Plan file: Save inputs downloads a .json file. Copy shareable link encodes your inputs in a URL — nothing is stored on our servers.

Retirement Paycheck Builder

Plan your retirement paycheck and rebalance your portfolio in one place — from spending and taxes all the way to the exact trades that fund your year.

Tax Year: 2026 · Federal brackets, standard deduction & IRMAA tiers
Your Annual SpendingStep 1 of 7
1
Your Annual Spending
What you plan to spend — taxes are estimated and added automatically
▾
Start with what you actually need to live — housing, food, healthcare, travel, subscriptions, and one-off items. Then add an estimate for income taxes. This total is your gross spending need before subtracting any income sources. Getting this number right is the foundation of everything else.
$
Housing, food, healthcare, travel, all categories
Affects 65+ senior deduction and IRMAA
Leave at 0 if single / not applicable
Applied as a flat estimated rate on your MAGI -- not a full state bracket calculation. Some states tax retirement income differently (PA and IL, for example, exempt most retirement income), so treat this as a rough estimate, not a precise state tax return.
Irregular & One-Time Expenses This Year
$
$
Living Expenses
$0
what you plan to spend
One-Time Items
$0
this year only
Est. Total Tax
—
federal + state, added to withdrawal need
How taxes work in this tool: Your living expenses do not need to include taxes. The tool estimates your federal and state income tax based on your income mix and adds it to your total withdrawal need automatically. You'll see the full tax breakdown in Step 5.
2
Your Income Sources (2026 amounts)
Enter this year's amounts for the 2026 tax picture. Uncheck any source that won't continue in 2027 so the paycheck sizing reflects next year.
▾
Every dollar of income from outside your portfolio is one fewer dollar you need to withdraw. Social Security, pensions, part-time work, and rental income arrive directly in your checking account. Dividends and interest work differently — turn off reinvestment and they land in your brokerage's money market fund, where they get bundled into your monthly auto-transfer (see Step 6). Either way, all of these income sources reduce the gap you need to fill with your once-a-year portfolio withdrawal.
Not sure where things go? The Step 2 IRA / 401(k) Withdrawals Already Taken (YTD) field is only for distributions that have already happened this tax year (RMD taken, one-time pulls, monthly IRA distributions). Anything you're still planning to take — including money to fill up a tax bracket or a Roth conversion — belongs in Step 5.
2026 vs 2027: Amounts drive the 2026 tax projection. The "Continues next year" checkbox next to each income item controls what flows into 2027 paycheck sizing. Example: a part-time job ending this year — leave the amount in (for accurate 2026 taxes) but uncheck the box (so it isn't counted as 2027 income).
$
Combined household benefits (before Medicare Part B).
$
$
$
After expenses, before tax
$
Distributions you've already received this tax year (including any RMD). Used for MAGI/tax only — not shown in the rebalancing plan. Additional planned pulls go in Step 5.
$
Total dividends from 1099-DIV Box 1a — turn off reinvestment to use as income
$
From 1099-INT — savings, CDs, bonds — always taxed as ordinary income
$
From 1099-DIV Box 1b — taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate. Rough estimate: for broad US index funds ~85–100% of ordinary dividends are usually qualified; for bond funds and REITs it's near 0%. Cannot exceed Box 1a.
Household & ACA
Used to calculate ACA subsidy cliff (under 65 only)
Total Annual Income
$0
SS, pension, work, rental, dividends, interest
Coverage
0%
of expenses covered
Gap to Fill
$0
spending gap + estimated taxes still owed
3
Your Portfolio
Total invested assets and withdrawal rate check
▾
The withdrawal rate is how much your portfolio is producing for your lifestyle each year as a percentage of its total value. It includes the once-a-year cash withdrawal, any extra IRA/401(k) withdrawal from Step 5, taxes paid from the portfolio, AND dividends and interest received (since those are part of your portfolio's total return being consumed). Under 4% is generally considered sustainable long-term. 4–6% can work with some flexibility. Above 6% starts to put real pressure on a portfolio over a long retirement.
$
$
$
—
Withdrawal Rate
Enter your portfolio values above
Total Portfolio
$1,400,000
across all accounts
Annual Withdrawal (manual)
$0
covers gap + taxes, sold to money market
Annual Funds from Portfolio
$—
includes dividends + interest
Withdrawal Rate
—
of total portfolio
4
Where to Pull From
Account sourcing strategy and withdrawal order
▾
Not all accounts are taxed the same way. Withdrawing from your taxable brokerage first gives retirement accounts more time to grow and lets you take advantage of lower long-term capital gains rates. Traditional IRA/401(k) withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. Roth withdrawals are tax-free. The right order depends on your age, income level, and whether you're managing ACA subsidies or IRMAA thresholds.
