Retirement Calculator
Project your retirement balance from current savings and contributions, then estimate sustainable monthly income.
Understanding the Retirement Calculator
This calculator projects your retirement balance the same way an investment calculator does — current savings plus monthly contributions, growing at an assumed average annual return — then adds one more step: estimating what that balance could sustainably provide as income once you stop working.
The income estimate uses the “4% rule,” a widely-cited rule of thumb suggesting that withdrawing about 4% of a portfolio’s value in the first year of retirement, then adjusting for inflation each year after, has historically had a good chance of lasting 30 years without depleting the balance. It’s a starting heuristic, not a guarantee — it depends heavily on market conditions, your actual retirement length, and portfolio allocation.
Other income sources — Social Security, pensions, part-time work — aren’t included here. Add this projection to those sources separately to get a fuller retirement income picture.
See it in practice
Example 1 — Thirty years to retirement
Example 2 — Later start, higher contribution
Common questions
It’s debated. Some analysts now suggest a somewhat lower starting rate (around 3–3.5%) for extra safety given longer lifespans and uncertain markets, while others argue 4% remains reasonable for a typical 30-year retirement. Treat it as a starting point, not gospel.
No — this tool projects only the portfolio you’re building through savings and contributions. Add expected Social Security or pension income separately when budgeting your total retirement income.
It depends on your allocation between stocks and bonds. A common long-range planning assumption for a balanced portfolio falls somewhere in the 5–8% range before fees and taxes, trending lower as you shift toward more conservative holdings closer to retirement.
Just adjust ‘years until retirement’ to your target date. Keep in mind a shorter accumulation period usually means you’ll need larger contributions or a bigger starting balance to reach the same result.
A common rule of thumb is multiplying your desired annual retirement income by 25, based on the 4% withdrawal rule. Someone wanting $60,000 a year would target a portfolio of roughly $1.5 million under this framework.
The 4% rule suggests withdrawing 4% of your portfolio’s value in your first year of retirement, then adjusting that dollar amount for inflation each year after, based on research testing this rate against historical worst-case market scenarios.
Fidelity’s commonly cited benchmark suggests roughly 1 times your annual salary saved by age 30. Other firms suggest more modest figures, so the right target depends on which underlying assumptions you find most relevant.
Withdrawals from most retirement accounts before age 59½ typically trigger a 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of ordinary income tax, with some exceptions. Full Social Security benefits generally begin between ages 66 and 67, depending on birth year.
For most people, Social Security alone replaces only a portion of pre-retirement income, generally not enough to maintain the same lifestyle. It’s typically meant to supplement personal savings and retirement accounts, not replace them entirely.