Retirement Calculator
Project your retirement balance and figure out if you're on track. Factors in contributions, employer match, inflation, and desired retirement income.
In today's dollars
Projected shortfall: $973.35/month
Consider increasing contributions or working longer.
How to use this calculator
Enter your current age, when you plan to retire, and how long you expect to live. Add your current retirement balance, monthly contribution, and any employer match. Set expected returns during work years and in retirement (typically 2-3 points lower). Enter your desired annual income in today's dollars and the expected inflation rate — the calculator will inflate that target automatically.
What the projection assumes
Contributions continue at the same monthly rate until retirement. Returns compound monthly at the rate you enter. In retirement, the portfolio draws down at the rate needed to match your desired income. Real-world conditions vary — sequence of returns, market crashes, unexpected expenses, and changes to Social Security all shift the picture. Use this as a planning tool, not a precise forecast.
The biggest levers you control
In order of impact: time (starting 10 years earlier can more than double your retirement balance), contribution rate (saving 15% vs 10% of income is huge over a career), employer match (free money — always capture the full match), retirement age (delaying from 62 to 65 adds growth and reduces years to fund), and returns(don't overreach — low-cost index funds reliably capture market returns).
Adjusting for Social Security
This calculator assumes your portfolio alone covers retirement spending. Most Americans will also receive Social Security — check your estimated benefit at ssa.gov. If you expect $24k/year in SS and want $60k/year total, enter $36,000 as the desired annual income. Note: some planners prefer to keep SS out of their model for safety, treating it as a buffer.
Sequence of returns risk
One caveat this calculator doesn't show: a market crash early in retirement can permanently damage a portfolio, even if long-term average returns look fine. This is why retirees often use a "bucket" strategy (keep 1-3 years of expenses in cash/bonds) or consider delaying retirement by a year during market downturns. Lower returns near the start of retirement are more dangerous than low returns later.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I actually need to retire?▾
A common rule is 25× your annual expenses (which assumes a 4% safe withdrawal rate). If you spend $60,000/year, target $1.5M. Adjust for Social Security expectations, part-time work, and whether you plan to downsize. Most people dramatically underestimate because they forget to factor in healthcare (which can run $10-20k/year pre-Medicare).
What's a realistic pre-retirement return?▾
A diversified US stock portfolio has averaged ~10% nominal (~7% real) over the last century. A balanced 60/40 portfolio averages 6-8% nominal. Model at 6-7% for planning; anything higher assumes optimistic market conditions. Don't plan on 12%+ returns.
Why lower the return rate in retirement?▾
In retirement, most people shift toward more bonds for stability (to avoid sequence-of-returns risk). A 40/60 stock/bond allocation typically returns 4-5% nominal. Also, withdrawals shrink the portfolio, so compounding on a shrinking base naturally produces a lower return profile than accumulation phase.
Does Social Security factor in?▾
This calculator doesn't include Social Security. For most retirees, SS provides $20-40k/year depending on earnings history. If you want to adjust, subtract expected annual SS from your 'desired annual income' to see what your portfolio needs to cover. For planning purposes, assume SS covers 30-40% of retirement income.
What's the 4% rule?▾
Coined by the Trinity Study (1998), the rule suggests retirees can withdraw 4% of their starting portfolio each year (adjusted for inflation) for 30 years with historically very high success rates. Recent research has questioned 4% at today's lower bond yields — many planners now use 3.5% as the safe withdrawal rate.
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