Retirement calculator
One honest view of the whole picture: what you save now, what you spend later, and whether the money lasts as long as you do.
View yearly schedule
Projections are illustrations based on your inputs, not predictions or advice. Actual returns vary year to year.
How to read this projection
Before retirement, your balance grows from monthly contributions and compounding at your chosen return. At retirement, the model switches: your planned spending, converted into future dollars using your inflation assumption, is withdrawn every month while the remaining balance keeps growing at a typically lower, more conservative rate.
The 4% rule is a useful cross check. It says withdrawing 4% of your starting nest egg in the first year, then adjusting for inflation, has historically survived 30 year retirements in the US. It is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee, and many planners now prefer 3.5% for early retirees.
Two levers dominate the outcome: your savings rate and your retirement date. Small changes to either usually matter more than chasing higher returns, and they are the levers you actually control.
Common questions
How much do I need to retire?
A common starting point is 25 times your planned annual spending, which is the 4% rule inverted. If you plan to spend 60,000 dollars a year, that suggests around 1.5 million, adjusted for pensions and Social Security.
Does this include Social Security?
Not directly. Subtract your expected monthly benefit from planned spending to model it. For most US retirees Social Security replaces a meaningful share of spending, so ignoring it overstates what you need.
Why use a lower return during retirement?
Most retirees shift toward bonds and cash to reduce the damage of a crash early in retirement, which lowers expected return. The default assumes a more conservative mix after you stop working.