Retirement Savings Calculator
Will your savings carry you? Enter your age, current balance, monthly contributions, and expected return to project your nest egg — in both future dollars and today’s purchasing power.
Your results
Charts & visualization
Projected balance by age
Watch growth overtake contributions in the later decades — compounding doing the heavy lifting.
Every chart’s underlying numbers are available as text — use the “view as table” control under each chart.
How it works
The projection compounds your current balance and every monthly contribution at the assumed return until retirement age. It then reports three lenses:
- Nominal balance — actual dollars in the account.
- Today’s dollars — deflated by your inflation rate, the honest measure of lifestyle buying power.
- 4%-rule income — a classic starting withdrawal rate applied to the balance, converted to monthly income.
The stacked chart splits contributions from growth by year, showing the crossover where returns begin outrunning deposits.
Formula used
P— current retirement savingsC— monthly contribution (include any match)r— expected monthly returnn— months until retirement age
Example calculation
Saving $800 monthly from age 30 with $50,000 already invested compounds to roughly $2,016,151 by 65 — about $849,548 in today’s purchasing power after inflation. Contributions supply around $386,000; market growth adds nearly $1,630,151. Under the 4% guideline, that supports estimated withdrawals near $2,832 per month in today’s terms.
Assumptions & limitations
- Constant average return; real sequences swing widely year to year.
- Contributions stay level — most people increase them with raises (conservative).
- No early withdrawals, loans, or contribution-limit ceilings modeled.
- Social Security, pensions, and taxes are excluded from projections.
- The 4% rule is a planning heuristic, not a guarantee.
Results are planning estimates based on your inputs and the stated assumptions — not financial advice or a loan offer. Verify important figures with your lender or advisor.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire?
A common anchor is 25× your expected first-year withdrawals (the 4% rule), adjusted for other income like Social Security. Working backward from desired spending beats guessing a lump sum.
What return should I assume?
Long-run balanced portfolios have averaged roughly 7% nominal. Equity-heavy allocations trend higher with deeper drawdowns; cash-heavy lower. Conservative planning uses the modest end.
Why show inflation-adjusted values?
$1M in 35 years buys far less than $1M today. Planning in real dollars keeps goals honest — the “today’s dollars” figure is what funds groceries.
Am I behind if my number looks low?
The biggest levers remain available at almost any age: contribution rate, retirement age, and spending needs. Extending work two years or trimming target income moves projections dramatically.