Retirement Calculator

The calculator runs two phases. In the accumulation phase, it compounds your current savings monthly at your assumed annual return, then adds your monthly contribution at the end of each month, repeating until your retirement age. In the withdrawal phase, it multiplies the resulting nest egg by your safe withdrawal rate (default 4%) to estimate yearly and monthly retirement income. It also estimates how many years that balance can sustain withdrawals at the chosen rate.

Take someone age 35 with $50,000 saved, contributing $800 per month, planning to retire at 65 with a 7% annual return. With this calculator's monthly effective return and end-of-month deposits, the nest egg grows to about $1,316,175. Applying the default 4% withdrawal rate produces about $52,647 per year, or $4,387 per month, in retirement income. These are pre-tax, nominal-dollar figures.

For 2026, the 401(k) employee elective-deferral limit is $24,500. Workers age 50-59 and 64+ can add an $8,000 catch-up for a $32,500 total; workers age 60-63 get a higher SECURE 2.0 catch-up of $11,250, bringing their ceiling to $35,750. The IRA limit is $7,500 ($8,600 with the $1,100 catch-up for age 50+). Limits apply to traditional and Roth versions combined within each account type.

The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study and historically gave a high probability of a 30-year portfolio surviving. For early retirees or longer horizons, many planners now recommend 3.3%-3.5% to add margin. The calculator lets you adjust the withdrawal rate, so try 3.5% or lower if you plan to retire before 60 or expect to live past 90. This is an estimate, not professional financial advice.

No. All returns are nominal and pre-tax. For a rough purchasing-power estimate, calculate the real rate as (1 + return) / (1 + inflation) - 1. A 7% return with 3% inflation is about 3.9% real, not 4%. Traditional 401(k) and IRA withdrawals are generally taxable. Qualified Roth withdrawals are generally tax-free.