See two numbers that matter: what your savings will grow to by retirement, and what that actually pays you per month once you start drawing it down.
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Most retirement calculators stop at a single number — your projected balance at retirement. This one goes a step further and converts that balance into a monthly income, because a lump sum on its own doesn't tell you whether you can actually cover your bills. The projection runs in two phases: your working years, where contributions compound at your "before retirement" return, and your retirement years, where the balance is drawn down at a monthly amount calibrated to last exactly until your planning age.
Rather than assuming a flat 4% every year regardless of how long retirement lasts, this calculator solves for the level monthly withdrawal — adjusted for your assumed inflation and post-retirement return — that brings your balance to zero exactly at the age you choose to plan until. We also show the classic 4% rule next to it for comparison, since it's the reference point most people have heard of.
Your nest egg is only part of the picture for most retirees. We add your expected monthly Social Security benefit directly to your sustainable withdrawal to show total monthly income. You can find a personalized estimate of your own benefit at ssa.gov using your actual earnings record — the number here is just a placeholder until you do.
It's a widely used rule of thumb based on historical market data, but it doesn't account for your specific retirement length, spending pattern, or current market conditions. Treat it as a sanity check next to the more tailored withdrawal number above, not a guarantee.
Many planners use 6–7% for a diversified stock-heavy portfolio before retirement and 4–5% for a more conservative mix after — but your right number depends on your actual asset allocation and risk tolerance.
No — withdrawals from a traditional 401(k) or IRA are typically taxed as income, while Roth withdrawals usually aren't. This calculator shows pre-tax figures; your real take-home number will be lower depending on your account types and tax bracket.
This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only and is not financial advice. Actual investment returns, inflation, and Social Security benefits vary and cannot be guaranteed — consider speaking with a licensed financial advisor before making retirement decisions.
It projects your current savings forward using compound growth, factoring in your ongoing contributions, your assumed annual rate of return, the number of years until retirement, and inflation if you choose to account for it. Each year, your balance grows both from your new contributions and from investment returns on everything you've already saved — which is why the growth curve accelerates the longer your money has to compound. Try adjusting your monthly contribution above by even a modest amount and watch how much it changes your projected balance decades out; small, consistent increases early tend to matter far more than large lump sums added later.
There's no single correct number, since it depends heavily on how your money is invested — a portfolio weighted toward stocks has historically returned more over long periods than one weighted toward bonds or cash, but with more short-term volatility along the way. Many long-term retirement projections use a range around 6-8% for diversified stock-heavy portfolios, based on long-run historical averages, though past performance never guarantees future results. A more conservative assumption gives you a safer, more cautious estimate; a more optimistic one shows the upper range of what's possible. Running the calculator above with a couple of different assumptions — conservative and optimistic — gives you a realistic range to plan around rather than a single potentially misleading number.
Because of how compounding works — money invested earlier has more time to generate returns on its own returns, not just on your original contributions. Someone who saves consistently starting in their 20s can end up with substantially more at retirement than someone who saves twice as much per month but starts a decade later, purely because of that extra compounding time. This is the single biggest lever in most retirement projections. If you're starting later, it's not a lost cause — it just means contribution amount becomes the more important variable for you, since you have less time for compounding to do the heavy lifting.
Inflation erodes purchasing power over time, meaning a dollar 30 years from now will buy meaningfully less than a dollar today. A retirement projection that ignores inflation can make your future balance look larger and more comfortable than it will actually feel once you're spending it. That's why it's worth looking at both your projected nominal balance (the raw dollar figure) and an inflation-adjusted figure (what that money is actually worth in today's purchasing power) — the second number is usually the more honest one to plan your lifestyle around.
A commonly cited starting guideline is 10-15% of your income, though the right number for you depends on your target retirement age, expected lifestyle, other income sources (like Social Security or a pension), and how much you've already saved. Someone starting in their 20s with decades of compounding ahead can often reach a solid outcome with a lower percentage than someone starting later in life. Rather than relying on a generic rule of thumb, plugging your actual numbers into the calculator above — your current savings, timeline, and a couple of contribution levels — shows you concretely what different savings rates actually produce for your specific situation.
A traditional account (like a traditional 401(k) or IRA) gives you a tax deduction on contributions now, but withdrawals in retirement are taxed as income. A Roth account works the opposite way — you contribute after-tax dollars now, but qualified withdrawals in retirement are entirely tax-free. The growth math itself (compounding on contributions and returns) works the same in both account types; the real difference is *when* you pay tax on the money, which affects how much you'll actually get to keep and spend in retirement. Since that depends on your current versus expected future tax bracket, it's worth thinking through both scenarios rather than assuming one is universally better.
Often a substantial one, since an employer match is effectively free money added directly to your contributions — money that then also compounds over time just like your own contributions do. If your employer matches, say, 50% of your contributions up to a certain percentage of your salary and you're not contributing enough to capture the full match, you're leaving guaranteed, immediate returns on the table before your investments even have a chance to grow. If your plan includes a match, it's generally worth prioritizing contributing at least enough to capture the full match before directing extra savings elsewhere.
A commonly referenced starting point is around 4% of your total balance in the first year of retirement, with that dollar amount adjusted for inflation in subsequent years — a framework designed to make savings last roughly 30 years across a range of historical market conditions. It's a useful starting benchmark, not a guarantee, since actual market performance during your specific retirement years plays a large role in how long any withdrawal rate actually holds up. More conservative retirees sometimes plan around a lower rate for additional safety margin, especially if they're retiring earlier and need their savings to last longer than 30 years.
Social Security can meaningfully reduce how much you need from personal savings alone, since it provides a guaranteed, inflation-adjusted income stream for life starting at whatever age you choose to claim (as early as 62, or as late as 70 for maximum monthly benefit). The tradeoff: claiming earlier means a permanently smaller monthly benefit, while waiting longer increases it substantially. When projecting your full retirement picture, it's worth treating your personal savings and expected Social Security benefit as two separate pieces that together need to cover your target retirement spending, rather than relying on savings alone to do all the work.
First, know that this is an extremely common finding, not a sign of failure — most people discover a gap at some point when they actually run the numbers, precisely because it's easy to underestimate how much compounding time matters until you see it laid out. From there, the main levers you have are: increasing your monthly contribution (even a modest increase compounds meaningfully over time), extending your working/saving timeline slightly, adjusting your investment mix toward a return assumption that fits your risk tolerance, or reassessing your target retirement spending. Try adjusting each of those variables one at a time above to see which has the biggest impact on closing the gap for your specific numbers — often it's less dramatic a change than people initially expect.