Retirement Calculator
Project what your retirement savings could grow to, and — more usefully — the monthly income that balance could actually support once inflation is accounted for.
Where you are now
Include every retirement account: 401(k), IRA, and any workplace pension pot.
You
Include your employer's match.
What you want
In today's money, before tax. Social Security is not included.
Assumptions
Real return: 4.39%
Projected savings to retirement
The dashed line shows the same balance in today's purchasing power.
Projected shortfall
To fund $60,000 a year in today's money you would need about $1,925,139 at age 65 — roughly $184,768 more than this projection. Saving an extra $158.00 a month would close the gap. Retiring later or trimming the target income would too.This is an educational estimate, not financial advice
Results depend entirely on the assumptions above and exclude Social Security, pensions, taxes, healthcare costs and market volatility. Real outcomes will differ. Speak to a qualified financial adviser before making retirement decisions.What this assumes
- A constant nominal return during both the saving and the drawdown phase.
- Retirement income holds its purchasing power, so withdrawals rise with inflation each year.
- The balance is drawn down to zero at your life expectancy.
- Social Security, pensions, annuities and taxes are not included.
Projected balance at retirement
$1,740,372
At age 65, after 30 years of saving. That is $829,709 in today's money.
Retirement income
- Sustainable monthly incomeIn today's money, for 25 years
- $4,520.12
- Income you wantPer month, in today’s money
- $5,000.00
- Monthly shortfall
- $479.88
- First-year income, in future dollars
- $9,481.26
How you get there
- Total contributions
- $435,000
- Investment growth
- $1,305,372
- Balance needed
- $1,925,139
- Projected shortfall
- $184,768
- Extra needed each month
- $158.00
How the projection works
The calculation runs in two phases. During accumulation, your current savings and monthly contributions compound at your expected return until the retirement age you set. That produces a nominal balance on your retirement date.
Drawdown is then solved entirely in today’s money. The balance is converted into current purchasing power, and a sustainable withdrawal is calculated using the real return — (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1 — over the number of months you expect to be retired.
Working in real terms is what makes the income figure honest. A withdrawal that stays flat in nominal dollars loses roughly a third of its buying power over 25 years at 2.5% inflation. The income shown here is designed to buy the same basket of goods in year 25 as in year one.
Why the income figure looks low
A $1.5 million balance sounds like a great deal more than $4,000 a month, and the arithmetic is worth walking through.
First, inflation. $1.5 million in thirty years buys what about $715,000 buys today. Second, that sum has to last decades, not be spent at once. Third, withdrawals must rise each year to keep pace with prices, so the early ones have to be modest enough to leave room.
This is the same reasoning behind the widely cited 4% rule, which came from research into how much a portfolio could sustain across historical 30-year periods without running out. This calculator solves for the same problem directly from your own inputs rather than applying a fixed percentage.
What is not included
The projection covers your own invested savings only. Several significant pieces of most retirements sit outside it.
- Social Security
- Replaces roughly 30%–40% of pre-retirement income for a median earner. Your own estimate is available from the Social Security Administration.
- Pensions and annuities
- Guaranteed income streams reduce how much your portfolio has to produce.
- Taxes
- Withdrawals from traditional accounts are taxable income; Roth withdrawals generally are not. Results here are pre-tax.
- Healthcare
- Often the largest single expense in retirement, and it tends to rise faster than general inflation.
- Home equity
- Not counted here, though downsizing is a real source of retirement funding for many households.
The variables you actually control
Of the eight inputs, three do most of the work and two of those are within your control.
Contribution rate is the most direct lever. Retirement age is the most powerful one: delaying by three years adds three years of contributions and compounding while removing three years of withdrawals, which typically shifts the outcome more than any plausible change in investment returns. Expected return is the input people spend the most time on and control the least.
Frequently asked questions
A widely used benchmark is 15% of gross income including any employer match, starting in your twenties. Fidelity’s milestones — one times salary saved by 30, three times by 40, six times by 50 and ten times by 67 — are a useful checkpoint. The figure that matters is the one your own target income requires, which is what this calculator solves for.
The 4% rule comes from research suggesting that withdrawing 4% of a portfolio in the first year of retirement, then increasing that amount with inflation each year, historically survived 30-year retirements in the great majority of periods studied. It is a rule of thumb rather than a guarantee: it assumes a particular asset mix, ignores taxes and fees, and was derived from US market history.
Many planners use 6%–7% nominal for a diversified portfolio during accumulation, then a more conservative figure in retirement as the mix shifts towards bonds. What matters most is that your return and inflation assumptions are consistent with each other — the real return, the gap between them, is what drives the sustainable income.
The result includes the additional monthly saving that would close the gap, which is the most actionable version of the answer. Other levers usually move the outcome further: retiring later, reducing target spending, or lowering investment costs. Small changes made early compound; large changes made late often cannot.
No. This is an educational estimate based entirely on the assumptions you enter, and it excludes taxes, Social Security, pensions, healthcare costs and market volatility. Real outcomes depend on your full financial picture. Speak to a qualified financial adviser before making retirement decisions.