end too early. The Social Security Administration's planning guidance (Retirement Information for Medicare Beneficiaries, 2026) says about one in three 65-year-olds may live to at least 90.

If your plan stops at 85, it quietly bets against a third of retirees. A safer default is to run your plan to 95. If longevity runs in your family, go further.

Step 4: Give health care its own line

Fidelity's 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate (July 2025) puts lifetime health care costs for one 65-year-old retiring this year at $172,500. That covers Medicare premiums, deductibles and prescriptions. It does not include long-term care.

Don't bury this in "miscellaneous." Treat it as its own expense that grows year by year. Remember that Medicare premiums can rise with income-based surcharges.

Step 5: Pick a starting withdrawal rate

You've probably heard of the 4% rule. Newer research is more cautious. Morningstar's The State of Retirement Income 2025 (December 2025) puts the safe starting withdrawal rate at 3.9% for a 30-year retirement. "Safe" here means the money lasted in 90% of simulated outcomes.

Here's a hypothetical example. With $800,000 saved, 3.9% works out to $31,200 in the first year, or about $2,600 a month, before Social Security or other income. Compare that with your number from Step 1. The gap between the two is your real planning problem.

The rate you choose matters a lot. Kiplinger, looking at people who retired in 2022, found Monte Carlo testing gave the 4% rule a 72.3% chance of lasting 30 years. Morningstar's more conservative approach (about 3.3% at the time) came in at 91.8%.

Step 6: Test it across many futures

Here's where a DIY plan becomes evidence-based. A Monte Carlo simulation runs your plan through a large number of possible market paths: good decades, bad decades, and bad years early in retirement. It counts how many of those paths keep your money funded.

The result is a success rate. For example, "870 of 1,000 futures stay funded" is an 87% success rate. It's a probability, not a promise. It's more honest than a single projection built on an average return, because no one actually experiences the average.

This is the engine behind Monte Climb. You enter your age, savings, and monthly spending, and the retirement calculator on our homepage runs those three numbers through 1,000 simulated futures. It works in your browser, and nothing is saved until you choose to save it.

Step 7: Break your plan on purpose

Stress-test your plan before life does it for you. Try these:

• Retiring two years earlier, or two years later
• Spending 10% more than you planned
• A weak market in your first few years of retirement
• Living to 100

Then decide ahead of time what you'll do if things go badly. One approach is "guardrails," which the Financial Planning Association's Journal covers in detail. You set limits in advance: if your withdrawal rate drifts too high after a bad market, you cut spending a bit, and if markets do well, you can raise it. Rules you set while calm are easier to follow when you're stressed.

Step 8: Check in every year

A retirement plan isn't something you do once and forget. Once a year, update your savings balance, your actual spending, and your health costs, then run the numbers again. Small course corrections each year are much easier than one big correction later.

How to Read a Success Rate Honestly

Success rates are useful, but they're easy to misread. Keep three things in mind.

1. Success can look very different. A simulation counts as "successful" if you die with $1 left or with $1 million left. A 95% success rate can mean you're underspending. Rob Berger explains this well, and notes that many planners treat around 80% as a working threshold. It isn't a magic line.

2. Assumptions move the result. Advisor Perspectives showed that under the most pessimistic return forecast, the 4% rule's success probability dropped to 62%. In another example, lowering assumed stock returns by 1.4 percentage points cut success from 87% to 78%. Treat any single number as one estimate among several.

3. Look at the trend, not one reading. Does your success rate rise if you work one more year? Fall if you spend $300 more a month? Those comparisons often tell you more than the headline number.

When DIY Isn't Enough

Doing it yourself has limits. Consider getting professional help, even just once, if:

• Your taxes are complicated, for example Roth conversions, several account types, or business income
• You're deciding between a pension lump sum and an annuity
• You have estate, trust, or special-needs planning to handle
• You know you'll panic and sell in a downturn
• You and your spouse can't agree on the plan

There's a middle path between doing everything yourself and paying a 1% fee. Many planners offer hourly or one-time engagements, and Rob Berger's breakdown of how to evaluate planning fees can help you compare them. Many people do the groundwork themselves and then pay for a single review.

Start With Three Numbers

Planning your retirement without a financial advisor comes down to replacing guesses with evidence. Know your spending. Plan for a long life. Give health care its own line. Choose a withdrawal rate based on research. Then test the whole plan against many possible futures, not one average.

You can start in a minute: your age, what you've saved, and what you spend each month. Run them through 1,000 simulated futures and see how many stay funded. Then ask William, our AI planner, follow-up questions like "Am I on track?" or "Can I retire at 62?"

Monte Climb is planning software, not advice. The result you get is a probability, not a promise, but it gives you something concrete to plan around.

Show my answer →

Frequently asked questions

Can I plan for retirement without a financial advisor?

Yes. AARP found that among adults 50 and older who haven't used a financial professional, the most common reason (41%) is that they prefer to handle it themselves. What matters most is having a written plan that covers spending, longevity, health care costs and withdrawals, and reviewing it every year.

What is a safe withdrawal rate if I'm planning retirement myself?

Morningstar's State of Retirement Income 2025 (December 2025) puts the safe starting withdrawal rate at 3.9% for a 30-year retirement, based on money lasting in 90% of simulated outcomes. Treat it as a starting point and test it against your own numbers, not as a guarantee.

What does a Monte Carlo success rate mean?

It's the share of simulated market futures in which your money lasts for your whole plan. For example, 870 out of 1,000 futures staying funded is an 87% success rate. It's a probability, not a promise, and it counts a run as successful whether you end with $1 or $1 million.

How long should a DIY retirement plan run?

Longer than most people expect. Social Security Administration guidance says about one in three 65-year-olds may live to at least 90. Running your plan to 95, or further if longevity runs in your family, helps cover that risk.

When should a DIY planner get professional help?

Consider it if your taxes are complex, you're choosing between a pension lump sum and an annuity, you have estate or trust issues, or you think you'd panic in a downturn. Hourly or one-time advice is a middle option between doing it all yourself and paying an ongoing percentage fee.