Retirement Calculator
Two questions in one tool: how big will your nest egg be at retirement, and how long will it last once you start spending it? Project your savings to your retirement age, then draw an inflation-adjusted income and see the year the money would run out.
Your retirement projection
Example: age 55 → 65, $200,000 saved, $1,000/mo added at 6% → about $527,759, lasting 22.2 years on $3,000/mo.
Accumulation, then drawdown
The projection runs in two phases. First it accumulates: your current savings and every monthly contribution compound at your before-retirement return until you retire. In the worked example — age 55 retiring at 65, $200,000 saved, $1,000 a month added at 6% — that builds a nest egg of about $527,759, of which $320,000 is money you put in and the rest is growth. Then it draws down: spending $3,000 a month at a 4% return, the balance lasts about 22.2 years, running out around age 87.2. Every figure here is computed by the same tested engine as the calculator above.
The levers that move the answer most
Three inputs dominate: how much you contribute, your assumed return, and your retirement spending. Because growth compounds, a contribution added in your thirties does far more work than the same dollar added in your fifties — starting early is the single biggest lever. On the spending side, the gap between "the balance lasts forever" and "it runs out at 78" is often just a few hundred dollars a month, because near the crossover point your withdrawals and your investment growth are almost equal.
Stress-test the optimistic case
A single average return hides real risk. Markets don't deliver a smooth 6% every year, and a run of poor returns early in retirement can drain a portfolio far faster than the average suggests. Run the numbers again with a lower return and with inflation switched on: if the plan still holds under the pessimistic case, it is far more robust than one that only works when everything goes right.
Frequently asked questions
What rate of return should I assume?
A diversified stock-and-bond portfolio has historically returned roughly 6–8% per year before inflation over long periods, but no return is guaranteed and any given decade can be very different. Many people also lower their assumed return in retirement as they shift toward bonds. Treat the number as a planning estimate, and try a pessimistic case as well.
How does inflation factor in?
Your spending power erodes over time, so the inflation input raises your modeled withdrawal a little each year. That is why turning inflation on shortens how long the nest egg lasts — you are withdrawing more dollars every year to buy the same things.
Is this the "4% rule"?
It is related. The 4% rule is a rule of thumb: withdraw 4% of your starting balance in the first year, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation each year after, and the money has historically lasted about 30 years. This calculator simulates the drawdown directly instead, so you can test any combination of balance, withdrawal, return, and inflation rather than relying on a single heuristic.
What does this calculator leave out?
A lot that matters: Social Security, pensions, taxes, healthcare costs, and the fact that real returns arrive in an unpredictable order rather than as the smooth average modeled here. That order matters most in early retirement — a run of poor returns just as you begin withdrawing does far more damage than the same returns later, a hazard known as sequence-of-returns risk. Use it to understand the shape of the problem, not as a substitute for a financial professional.
Not financial advice: a general educational estimate that assumes a constant rate of return and excludes taxes, Social Security, and market volatility. Your real results will differ. Values are processed locally in your browser and never transmitted. See the methodology page.