5
Your Tax Picture (2026)
2026 brackets, capital gains, and key thresholds — uses the full income you entered in Step 2
▾
Income stacks from the bottom up inside the tax brackets. Ordinary income (IRA withdrawals, Social Security, pension, part-time work) fills the brackets first. Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains sit on top of that stack — taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on where they land. This is why a large IRA withdrawal can push your capital gains into a higher bracket even though the gains themselves haven't changed.
Portfolio Transactions This Year
$
Additional IRA/401(k) distribution you're planning to take this year (e.g. to intentionally fill a low tax bracket). Adds to ordinary income and shows up as a Traditional withdrawal in the rebalancing plan below.
$
Amount converted from traditional IRA to Roth — taxed as ordinary income. Stays inside your retirement accounts, so it does not reduce your portfolio withdrawal need. Click the ? next to the label for how this differs from an IRA withdrawal.
$
Long-term gains from selling taxable brokerage positions
$
Mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable gifts, medical expenses, etc. Standard deduction used if left blank or if this is lower.
$
From your prior year Schedule D — offsets gains first, then up to $3,000 of ordinary income
$
Reduces your MAGI, which can help you stay under ACA/IRMAA limits and open up more room to fill the lower tax brackets.
Taxes Already Paid This Year
$
Federal tax withheld from wages, pension, Social Security, IRA distributions, plus any quarterly estimated payments already made. Reduces how much of the year's tax bill still has to come out of the portfolio.
$
State tax withheld or paid via quarterly estimates so far this year.
Income by Tax Rate
MAGI (IRMAA)
—
taxable SS only
MAGI (ACA)
—
full SS added back
Total Taxable Income
—
after deductions
Est. Federal Tax
—
federal income tax
Est. State Tax
—
state income tax
Effective Rate
—
avg rate on all income
Marginal Rate
—
federal, next dollar of ordinary income
Year-End Threshold Check
6
Your Monthly Paycheck (2027 plan)
Sized for 2027 — uses only income sources you flagged as continuing next year
▾
$--
monthly auto-transfer to checking
Annual Withdrawal
--
Annual Tax Estimate
--
Withdrawal Rate
--
How your monthly transfer is calculated
Portfolio & IRA withdrawal ÷ 12--
Dividends & interest ÷ 12--
Monthly auto-transfer--
Covers living expenses only. Includes any extra IRA/401(k) withdrawal from Step 5. Taxes, one-time expenses, and YTD IRA/401(k) withdrawals are excluded from this monthly transfer — see callouts below. SS, pension, rental & part-time income go directly to checking and are not included here.
How to set up your retirement paycheck
The goal: Replace the automatic paycheck you had while working with an equally automatic system funded by your portfolio. Once set up, the same amount lands in your checking account on the same day every month — no manual decisions, no logging in to sell investments, no guessing. You do the work once a year and the rest runs on autopilot.
1
Calculate your annual withdrawal need. That is what this calculator is for. The number at the top of this section — $— per year — is your spending need: annual living expenses, less the income that arrives automatically (Social Security, pension, dividends). It does not include income taxes or one-time expenses, which are funded separately rather than through the monthly paycheck. Revisit this calculation once a year as your spending and income sources change.
2
Once a year (ideally in Q4), sell investments to fund the coming year. Log into your brokerage account, review your allocation, and sell from whatever has grown the most relative to your target. This accomplishes two things at once: it rebalances your portfolio and generates your spending cash. Do not wait until you need the money — do it proactively in October or November so the cash is ready on January 1.
3
Park the full year's cash in your money market settlement fund. Move $— into your brokerage money market fund — this is the total the portfolio needs to produce this year. This is not the same as a savings account — it sits inside your brokerage, earns competitive interest, and is the staging area for your monthly transfers and tax payments. The three main options are:

  • Fidelity: SPAXX — automatic default settlement fund
  • Vanguard: VMFXX — set as your settlement fund in account settings
  • Schwab: SWVXX — must be set up manually; Schwab's default sweep earns less
4
Set up a recurring monthly transfer to your checking account. From your money market fund, create an automatic transfer of $— per month to your primary checking account. Steps vary by brokerage:

