Retirement Calculator

Project your nest egg at retirement from your current age, retirement age, savings, contributions, and rate assumptions.

Current age (years)

Retirement age (years)

Current retirement savings ($)

Monthly contribution ($)

Expected annual return (%)

Expected annual inflation (%)

Withdrawal rate assumption (e.g. the "4% rule") (%)

Result

How to Use

Enter your current age and the age you're planning to retire at, plus your current retirement savings and any monthly contribution (both default to $0 if you're starting from scratch).
Enter the annual return, inflation, and withdrawal rate you want to assume — these are yours to set, not filled in for you, since changing any one of them changes the projection.
The result shows your projected nest egg both in future ("nominal") dollars and in today's spending power ("real," inflation-adjusted) dollars, plus an estimated sustainable annual withdrawal based on your withdrawal rate assumption.
Try a few different return, inflation, and withdrawal rate assumptions to see how sensitive the projection is to each one — that sensitivity is the point, not a single "correct" number.

Formula

Monthly return rate: monthly_rate = annual_return ÷ 100 ÷ 12
Nominal nest egg: balance = current_savings × (1 + monthly_rate)^n + monthly_contribution × (((1 + monthly_rate)^n − 1) ÷ monthly_rate)
Real (today's $) nest egg: real_balance = nominal_balance ÷ (1 + annual_inflation ÷ 100)^years
Sustainable annual withdrawal: withdrawal = real_balance × (withdrawal_rate ÷ 100)

Worked Example

Age 30 to 65 (35 years), $20,000 saved today, $500/month contribution, 7% expected return, 3% expected inflation, a 4% withdrawal rate assumption.

Months to retirement: 35 × 12 = 420
Nominal nest egg at retirement: ≈ $1,130,650.34
Total contributions: $20,000 + $500 × 420 = $230,000.00
Total investment growth: $1,130,650.34 − $230,000.00 = $900,650.34
Real (today's dollars) value: $1,130,650.34 ÷ 1.03^35 ≈ $401,814.36
Estimated sustainable annual withdrawal: $401,814.36 × 4% ≈ $16,072.57

Result: Projected nest egg at retirement (nominal): $1,130,650.34 / Total contributions: $230,000.00 / Total investment growth: $900,650.34 / Same nest egg in today's dollars: $401,814.36 / Estimated sustainable annual withdrawal: $16,072.57

About This Tool

What this tool does

This calculator projects what your current retirement savings plus ongoing monthly contributions could grow to by a target retirement age, using a return rate and inflation rate you choose, and estimates a rough sustainable annual withdrawal from that balance.

When to use it

Use it to see roughly how changing your monthly contribution, retirement age, or assumed return affects your projected outcome — a way to compare scenarios against each other, not a forecast of any single guaranteed number.

What the result means

The nominal figure is what your account balance is projected to literally show in future dollars. The "today's dollars" figure divides that by expected inflation, so you can judge its real purchasing power the way you'd judge a dollar amount today, since a dollar decades from now buys less than a dollar today. The estimated sustainable withdrawal applies your chosen withdrawal-rate assumption to that inflation-adjusted balance, as a rough first-year income estimate.

Assumptions & limitations

This tool assumes a constant, unchanging annual return and inflation rate for the entire projection — real markets fluctuate year to year (including years of loss), and this tool does not model that variability or the "sequence of returns" risk that comes with it. The withdrawal-rate figure is a simplified rule-of-thumb estimate (the widely-cited "4% rule" is one common starting point, not a rule this tool endorses over any other rate you choose) — it does not model taxes, Social Security, pensions, healthcare costs, how long your savings actually need to last, or how withdrawals change your invested balance over time. This tool is for education and rough planning only, not personalized financial, investment, or retirement advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much money do I need to retire?

That depends entirely on your own spending needs, which this calculator doesn't ask about directly — instead, it projects what your savings and contributions could grow to under assumptions you choose, and estimates a rough sustainable withdrawal from that balance so you can compare it against your own expected expenses.

What is the "4% rule"?

It's a commonly cited rule of thumb suggesting a retiree could withdraw about 4% of their portfolio in the first year of retirement (adjusting for inflation after that) with a reasonably low risk of running out of money over a typical retirement length — it's a simplified starting point from historical analysis, not a guarantee, and this calculator lets you use any withdrawal rate you want to test, not just 4%.

Why does this show two different dollar amounts?

The "nominal" amount is your literal projected account balance in future dollars. Because inflation erodes purchasing power over time, that same balance will buy less by the time you retire than it would today — the "today's dollars" figure adjusts for that, so you can judge your projected outcome by what it can actually buy, not just its face value.