See your projected balance at retirement, the monthly income it can generate, and whether you're on track to meet your goals.
| Age | Phase | Annual Contribution | Annual Withdrawal | Year-End Balance |
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Enter your current age, planned retirement age, and life expectancy. Then input your current retirement savings balance and how much you're contributing each month. Set your expected return rate before retirement (typically 6–8% for a diversified stock/bond portfolio) and your expected return during retirement (typically 3–5%, since portfolios become more conservative).
Enter your desired monthly income in retirement and your estimated Social Security benefit. The calculator projects your balance at retirement, shows the monthly income your portfolio can sustain, identifies any savings gap, and generates the complete savings arc from today through your life expectancy.
The simplest benchmark is the 25x rule: multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. If you want $60,000 per year, you need approximately $1.5 million. This is derived from the 4% withdrawal rule.
However, your specific number depends on several factors: your Social Security benefit (which reduces the amount your portfolio must cover), expected investment returns, inflation, healthcare costs, and how long you expect to live in retirement. Someone retiring at 55 with a 40-year horizon needs a larger cushion than someone retiring at 67.
Benchmarks by age: Fidelity suggests saving 1x your salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x by retirement. These are rough targets — use this calculator with your actual numbers for a personalized projection.
The 4% rule, developed by financial planner William Bengen in 1994 and validated by the Trinity Study, states that withdrawing 4% of your portfolio in year one, then adjusting for inflation annually, has historically sustained a 30-year retirement with a diversified stock/bond portfolio.
For example, a $1,000,000 portfolio could support $40,000 in first-year withdrawals ($3,333/month). Research suggests the 4% rule holds through most historical market scenarios, including depressions and high-inflation periods.
However, for 35–40-year retirements (common for early retirees), many planners recommend a more conservative 3–3.5% withdrawal rate. This calculator uses your specified post-retirement return to show how long your balance lasts.
If the calculator shows a monthly gap — meaning your projected portfolio income falls short of your desired income — you have multiple levers to pull:
A common rule of thumb is the 25x rule: multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25 to get your target nest egg. If you want $60,000/year in retirement, you need about $1.5 million. This is based on the 4% safe withdrawal rate, which has historically sustained a 30-year retirement with a diversified portfolio.
The 4% rule states that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation each year, and your portfolio will last at least 30 years with high probability. It was developed from the 1994 Trinity Study analyzing historical market returns. Many advisors today recommend 3–3.5% for longer retirements.
If your projected savings fall short of your income goal, you have several options: increase monthly contributions, delay retirement by a few years (which simultaneously grows savings and shortens the drawdown period), reduce desired retirement spending, increase investment returns by adjusting asset allocation, or plan to supplement with part-time income. Even small increases in contributions made early have an outsized effect due to compounding.
Social Security reduces the amount your savings need to generate. If your desired income is $5,000/month and Social Security pays $1,800/month, your portfolio only needs to cover the $3,200 gap. Delaying Social Security from age 62 to 70 increases your benefit by roughly 8% per year, which can significantly reduce your portfolio withdrawal needs.