Personal Capital (Empower) Review 2026: Free Dashboard, Paid Advisory
Personal Capital (now Empower) offers a free account aggregation dashboard and a Retirement Planner with Monte Carlo. Best used as a net-worth tracker and account aggregator. For deep planning, the free tool is a starting point, not a destination.
- Best for
- Aggregating all accounts in one dashboard and tracking net worth — not for deep retirement modelling
- Skip if
- You need Monte Carlo simulation or Roth conversion modelling — use Boldin or ProjectionLab instead
- Price floor
- Free (dashboard) / 0.49-0.89% AUM (advisory services)
Affiliate link — disclosed
Realism check
Personal Capital's Retirement Planner uses Monte Carlo, but the tool is oriented toward selling advisory services — the modelling depth available for free is limited. For serious planning, use Boldin or ProjectionLab as your primary tool and Personal Capital as an account aggregation layer.
What Personal Capital (Empower) actually is
Personal Capital was acquired by Empower Retirement in 2020 and rebranded under the Empower consumer brand. The product remains: a free account aggregation dashboard (connect bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts) and a Retirement Planner tool with Monte Carlo simulation.
The free dashboard is genuinely excellent for net-worth tracking and account aggregation. The Retirement Planner is useful for getting a baseline number, but the modelling depth available in the free tier is limited — the platform’s business model is to convert free users to Empower advisory services at 0.49-0.89% AUM.
What it does well
- Account aggregation: Best-in-class for connecting and tracking all accounts in one view
- Net worth tracking: Clean dashboard for following portfolio growth over time
- Investment fee analyser: Surfaces fund expense ratios across all connected accounts
- Free Monte Carlo: Retirement Planner includes Monte Carlo at no cost
What it doesn’t do
- Deep tax modelling: Roth conversion optimisation, IRMAA modelling, and year-by-year tax projections are not available in the free tier
- Scenario comparison: Limited ability to compare “what if I retire at 62 vs 65 vs 67” scenarios side by side
- Independence: The tool is oriented toward getting you to book an advisory call — the free experience has a conversion funnel baked in
Pricing
| Tier | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Dashboard, net-worth tracking, basic Retirement Planner |
| Advisory | 0.49-0.89% AUM | Managed portfolio with access to human advisors |
Pricing verified from Empower website May 2026.
Verdict
Use Personal Capital (Empower) for account aggregation and net-worth tracking. Don’t rely on it as your primary retirement planning tool — the modelling depth for free users is limited by the platform’s advisory sales funnel.
Pair with: Boldin PlannerPlus ($120/yr) for the actual retirement modelling. Personal Capital as the dashboard layer; Boldin as the planning engine.
Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission on Empower signups. Pricing verified from vendor page May 2026.
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