Can ChatGPT Plan Your Retirement?

AI is a breakthrough tool but can it plan your retirement?

ChatGPT can calculate scenarios and even outline a financial plan, but as Leanna Wachniak and Dave Popowich discussed on More Than Money, retirement planning is more than just crunching numbers.

AI Can Organize, But It Cannot Understand

AI can be useful when you know exactly what to ask. 

Dave believes it can produce a framework, but it almost always needs adjusting. 

The problem, he said, is that most people are not sure what the right questions are to begin with.

AI can answer specific questions like When should I take CPP or OAS? but it can’t compile those answers into a complete plan that accounts for the emotional, family, and lifestyle realities of retirement.

The Missing Human Context

A financial strategy is built around families, relationships, and goals that shift with time.

As Dave explained, planning is as much about people as it is about projections. 

Even when two families have identical numbers on paper, their reactions to those numbers can be completely different. One might feel confident, while another feels anxious or even fearful that they’ll never be able to retire at all.

That emotional layer is something AI can’t replicate. It’s blind to when a couple is uncertain about their choices or when one spouse is quietly worried about aging parents, health costs, or helping adult children. 

Leanna added that retirement plans are also constantly changing. Markets move, health changes, priorities evolve, and families grow. 

AI can project a plan based on today, but it can’t anticipate what will happen tomorrow.

The Pros: Where AI Can Help

As Dave mentioned, AI is

a beneficial tool to process data or simulate what-if situations.  

But math isn’t meaning and that’s what people need. 

The key is to treat it as a resource, not a replacement.

Why Personalized Advice Still Matters

The truth is, AI might be able to plan a vacation, but it cannot plan your life.

Why?

Because retirement evolves as you evolve. 

Personalized advice brings empathy, accountability, and perspective to that process, which is something an algorithm can’t give.

A trusted advisor isn’t just there to answer questions; they’re a partner who helps you navigate uncertainty, adjust when life changes, and make confident decisions along the way.

As Dave put it, financial planning is part science and part art. The science can be automated, but the art comes from knowing people’s vision and helping guide them through their journey of retirement.  

So ChatGPT has limits but only a real advisor can help you find the answers that fit your life.

At PKAG, we believe your retirement deserves more than algorithms. 

It deserves understanding and a partnership built around your goals.

Visit pkag.ca to learn how our personalized approach can help you plan your vision of the future.