Questions people ask us

Retirable exists to give people who aren’t wealthy the kind of retirement advice that used to come only with a big account balance. Most advisors set minimums that leave ordinary savers out, so people who saved carefully for decades end up on their own at the moment it matters most: when they stop working and start living on that money.

We pair a licensed advisor with tools that show you what you can spend each month, and we do it for everyone, no matter how much they’ve saved.

Retirable was founded by R. Tyler End, a Certified Financial Planner, and Ian Yamey. Tyler started out as an advisor at Northwestern Mutual and kept meeting families who couldn’t get basic financial help, including his own mother, a teacher and single parent who didn’t have the savings a traditional advisor asks for.

Our team has worked at long-established firms and at newer companies like Betterment, Policygenius, and Current. You can meet the people behind Retirable on our About page.

Retirable is for people within a few years of retirement, or already retired, who want a licensed advisor no matter how much they’ve saved. Most of our clients saved carefully for a long time and are now working out how to turn that into a monthly paycheck.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. If you’re not sure you’ve saved enough, or you feel like you’ve made mistakes along the way, that’s a normal place to start, and it’s what the first conversation is for.

No. Every Retirable client has one licensed advisor, a real person you can call, text, or video chat with, and the advice comes from them.

We do use technology. The Retirable app shows what you can spend this month and how your plan is doing, so you can check in whenever you like. When you have a decision to make, you talk it through with your advisor, not a screen.

Yes. Retirable is a Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and you can view our registration on the SEC’s website. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Our advisors are licensed, U.S.-based fiduciaries, which means they’re legally required to put you first.

One fee: 1% a year on the savings we manage for you, capped at $10,000 a year. That fee pays for your advisor, your plan, and the trading in your account. No fund company pays us to use their funds.

The cap is on our fee alone. The custodian that holds your account charges its own fees, and the funds you hold have their own costs. Your advisor shows you both before you move anything.

Some insurance products, like certain annuities, pay a commission to Retirable, and to your advisor when they act as the insurance agent. That’s a conflict of interest. You get it in writing, and your advisor talks it through with you, before you decide anything.

Retirable is based in New York City, and our advisors work from home offices across the United States. There’s no branch to visit. You meet with your advisor by phone, text, email, or video chat, whichever you prefer.

Our advisors are available Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm Eastern, by phone, text, or email. If those hours don’t work for you, tell your advisor and they’ll find a time that does.

Yes. The Retirable app for iPhone and Android shows your plan and what you can spend this month.

If you’d rather not use an app, that’s fine. Your advisor can go over everything with you by phone. If something in the app isn’t working, email [email protected].

The Retirable Paycheck is a monthly transfer from your own retirement savings to your bank account. You and your advisor decide the amount together, based on your plan: what you’ve saved, what you spend, and what’s already coming in from Social Security or a pension.

When something changes, like a trip to see family or a roof that needs replacing, you call your advisor and change the number. To get started, you move your existing retirement accounts into a Retirable IRA, and the paycheck comes from there.

A Retirable IRA is an ordinary IRA, held in your name at Altruist, our custodian, and managed by Retirable. The same IRA rules on taxes and withdrawals apply as anywhere else.

What’s different is what comes with it: an advisor who works out your monthly paycheck with you, investments split into three buckets for now, soon, and later, and a plan we update when your life changes. Your advisor will go over the details in your first conversation.

With an annuity, you hand a lump sum to an insurance company in exchange for payments later. How long those payments last, and what it costs to take money back out, depend on the contract. Many charge a surrender fee if you withdraw during the first several years, and taxes can apply too.

With Retirable, your savings and investments stay in an account in your name. You and your advisor decide on a monthly paycheck from it, and you can change the amount, change the plan, or move your account. Normal retirement account rules, taxes, and any custodian fees still apply.

We can’t promise a paycheck for life. Some annuities are built to do that, and for some people that’s the right choice. Your advisor will help you weigh the trade-offs.

To get a monthly paycheck from Retirable, the savings you want us to manage move into a Retirable-managed account in your name. The account is yours; we manage what’s in it. Savings you’d rather leave where they are can stay put.

What moves, and how, depends on the kinds of accounts you have and where they’re held — sometimes it’s a transfer, sometimes a rollover. Your advisor walks you through it, handles the paperwork with your current provider, and tells you what to expect at each step.

The accounts we manage for you are held in your name at Altruist, an independent custodian, not at Retirable. If anything happened to us, your account would still be there and still be yours. You could keep it at Altruist or transfer it to another firm.

It starts with a free phone call, about 30 minutes, with a licensed advisor. They ask about what you’ve saved, what you spend, what’s coming in from Social Security, and what’s worrying you.

Then you build the plan together on a video call. Your advisor shares their screen, so you watch the numbers change as you talk through the decisions: when to claim Social Security, what Medicare will cost, how much you can take out each month. If you want to see what happens if you retire a year earlier, or spend a little more, you ask and they show you.

