Retirement Calculator

Project your retirement nest egg and see whether you are on track

Enter a valid age (16-80)

Retirement age must be greater than current age

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Enter a valid amount (0-100,000,000)

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Enter a valid amount (0-100,000,000)

%

Enter a valid return rate (0-20)

$

Enter a valid amount (0-100,000,000)

Projected nest egg at retirement
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Sustainable monthly income --
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Years to retirement
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Target nest egg
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Surplus / gap
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Sustainable monthly income
Current savings--
Monthly contribution--
Total contributions--
Investment growth--
Target nest egg--
Surplus / gap--

Retirement Calculator — Complete Guide

What this calculator does

The Retirement Calculator turns a handful of everyday numbers into a clear picture of your future: your current age, the age you want to stop working, the savings you already hold, the amount you add every month, an assumed annual return, and the income you hope to live on. It compounds all of that forward and shows the nest egg you are on track to build by the day you retire.

From that single projection it derives three things people care about most. First, the target nest egg you would need to fund your desired lifestyle, estimated using the widely used 25× rule. Second, the surplus or gap between what you are projected to save and that target. Third, the sustainable monthly income your projected balance could support at a 4% withdrawal rate. Together they answer the only question that matters: am I on track?

The formula

years = retirement age − current age r = annual return ÷ 12 ÷ 100 n = years × 12 future value = current savings × (1 + r)^n + monthly contribution × ((1 + r)^n − 1) ÷ r target nest egg = expected annual spending × 25 gap = future value − target nest egg sustainable monthly income = future value × 4% ÷ 12

The first term grows your existing savings with compound interest. The second term is an annuity: a steady stream of monthly contributions, each of which earns its own compounded return. Even modest monthly amounts become significant over decades, because the money you add in year one has thirty or more years to grow.

A worked example

Suppose you are 30, plan to retire at 65, already hold $50,000, add $500 a month, expect a 7% annual return, and want to spend $40,000 a year in retirement.

In this case the plan is comfortably ahead of the target. Notice how much of the final balance comes from investment growth: the money you personally contributed is only $50,000 + $500 × 420 = $260,000, while growth supplies the other $1.2 million. Time, not the size of each deposit, does most of the heavy lifting.

Retirement ageYears to growProjected nest eggSurplus / gap
5525≈ $700,000−$300,000
6030≈ $1,020,000+$20,000
6535≈ $1,475,000+$475,000
7040≈ $2,120,000+$1,120,000

Getting on track

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 4% rule?

The 4% rule is a retirement planning guideline suggesting you withdraw about 4% of your nest egg in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation. It implies a portfolio roughly 25× your annual spending can fund a long retirement.

Why target 25× your annual spending?

Because 1 ÷ 4% = 25. If you can safely withdraw 4% a year, then every dollar of annual income needs about 25 dollars of savings behind it. So spending $40,000 a year points to a $1,000,000 target.

Does this calculator account for inflation?

Not directly. It uses a single annual return figure, so you can either enter a real (inflation-adjusted) return to work in today's money, or subtract expected inflation from your return before entering it.