Retirement Calculator
Pick Projected balance to see what your savings grow to by retirement. Enter your current age, retirement age, current savings, monthly contribution and expected return, and the result shows the balance at retirement in future dollars and in today's prices. Pick Savings needed to work the other way round. Enter the balance you want at retirement, and the calculator finds the monthly contribution that reaches it.
How to use the Retirement Calculator
- Pick Projected balance to see what you will have at retirement, or Savings needed to find the monthly saving for a target.
- Enter your current age, retirement age, current savings and expected annual return.
- Add your monthly contribution and expected inflation, or in savings needed mode the balance you want at retirement, then press Calculate.
The retirement projection formula
FV = P(1 + r)^n + C · [((1 + r)^n − 1) / r]
P is your current savings, r is the expected annual return divided by 12, n is the number of months until retirement and C is the monthly contribution, paid at the end of each month. FV is the balance at retirement in future dollars. The inflation-adjusted balance is FV ÷ (1 + inflation)^years, the same money in today's prices, with years = retirement age − current age. Savings needed mode solves the formula for C with your target T in place of FV: C = (T − P(1 + r)^n) · r ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), or (T − P) ÷ n at 0%. It rounds C up to the next cent, so paying it every month reaches the target and the balance it shows can end a little above T. If P(1 + r)^n is already T or more, C is $0.00.
Worked example
With the default inputs, a 30-year-old who retires at 65 with $50,000 saved, $500 a month going in and a 7% return, the calculator projects $1,475,834.89. Adjusted for 3% inflation, that is $524,487.22 in today's prices. Contributions come to $260,000.00, the starting $50,000 plus 420 payments of $500. The other $1,215,834.89 is investment growth. Now switch to Savings needed, keep the ages, the $50,000 and the 7% return, and enter a target of $1,000,000. The calculator asks for $235.81 a month. After 420 payments the balance is $1,000,014.28, a little above the target because the payment is rounded up to the cent. Total contributed is $149,040.20, the $50,000 plus 420 payments of $235.81, and total growth is $850,974.08.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to save each month for retirement?
Pick Savings needed, enter the balance you want at retirement and press Calculate. A 30-year-old with $50,000 saved who wants $1,000,000 at 65 needs $235.81 a month at a 7% return. Starting from nothing, the same target takes $555.24 a month.
Is the savings target in today's dollars?
No. Savings needed mode reads the target as dollars at retirement and does not use the inflation field. To aim for what $1,000,000 buys today, grow it by inflation first. At 3% a year over 35 years that is $1,000,000 × 1.03^35 = $2,813,862.45. With the other default inputs, reaching that takes $1,242.92 a month.
What if my savings already reach the target?
Then the calculator shows $0.00 a month and the balance your current savings reach on their own. At a 7% return, $50,000 saved at 30 grows to $575,307.59 by 65, so a target of $500,000 needs no monthly contribution.
What return rate should I assume?
Nobody knows the return on the next 35 years, so run more than one. With the default inputs, 5% gives $854,732.13, 7% gives $1,475,834.89 and 9% gives $2,624,061.41. If your plan only works at 9%, save more.
What is the 4% rule?
A withdrawal rule from William Bengen's October 1994 paper in the Journal of Financial Planning. You take 4% of the balance in the first year of retirement and raise that dollar amount with inflation each year after. In the US market history he tested, the money never ran out in less than 33 years. His 4% case used a 50/50 mix of US stocks and intermediate-term Treasury notes, and he advised keeping 50% to 75% in stocks. The calculator stops at the retirement balance. Applied to the example balance of $1,475,834.89, 4% is $59,033.40 in the first year.
Does the projection include Social Security?
No. It projects only the savings you enter. For an estimate of your benefit, sign in to your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, then subtract that income from what your savings have to cover.
How does inflation affect the projection?
The calculator shows two balances. Future Value (Nominal) is the number of dollars in the account at retirement. Future Value (Inflation-Adjusted) is what that money buys at today's prices. At 3% inflation prices rise by a factor of 1.03^35 = 2.81 over 35 years, so the example's $1,475,834.89 buys what $524,487.22 buys today. Your monthly contribution stays the same dollar amount the whole time, so in today's prices each later payment is worth a little less than the one before.