Answers
Answers about WealthPlanner
How the site works, what it costs, what happens to your data, where its limits are, and how the advisor directory treats firms. Each question has its own page with the short answer first.
What WealthPlanner is
- What is WealthPlanner?WealthPlanner (wealthplanner.com) is a free website of 16 personal finance calculators and guides for US households and Americans living abroad. It covers retirement, Social Security, required minimum distributions, Roth conversions, inherited IRAs for non-resident heirs, early retirement, federal benefits and moving abroad. It turns a money question into a specific number and shows the rules behind it. It is also building a directory of fee-only advisory firms drawn from SEC public records.
- Is WealthPlanner a financial advisor?No. WealthPlanner is an educational tool. It is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer or tax preparer. Its results are estimates based on the figures you enter and on the published rules each calculator models. They are not personalized financial advice.
- Who is WealthPlanner for?WealthPlanner is for people in the US, and Americans living abroad, who want a specific number for a specific money decision: when they can retire, when to claim Social Security, how much an RMD or Roth conversion will cost in tax, what a non-resident heir pays on an inherited IRA, or how a move abroad changes the plan.
- Who is WealthPlanner not for?WealthPlanner is not the right tool if you want someone to manage your money, pick investments, prepare your tax return, sync your bank accounts automatically, or plan under a non-US tax system. It is also not a substitute for professional advice when a decision is large and hard to reverse.
Cost and how the site is funded
- Is WealthPlanner free?Yes. Every calculator and guide on WealthPlanner is free, with no account, no trial and no paywall on results. A paid Pro plan for extras such as unlimited saved scenarios and PDF export is planned but not on sale.
- How does WealthPlanner make money?WealthPlanner plans to earn money from optional paid listings (Basic and Premium) for advisory firms in its directory and from affiliate commissions on links clearly marked as sponsored. Neither is live yet, so today nothing on the site is a paid placement. A paid listing never changes a firm's public-record data or a calculator result.
- Do I need an account to use WealthPlanner?No. Every calculator works without signing up or giving an email address, and accounts are not open to the public yet.
Your data and privacy
- Does WealthPlanner store the numbers I enter?No. The calculators run in your browser, and the figures you type are not sent to WealthPlanner's servers. A result leaves your device only if you choose to share a results link.
- Does WealthPlanner sell my data?No. WealthPlanner does not sell personal data, and it does not give your email address to advisors or other companies for their marketing.
- Does WealthPlanner connect to my bank or investment accounts?No. WealthPlanner has no bank, brokerage or credit-bureau connections and never asks for account logins. You type in the figures you want to model.
Accuracy and who writes the content
- How accurate are WealthPlanner's calculators?Each calculator is built from the published rules it models, such as IRS tables, Social Security Administration formulas and OPM retirement rules, and its maths is covered by automated tests. Results are still estimates. They depend on your inputs, on assumed returns and inflation, and on simplifications that each calculator explains.
- Who writes and reviews WealthPlanner's content?The WealthPlanner editorial team researches and writes the calculators and guides, and cites key figures to primary sources such as the IRS, SSA and OPM. No page currently carries an outside reviewer's byline. When a credentialed reviewer checks a page, their name and credentials will appear on that page.
- How do I report an error on WealthPlanner?Use the contact page (wealthplanner.com/contact) with the page address, the figures you entered and what you expected to see. Calculation errors are treated as defects. The calculation and the page text are fixed together.
Using the tools
- Can I use WealthPlanner if I live outside the US?Yes, if you are a US citizen or green-card holder living abroad. Several tools cover Social Security abroad, inheriting a US retirement account while living abroad, and the cost of retiring overseas. If you are not a US taxpayer, the tax results will not apply to you, because the calculators use US federal rules.
- Can I save, share or print my WealthPlanner results?Some calculators let you share a link to your results; saving them and emailing them to yourself are not available yet. PDF export is reserved for the planned Pro plan, which is not on sale yet. In the meantime, your browser's print function works on any results page.
- Can I embed WealthPlanner calculators on my website?Not yet. There is no embeddable widget or documented public API today. If you run a site for an audience these tools serve, such as a planning practice, a federal-benefits blog or an expat community, tell us through the contact page (wealthplanner.com/contact) to hear when embeds open.
Financial advisors and the directory
- Does WealthPlanner recommend financial advisors?No. WealthPlanner is building a directory of fee-only advisory firms drawn from SEC Form ADV and IAPD public records, but it does not recommend, verify, endorse or rate any firm. The directory is not open yet. Until it is, the guide below shows how to check an advisor yourself in the same public records.
- Does WealthPlanner rate, rank or endorse advisory firms?No. WealthPlanner does not rate, review, verify or endorse any firm. Directory listings put firms paying for a listing first (Premium, then Basic), labelled as paid; then firms that have claimed their profile; then all other firms, alphabetical within each group. Payment changes placement and presentation only, never a firm's public-record data.
- Does WealthPlanner sell leads to financial advisors?No. The advisor directory does not collect consumers' contact details or pass enquiries to firms. People who find a firm contact it directly through the firm's own website, phone number or booking link.
For advisory firms
- Is my advisory firm listed on WealthPlanner?WealthPlanner's advisor directory is not open yet. When it opens, it will list investment advisory firms that serve individual clients and whose most recent Form ADV supports a fee-only label, using facts from SEC Form ADV and IAPD public records. Firms whose filings do not support that label are not published.
- Where does WealthPlanner get its information about advisory firms?From public regulatory records: the Form ADV data that firms file with the SEC and state regulators, and the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) records for firms and their representatives. WealthPlanner reproduces those facts with their filing date. It does not change or verify them.
- How does WealthPlanner decide a firm is fee-only?From the firm's own Form ADV. A firm is labelled fee-only only when its most recent filing reports no commissions, no broker-dealer or insurance sales capacity and no product-selling affiliates (Items 5.E, 6.A and 7.A). Firms whose filing does not support that label are not published.
- How do I claim my firm's profile on WealthPlanner, and is it free?The advisor directory is not open to the public yet. We are inviting firms to claim their profiles first: if your firm received an invitation, its link takes you straight to your profile. Other firms can claim once the directory opens. It works like this. Claiming is free. Find your firm on the claim page, confirm that you work there and are authorised to manage its profile, and enter your work email. If the email is on your firm's website domain, you confirm by clicking a link that is valid for 48 hours. Any other email goes to a person for review, usually within 48 hours.
- How do I correct or remove my firm's profile on WealthPlanner?The advisor directory is not open yet, so no firm profile is public. When it opens, it works like this. Use the "Report an error or remove this profile" link on the profile. Removal takes effect immediately and is permanent: the profile is unpublished and does not come back when public-record data is refreshed. Corrections are answered within 48 hours.
- What is a paid listing (Basic or Premium) on WealthPlanner?Paid listings are not on sale yet, because the advisor directory is not open. When it opens, it works like this. Basic and Premium are optional paid upgrades for a claimed firm profile. They add a booking link and place the firm ahead of non-paying firms in directory listings, labelled as paid. They are not on sale yet, and their prices will be published when they are.
Looking for a specific calculation? Browse all calculators.