Retirement Calculator

Reading the result

The headline is the pot your plan requires at retirement. Underneath, the bar compares it against what your current saving actually reaches, and the percentage is how far that gets you. The table then turns both pots into a monthly income — once in the dollars of the day, and once in today's money so you can weigh it against what things cost now.

If there is a gap, the result says what closing it would take three ways: a fixed amount every month, a fixed amount every year, or a percentage of your income that rises as your income does. They are three routes to the same pot, not three separate asks.

The balance by age chart plots both plans year by year — rising while you save, peaking at retirement and drawn down to nothing at life expectancy. The gap between the two curves is the gap you are trying to close.

The assumptions, and their limits

Every projection here assumes a steady investment return and steady inflation, contributions credited once a year, and withdrawals taken monthly and rising with inflation. Real markets do none of that: returns arrive unevenly, and a bad decade early in retirement does far more damage than the same decade later.

So treat the figures as a direction rather than a promise. The useful questions are the comparative ones — does saving two percent more close the gap, does working two more years, does a lower target income — and those hold up much better than any single number does.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter your current age and target retirement age — the gap is your years to save.
2. Add your current savings and the monthly contribution you make (include any employer match).
3. Set an expected annual return and the withdrawal rate you plan to draw in retirement.
4. Read the projected nest egg and the yearly and monthly income it could support.

How the projection works

The calculator runs in two stages. First it accumulates: your current savings and every monthly contribution compound at your expected return until your retirement age, compounding monthly. Then it turns that balance into income by applying your withdrawal rate — the share of the nest egg you draw in the first year. A lower rate is more conservative and more likely to last through a long retirement.

The formula

The nest egg is the future value of your starting balance plus the future value of your monthly contributions:

Nest egg = P(1 + i)ⁿ + C · ((1 + i)ⁿ − 1) / i

• P — your current savings
• C — your monthly contribution
• i — the monthly return (annual return ÷ 12)
• n — months until retirement (years × 12)

The estimated income is then nest egg × withdrawal rate, divided by 12 for the monthly figure.

A worked example

Suppose you are 30, aiming to retire at 65 (35 years), with $20,000 saved and $500 a month going in at a 7% return. The projection grows to a nest egg of about $1,130,650. You contributed $210,000 over those years and started with $20,000, so roughly $900,650 of the total is compounding growth.

Applying a 4% withdrawal rate gives about $45,226 a year, or roughly $3,769 a month, in first-year retirement income — before taxes, Social Security or any pension.

The 4% rule and how much you need

The 4% rule is a rule of thumb: withdraw about 4% of your savings in the first year, adjust for inflation thereafter, and the money has historically had a good chance of lasting 30 years. Turned around, it implies a target of roughly 25 times your desired annual spending — to draw $40,000 a year, about $1,000,000 saved. The withdrawal rate you choose changes the income sharply:

Withdrawal rate	Annual income	Monthly income
3% (conservative)	$33,920	$2,827
4% (classic)	$45,226	$3,769
5% (aggressive)	$56,533	$4,711

Figures use the $1,130,650 nest egg above. A higher rate pays more now but raises the risk of outliving your savings, especially if a market downturn hits early in retirement.

Nominal versus real returns

The projection uses a nominal return, so the nest egg is stated in future dollars that will buy less than today's. To think in today's money, enter a lower real return — your expected return minus inflation, often around 4–5%. That produces a more sober figure but one that reflects actual buying power at retirement.

How much should you contribute?

A common guideline is to save 10–15% of income for retirement, including any employer match — which is effectively free money and worth capturing in full first. Because contributions compound for decades, starting even a few years earlier can matter more than contributing more later. Nudge the monthly contribution up and down to see how much each change moves the nest egg.

Limitations

• It assumes a constant return every year; real markets fluctuate, and a bad early stretch (sequence-of-returns risk) can hurt a portfolio you are drawing down.
• It does not model taxes, Social Security, pensions or required minimum distributions.
• Withdrawal-rate rules are guidelines, not guarantees — your safe rate depends on your horizon, asset mix and spending flexibility.

To explore the underlying growth, use the compound interest calculator; to translate a nominal projection into today's dollars, try the investment calculator. This is a simplified projection for planning and education, not financial advice — consider speaking with a qualified financial planner.