Most retirement calculators use oversimplified models that ignore fat tails, correlated crashes, and the reality of sequence-of-returns risk. We built Retirement Lab to fix that.
Traditional retirement calculators assume market returns follow a nice bell curve. They treat a 40% crash as a near-impossibility that happens once every few thousand years. But history tells a different story: 2008 happened. The dot-com bust happened. Black Monday happened.
Gaussian models systematically underestimate these tail events. They also ignore the fact that stocks, bonds, and other assets tend to crash together - precisely when diversification matters most.
We built Retirement Lab because we wanted a tool that models what actually happens in markets: fat tails, skewed distributions, correlated drawdowns, and the compounding effect of bad returns early in retirement. We wanted the kind of modeling that quantitative researchers use - made accessible to individuals.
We use the same Monte Carlo methods taught in graduate finance programs and used by quantitative researchers - not oversimplified retirement calculators.
Our Pro tier includes fat tails, sequence of return risk, and dynamic spending - features typically only available in advisor-only platforms.
We explain our methodology, show our assumptions, and help you understand the "why" behind every result - not just black-box predictions.
Retirement Lab is built by a software engineer with a deep interest in finance and quantitative methods. What started as a personal project - trying to model retirement risk properly - grew into a full product after realizing how few tools take fat tails, correlated crashes, and sequence-of-returns risk seriously.
We are based in Switzerland and operate independently. We do not manage money, sell financial products, or partner with brokers. Retirement Lab is our full focus.
The principles that guide every decision we make
We believe in open, honest communication about our methodology and limitations.
Constantly improving our algorithms and features to provide cutting-edge analysis.
Making advanced simulation tools available to everyone, not just the wealthy.
Empowering users to understand the math and logic behind their retirement plans.