The plan is yours to keep, whether or not you decide to work with us. If you do, the same advisor stays with you and updates it when something changes.

Yes. Your advisor is a licensed, U.S.-based person, and they’re who you reach when you call, text, or video chat. We don’t hand your questions to a chatbot or a call center. Over time, they get to know you, and you get to know them.

Every Retirable advisor is licensed as an investment adviser, has experience in financial planning, and completes our training in retirement income planning before working with a client.

All of them are U.S.-based fiduciaries, legally required to put you first, and retirement is all they work on.

Yes. You have one advisor, and they’re who you reach when you call, text, or email. They know your situation, so you don’t start from the beginning each time, and they update your plan as your life changes.

Anything to do with retirement, not only your investments. The questions we hear most: when to claim Social Security, what Medicare will cost, whether to take a pension as a lump sum or monthly payments, whether to move or stay put, part-time work, and how to plan for long-term care.

If it affects your money in retirement, bring it up.

Yes. Every Retirable advisor is a fiduciary, which means they’re legally required to put your interests ahead of their own and ours.

Their pay doesn’t change based on what they recommend, and they don’t earn commissions on your investments. When they suggest a change, it’s because they think it fits your plan.

Not on your investments. No fund company pays us to use their funds, and your advisor’s pay doesn’t change based on what they recommend.

One exception: some insurance products, like certain annuities, pay Retirable a commission. Your advisor doesn’t receive it, and we tell you before you decide.

Retirable charges 1% a year on the savings we manage for you, capped at $10,000 a year. The first conversation and the plan that comes out of it are free, and there’s no charge to call your advisor.

Two costs sit outside that fee. The custodian that holds your account charges its own fees, and the funds you hold have their own costs, taken out of the fund itself. If you transfer accounts from another firm, that firm may charge a transfer fee.

See what’s included on our pricing page.

We don’t have branch offices, and our advisors work from home offices across the country. Our tools handle the paperwork and the math, so your advisor’s time goes to talking with you.

That’s what lets us cap our fee at $10,000 a year and work with people that advisors with account minimums turn away. You still get one advisor who knows your situation and answers the phone.

There isn’t one. The first call is how you find out whether we’re a good fit, and how we find out whether we can help.

You talk with a licensed advisor about your situation, and you leave with a plan of your own, even if you decide not to work with us. There’s nothing to buy first, and we won’t ask for a credit card.

Call or text 833-222-1807, or email [email protected]. Either way, your message goes to your own advisor, not a call center.

If you’d rather talk face to face, you can schedule a video call with them for a time that suits you.

You can cancel any time. Email [email protected] and tell us you’d like to close your account.

If we manage any accounts for you, your advisor helps you transfer the balance to another firm. Your money stays in your name the whole way through.

We split your savings into three buckets: now, soon, and later. The first holds about a year of spending in the most conservative investments we use, so a rough month in the market doesn’t decide what you can spend. The second covers the next few years and is invested more moderately. The third is money you won’t touch for a decade or more, and it takes on more risk, including a greater chance of loss, in exchange for more room to grow.

Each bucket is spread across many funds and kinds of investments. Investing carries risk, including the chance of losing money, and spreading it out doesn’t remove that risk. See how we invest for the six rules we follow with every account.

Low-cost exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, from Vanguard, Schwab, BlackRock iShares, and Invesco. Each fund holds many stocks or bonds, which spreads your savings out instead of relying on a handful of companies.

Nobody pays us to use their funds. We pick them for low cost and how well they fit your plan.

Not much. As of March 2026, the funds in a typical Retirable portfolio have annual costs, called expense ratios, between 0.05% and 0.11%. The fund company takes that out of the fund itself, and it’s separate from our 1% fee.

Before we invest anything, your advisor goes over the specific funds and what each one costs.

You can change the mix. If you’d like more or less in the growth bucket, talk with your advisor and they’ll adjust it with your plan in mind.

We don’t offer individual stock picking inside a Retirable account. Some clients keep a separate brokerage account for that, and your advisor can factor it into your plan.

We check every account at least once a week. Over time, the parts of your account that grew faster take up more room than planned. Rebalancing means selling a little of those and buying more of the rest, to get back to the mix in your plan.

We only trade when your account has drifted meaningfully from its targets, not on a schedule for its own sake. Your advisor can show you how it works for your account.

Because the advice depends on it. To tell you how much you can take out each month, your advisor needs to know what you’ve saved, what you spend, what’s coming in from Social Security or a pension, and what you owe.

We ask for what the plan needs and nothing more, and we don’t sell your information to anyone.

Your information is encrypted when you send it to us and while it’s stored, and we don’t sell or rent it to anyone. Every membership also includes $1M in identity theft insurance and credit monitoring.

Our Privacy Policy spells out what we collect and how we use it.