Key Takeaways
- ChatGPT can help answer retirement questions, but it shouldn’t replace guidance from a human financial advisor.
- Always double-check the sources behind AI-generated answers, since outdated or misleading information can slip through.
- Bringing AI insights to an advisor can help you ask better questions and build a more personalized retirement plan.
ChatGPT is ready for your retirement planning questions. It can provide answers on subjects such as deciding when to collect Social Security, estimating medical costs, and choosing which retirement accounts to tap first to minimize taxes.
But should you trust artificial intelligence (AI) with your retirement planning? Here’s what financial experts say.
Why ChatGPT Can Miss the Bigger Financial Picture
First off, ChatGPT doesn’t use critical thinking. For that, you’ll need a human financial advisor.
“Remember that AI doesn’t currently think critically or form new ideas. It finds existing ideas and connects them,” said Robert Persichitte, a certified financial planner (CFP) with Delagify Financial. “This can be useful if you don’t have the time to do the research, but it won’t invent anything that someone hasn’t already written about. I like to think of it as a fancy Google.”
Because it lacks critical thinking, ChatGPT is unable to distinguish between good and bad ideas.
“Oftentimes, it lacks discernment. That means it will copy ideas from any source, including those that try to rip you off, offer outdated advice, or provide an incomplete picture,” Persichitte said.
Where AI Can Actually Help With Retirement Planning
But ChatGPT can be a way to familiarize yourself with financial concepts that you’ll need to understand as you retire.
“ChatGPT can be a great tool for explaining retirement strategies or helping you understand your options, but it’s not the whole toolbox. It can’t anticipate human behavior, emotion, or life’s curveballs,” said Stephan Shipe, a CFP and founder of Scholar Financial Advising.
Not All of ChatGPT’s Sources Are Created Equal
If using ChatGPT, make sure to review the sources ChatGPT is using to answer your retirement questions.
“Read through its cited sources and conduct research, just as you would if a stranger recommended investment advice,” Persichitte said.
Some more advanced AI models can do fairly comprehensive research, and they can provide links to recent news articles, so you’ll be able to see just where the information is coming from.
Why You Still Need a Human Financial Advisor
A wise follow-up step is to take the retirement advice from ChatGPT to a human financial advisor.
“There’s no question that AI can be a powerful tool for retirement planning. It’s a great resource for learning and working alongside your advisor. I’ve even had clients come in after using ChatGPT to prep questions or understand key concepts—which I think is fantastic,” said Luke Harder, a certified financial planner with Claro Advisors.
But relying solely on ChatGPT or another AI bot for retirement advice is not advised.
“AI isn’t perfect, and when it comes to retirement, the stakes are too high to rely on it blindly. It doesn’t know your full financial picture: your portfolio composition, tax situation, or how you personally handle market volatility,” Harder said.
You can input all of your investment portfolio and your tax information into ChatGPT, but that can be risky. The information you enter is often used as LLM training data and could be subject to hacking and data breaches.
A human advisor is also better equipped to understand your emotions if the market plunges and you’re tempted to sell your investments. They can advise you to hold off selling.