  • Fidelity: Accounts → Transfer → Set Up Automatic Transfers → select frequency and amount
  • Vanguard: My Accounts → Transact → Automatic Transactions → Withdraw Money
  • Schwab: Accounts → Transfer & Payments → Automatic Money Transfer

Pick a date that works for your bills — the 1st or 15th are common. Once saved, this transfer runs every month without any action on your part.
5
Know which income sources go where. Social Security deposits directly to your bank account. Pension payments, rental income, and part-time wages also typically arrive in checking on their own. Dividends and interest from your taxable accounts are different — by default they often reinvest, but once you turn off reinvestment, they land in your brokerage's money market fund alongside your annual withdrawal, not directly in checking. That is why the monthly transfer amount in Step 4 already includes your dividends and interest along with your IRA withdrawal — they all move through the same pipeline.
6
Handle taxes proactively — they are not withheld automatically. Unlike a paycheck, portfolio withdrawals arrive gross. You have two options:

  • Quarterly estimated payments: Pay the IRS directly four times a year (due mid-April, mid-June, mid-September, and mid-January). Use IRS Direct Pay at irs.gov/payments. Base the amount on last year's tax bill to avoid underpayment penalties.
  • IRA withholding: When you initiate your annual IRA withdrawal, elect to withhold a percentage for federal taxes. This is simpler but reduces the cash available for your money market pool.

A Nectarine advisor can help you decide which approach fits your situation and estimate the right withholding amount.
7
Repeat the annual review every Q4. Each October or November: (1) compare actual spending to the plan, (2) review your portfolio balance and allocation, (3) rebalance and sell to fund next year, (4) update the monthly transfer amount if your spending has changed. The whole process takes one or two hours a year. Everything else is automatic.
Starting mid-year? If you are transitioning from employment to retirement partway through the year, scale the annual withdrawal amount to the months remaining. For example, if you retire in July, you only need roughly half the annual figure for the current year. Set the monthly transfer accordingly and recalibrate for the full year amount starting in January.
↓
Full Summary
Everything in one place — print or screenshot to save
▾
A note on accuracy: This tool uses 2026 federal tax brackets and standard deductions. State income tax is estimated with a flat top-bracket rate. Social Security taxability is computed using the IRS provisional-income worksheet (0% / up to 50% / up to 85% inclusion based on other income); tax-exempt interest is not collected and therefore not included in provisional income. For a personalized analysis tied to your specific situation, connect with a Nectarine advisor at hellonectarine.com.
Disclosures. This is for illustrative purposes only. Results are hypothetical, based on user inputs and certain assumptions, and are not a guarantee or prediction of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those shown. Nothing presented should be construed as personalized investment, legal, or tax advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Nectarine Financial, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.
8
Target Allocation
Set your portfolio's target percentages, then we'll build the rebalancing plan
▾

Enter target % for each class. Must total 100%.

%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Tax Awareness — Rebalancing Trades

This setting controls the rebalancing trades and how much tax friction you're willing to accept in the taxable brokerage to hit the target allocation. If you're also using the Paycheck Builder, your assigned cash withdrawal is handled separately from these rebalancing rules.

9
Accounts & Holdings
Enter each account's current holdings — values pre-filled from Step 3 where possible
▾

Accounts are pre-loaded with one row per asset class in your target. Fill in the current dollar value for each holding. Add or remove rows freely. Cost basis is optional but improves tax-aware sell ordering within taxable accounts.

10
Review & Rebalancing Plan
Current allocation, recommended trades, and before/after summary
▾

Make sure Steps 8 and 9 are filled in first, then calculate your plan.

Includes your paycheck summary, assumptions, and rebalancing plan.
This is for illustrative purposes only. Results are hypothetical, based on user inputs and certain assumptions, and are not a guarantee or prediction of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those shown. Nothing presented should be construed as personalized investment, legal, or tax advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Nectarine Financial, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Retirement Income & Rebalancing Wizard by Nectarine Financial

This is for illustrative purposes only. Results are hypothetical, based on user inputs and certain assumptions, and are not a guarantee or prediction of future results. Actual results may differ materially from those shown. Nothing presented should be construed as personalized investment, legal, or tax advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Nectarine Financial, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.