Retirement Calculator
Project what you will have at retirement, what you need, and whether your savings will last as long as you do, all in today’s dollars.
Projected savings at 67 (today’s dollars)
$1,057,756
- Nest egg needed
- $742,897
- Surplus
- $314,858
- Sustainable income
- $6,899/mo
- Money lasts to
- 92+
On these assumptions your savings last beyond age 92.
Savings by age (today’s dollars)
Explain my numbers
Get a plain-English reading of the result above: what drives it, what the trade-offs are and what to ask a lender or adviser. It is educational, not financial advice. Only these inputs and results are sent, and nothing is stored.
How this retirement projection works
Until retirement, your monthly savings are added and the balance grows at your pre-retirement return minus inflation. After retirement, the calculator withdraws the gap between your spending and Social Security each month and grows the rest at the post-retirement real return. The nest egg needed is the present value of that gap over your retirement years.
Real return = (1 + nominal) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1
Levers, in order of power
- Retire later. Each extra year adds a year of saving and growth and removes a year of withdrawals. Social Security also rises for each year you delay claiming, up to age 70.
- Spend less in retirement. Every $100 a month less spending cuts the nest egg needed by roughly $20,000–$30,000.
- Save more now, starting with any employer match in the 401(k) calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire?
Enough that your savings plus Social Security and any pension cover your spending for the whole retirement. This calculator works out the nest egg needed to fund the gap between your spending and Social Security from retirement to the age you plan for, using your expected return after inflation.
What is the 4% rule?
It comes from research by William Bengen (1994) and the later Trinity study: withdrawing 4% of your starting balance, then adjusting for inflation, historically lasted at least 30 years in most US market periods. It implies a nest egg of about 25 times your yearly spending gap. It is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee.
Why is everything shown in today’s dollars?
So the numbers are easy to judge. The calculator uses real (after-inflation) returns, so $5,500 a month of spending means $5,500 of today’s buying power every year of retirement.
How much will Social Security pay me?
Get your personal estimate from your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, which shows benefits at 62, full retirement age and 70. Enter the monthly figure for your planned claiming age.
What return should I assume in retirement?
Portfolios usually become more conservative in retirement, so many people assume a lower return after retiring than before. The defaults use 7% before and 5% after, both before inflation.