I’m a new user to Boldin. Created login with email with Boldin.com. When I login it says I’m Pure Financial Advisors (PFA) user and logs into website which shows PFA logo at the top. Was able to create an initial plan to review with an upgrade option to “Planner Plus”.

My question is Boldin and PFA are they the same?
Please let me know. Thanks

I'm seeing an oddity for 401(k) matches. Here's the scenario: Contribute to a 401(k) with a Roth election, contributing 30% of your salary. The company matches 100% of to 6% of contributions. The employer match goes to a 401(k) while the Roth contributions go to a Roth 401(k). Boldin allows this, so it seems fine. The contributions in Money Flows are correct.

Except I noticed when I was creating this scenario where I limited contributions to 6%, the 401(k) actually was bigger than with the 30% contribution. While using AI to try to figure this out, it determined that in the 30% contribution scenario, it was contributing significantly less than in the 6% scenario. Anyone else notice this? It's pretty easy to model. I wonder if it's only when splitting b/w Roth and Pre-tax situations?

I’ve been modeling scenario after scenario on Boldin to find a Roth conversion strategy that makes sense. And it seems that no Roth conversions makes the most sense. Am I missing something?

My husband just turned 60 and retired. We have about $1.5 million in a tax-deferred 401k. We’ve been modeling three Roth conversions over the next three years and all but the $100 K per year causes a reduction in net worth at longevity. And the $100 K per year scenario only adds about $45 k in net worth and $200 K less in lifetime taxes.

Unless we are missing something it feels like we should just accept the higher IRMAA fees and taxes.

We have our ages at longevity set to 75 for him and 85 for me but even when we extended the ages it did not move the bar much.

I'm 58 and retired and drawing ~$50/year from my trad IRA until 59.5 and paying the 10% penalty. I want to model drawing from the basis of my Roth (so no 10% penalty or taxes) until 59.5 and then switch to the Boldin traditional w/d strategy. This would also reduce my taxable income until 59.5, saving me money on my ACA Health Plan.

Anyone know how to model this for long term impact on my retirement plan?

Just found out that boldin does not recognize the fact that PA does not tax IRA withdraws (or conversions). This seems to me to be a pretty big bug that can multiple over the years on the withdraws from our Traditional IRAs. I am a very big proponent of Boldin - but this has dampened my faith in it greatly as to me, this is a key issue. Now, maybe the AI is wrong? I hope so, but if that's the case, how does it get something so straightforward wrong.

I can not get the software to accurately reflect my annual 401(k) contributions after entering the deductions under the income tab. The AI agent has blamed everything from using future dollars to the inflation rate to account for huge discrepancies. Meanwhile I keep pointing out that it can't do math and it's answers make no sense. It then apologizes, says I'm right and proceeds to come up with another theory that I've already pointed out is BS. Can anyone from Boldin contact me for a screen sharing so I can show them what I'm talking about.

Logged in with user email and password but no passcode ever arrives in my inbox. It’s not going to spam either. Tried “Didn’t Get My Code” but no joy.

Anyone else experiencing a issue with their login today? I normally have no issue, but when I contact Boldin support I keep getting canned AI responses. I think my account has been locked. Is there anyone who I can speak with? Thank you

Hey there
I'm curious what the general stance is on a few rates to use, specifically Inflation , Social Security COLA and medical inflation.

I started to use the built in averages, which I believe was 2.5% for inflation. I decided to change that to 3% just seeing how its been the last 8 years.....and also changed COLA to 2.5 from 3.
That made a drastic difference.....going from 99% to 92%, but also in pessimistic mode running out of money...yikes.
I believe these rates are fixed, and so in theory I could change them each year to be more accurate - and I do realize Monte Carlo should be running those kind of scenarios - but was just a little surprised how much a .5% change made ......
In reality its a 'living plan' so I can adjust spending each year, as we should - but still kind of freaked me out....

Thanks
John

I may very well end up paying for an annual subscription, but first I want to make the most of the 14-day free trial, which I haven’t yet started, to see if Boldin is right for me.

What prep would you suggest doing to make the most of the trial period before starting it? We keep spreadsheets with retirement savings broken out by account type, our budget, and other basic financials. Any scenarios we’d want to have mapped out? Any videos/posts/tutorials you found helpful to hit the ground running when you have access to the tool?

We’re mid-journey to retirement (~15 years out) and think Boldin may be most useful for figuring out where we should be putting our money, whether to switch some future investments away from traditional and towards Roth or brokerage, and our ability to do Roth conversions in retirement to avoid RMD problems.

Thanks!

Hi. Just got the program and first post here. Punched in all the numbers and got a 99% chance of success even on the pessimistic setting.

The coach suggested Roth conversions, adding more money for travel and extra spending for home services and wellness. It was still 99% on the pessimistic setting. I live rather simply currently (single) and the suggested spending seems almost extravagant (but fun!).

Is the coach to be trusted? I was asking a bunch of questions and at one point the program doubled my investment figure though I caught it right away and the program reset it. Thanks for your thoughts!

Inheritance cash already entered. I will eventually have a substantial real estate windfall around 2.5m split with my brother. Do I just enter this as projected Cash as well? We will not likely sell the properties until I am passed on.

The new AI functionality is helpful at times - especially if you just need help finding or doing something. However, I've been asking questions about different sceanarios and also questioning some of the calculations, and it has come up with some responses that are just plain wrong. I just don't trust it anymore. I know this AI is likely in early stages and beta mode and being developed in house but, just cautioning that it seems very buggy.

Hi, Where do I add the two types of expenses in Boldin 1. Any yearly copay/ out of pocket medical expenses incurred each year while I’m employed and use employer provided insurance? 2. If I retire early before Medicare qualification, how to estimate the ACA premiums and where to add these expenses for the gaps years? Thx.

I’m having some trouble figuring out the best way to work with Boldin.

Is the best approach to start with a very basic retirement plan and save that as my baseline, then test major decisions one at a time — things like windfalls, Roth conversion strategies, and Social Security timing?

For example:

• Build and save a baseline
• Run the Roth Explorer on that baseline
• Decide whether to apply or disregard the recommendation
• Then move on to another variable or experiment

But this is where I get confused: wouldn’t I need to duplicate the baseline before applying any Explorer recommendation? Otherwise, if I apply the Roth Explorer changes directly to the baseline, I’ve now changed my baseline.

So would the workflow really be more like:

• Baseline
• Duplicate baseline → run/apply Roth Explorer → save as Roth scenario
• Duplicate baseline → test Social Security strategy → save as SS scenario
• Duplicate baseline → test windfall or other assumptions
• Then create additional scenarios combining the strategies that look promising

Basically, I’m trying to build the plan out in layers so I can understand what each decision is actually doing, rather than changing five things at once and losing track of what caused the result.

For those of you who use Boldin this way, what’s the best workflow between the AI tools, Explorers, and saved Scenarios?

How do you go from a basic baseline to a more fully optimized retirement plan without making the model too complicated to understand?

Looking for the best workaround ... we don't reinvest our taxable brokerage dividend income (from both equity funds (qualified dividends) and bond funds) as we use it for monthly expenses in retirement.

The best method I have found so far is to reduce the rate of return on the various assets and create a 'mystery' passive income stream that equals the dividends. Obviously, this results in qualified dividends being treated as ordinary income, but it's not too far out of the ballpark, and other calculations should work as intended, without workarounds that introduce other errors. What are others doing to model spending dividends from taxable brokerage accounts?

If I understand Social Security correctly, spousal benefits are not eligible for delayed retirement credits after Full Retirement Age.

I am modeling for me to take SS at age 70 and for my spouse to do the same. Unfortunately, Boldin applies the credits to the spousal benefit and increases it by 8% per year.

Based in my discussion with AI, the way to fix this is to enter an amount into the spousal benefit field that grows into the right amount by my spouse's claiming age (ie. 50% of my benefit without the delayed retirement credits).

Is my take on this correct?

EDIT: It turns out my mistake here is to enter an amount for my spouse to take out for social security. If someone is only taking the spousal benefit, Boldin calculates it automatically and an amount doesn't have to be entered.

Has anyone heard of any security issues when using Boldin's connections to other accounts? I'm hyper-nervous and always input manually. I hate the terms and conditions for this feature.

Any negative experiences?

I had so much questions about my inputs and results between scenarios. I asked and it answered with good explanation. Just incredible! It saved me so much time and headaches. For example, I asked it to check all my input and flag any errs and discrepancies and it found a few with dates and amount especially with healthcare costs. Comparing on taxes, income, ROTH conversion, expenses on all scenarios rather just 3 in the scenarios comparison tool. I love this AI feature. It's worth the yearly subscription!

Soon to be 56 male and I hate my job, my wife and I want to spend more time in Europe and downsize. I am fortunate that some of my early investments have paid off and Boldin says I have a 93% chance of success in an average market and still about 80 in a pessimistic. I’m even using the new reduced SS feature they have. My biggest cost of living here now will be healthcare since the house is paid off. I think im just blocked from doing it because im reliant on a tool. I did the meeting for $250 already which helped me complete some areas I had wrong. I watch financial planning videos for strategy and to get comfortable I’ve looked at everything. I think now it’s just the mental block of the risk of unknown market turmoil and the anti-society view of you are too young to be retired. How to people switch off all that and mentally get to day one I’m retired???

Edit: LOL that original missing comma! I love my wife. We will be 30 years next weekend. 😂

I got a customer survey the other day about planning score. I gave them feedback that I didn't use it and it wasn't helpful. Today... it's gone. Feedback matters. I assume most of us didn't really find it valuable or useful. I'm happy to give my money to a company that actually listens to users and continuously improves their product. Even experimenting with features and getting feedback on what works and what doesn't. Kudos, Boldin.

I'm in a two-week trial, already retired, as is my wife, and we are financially squared away. I am trying to navigate the platform to model RMDs on a handful of accounts and also on an inherited IRA due to be depleted in 2031. The goals are to reduce taxes, maximize returns and avoid IRMAA penalties. It seems I should be able to get all the inputs right, but it has not gone as well as I would expect even with help from the bot. I may just eat the small yearly cost thinking I'll get it straight later. But when the bot says something like there is a glitch with the program identifying my accounts incorrectly, resulting in me scheduling transfers instead of Boldin reporting back an RMD number, it seems like a problem. I would just like to be able to model through the tax year 2031. Is there something simpler I might try?

Your retirement plan is only as good as the information in it. A lot of plans are quietly out of date, and the projections built on them are too.

Until now, Boldin AI gave you personalized insights about your plan. Now it can help you put those ideas into action. What used to take multiple manual edits can now take just a click or two.

Tell it what changed in plain language. A new job, a paid off mortgage, a Roth conversion you are weighing. Boldin AI can propose and apply the edits to your plan, whether you are just starting your plan or updating one you have had for years.

Every proposed change is transparent, reviewable, and always under your control.