DeluxeCalc

Retirement Calculator

Forecast your retirement nest egg and see how long your savings will last.

About this calculator

Retirement planning has two phases. In the accumulation phase you save and invest during your working years, and your balance grows from both new contributions and investment returns. In the drawdown phase you stop contributing and start withdrawing money to cover living costs, while whatever remains invested keeps earning a return. The question most people want answered is whether the balance built up in the first phase will last through the second. This calculator projects your savings year by year up to retirement, then projects how long that balance would cover a fixed level of annual spending.

How to use this calculator

Enter your Current Age and the Retirement Age you are planning for. Enter your Current Savings, meaning the total already set aside for retirement across your accounts. Enter your Annual Savings, the amount you expect to add each year outside a workplace plan entered below; if you leave the workplace plan blank, include any employer contributions here. Enter an Expected Annual Return as a percentage. Finally, enter your Annual Expenses in Retirement, the amount you expect to spend each year once you stop working, in today's dollars. You can type it as a yearly figure or in the Monthly Expenses field; both edit the same amount. The page starts with a 30-year-old planning to retire at 65, with $50,000 saved, $15,000 saved per year, a 7% return, and $60,000 a year in retirement spending. Results update as you type, and your inputs are kept in the page address so you can bookmark or share a scenario.

Three optional sections refine the projection. Workplace plan and employer match takes your salary, the percentage you contribute, and an employer match such as 50% of contributions up to 6% of salary; contributions follow your salary as it grows by the Annual Salary Increase. Social Security and pension takes a monthly benefit in today's dollars and the age it starts; from that age it reduces what must be withdrawn from savings. Inflation and returns in retirement lets you raise spending and benefits with inflation and use a different, often lower, return once you retire. Left at their starting values, these sections do not change the result.

The results show four figures. Balance at Retirement is the projected total on your retirement date; when an inflation rate is entered, its value in today's dollars is shown beneath it. Monthly Withdrawal at Retirement is what savings must cover each month in your first retirement year, after any Social Security or pension that has started. Years of Funding is how many years of withdrawals that balance supports, shown as "50+ years" if it lasts through the full projection. Funds Run Out shows the age at which the balance reaches zero, or "Never" if it does not run out within 50 years of retiring. The chart plots the balance at every age, with a dashed line marking your retirement age, so you can see the rise during your working years and the path afterward.

How the calculation works

The calculator uses whole years. During accumulation, for each year between your current age and your retirement age, the balance grows by the expected return and then that year's savings are added: your annual savings plus any salary contribution and employer match. During drawdown, for each year after retirement, the balance grows by the return after retirement and then that year's spending, less any Social Security or pension, is subtracted. This continues until the balance reaches zero or 50 years have passed. Spending and benefits are entered in today's dollars and grow by the inflation rate every year, both before and after retirement. With inflation left at 0%, they stay the same every year, so treat all figures as today's dollars and use a real, inflation-adjusted return, such as 4% to 5% for a balanced portfolio. If you enter an inflation rate, use a nominal return instead.

Worked example

Suppose you are 45, plan to retire at 65, have $100,000 saved, add $10,000 a year, expect a 6% return, and plan to spend $50,000 a year in retirement. After 20 years of growth and contributions, the projected Balance at Retirement is about $688,569. Withdrawing $50,000 a year while the rest keeps earning 6%, the money lasts 31 years and the calculator shows funds running out at age 96. If you instead plan to spend $60,000 a year, the same balance lasts only 21 years and runs out at age 86. Two changes can close that gap. Working until 67 raises the balance to about $794,277, and saving $15,000 a year instead of $10,000 raises it to about $872,497; with $50,000 of annual spending, either change keeps the balance from running out within 50 years. With the page's default values, the projected balance at 65 is about $2.61 million, and because 7% growth on that balance is more than $60,000 a year, the calculator shows that funds never run out.

Interpreting the results

The key comparison is between your balance's annual return and your annual expenses. If the return is larger than what you withdraw, the balance keeps growing and the calculator reports "Never." If expenses are larger, the balance shrinks faster each year as the base it earns on gets smaller. A "Funds Run Out" age comfortably beyond your expected lifespan suggests the plan has a margin of safety under the assumptions you entered. An age in your 70s or 80s is a signal to test changes such as saving more, retiring later, or planning lower spending.

Practical tips

Enter Social Security or a pension in its own section; for other income such as rent or part-time work, add it to the monthly benefit or subtract it from your retirement expenses. Run the projection at several return rates, for example 4%, 6%, and 8%, because a single rate hides a wide range of possible outcomes. Enter employer matching in the workplace plan section rather than in annual savings, so it is not counted twice. Revisit the numbers every year or two, since actual returns and your savings rate will differ from any assumption.

Limitations and common mistakes

The projection assumes a constant return every single year, while real markets rise and fall. A run of poor returns early in retirement, known as sequence-of-returns risk, can deplete a portfolio much faster than an average return suggests. The calculator does not model taxes on withdrawals, investment fees, required minimum distributions, changes in spending over time, or health-care costs. Annual savings outside the workplace plan stay the same each year, and the employer match is applied to each year's salary rather than to each paycheck. A common mistake is pairing a nominal return, such as 10%, with expenses stated in today's dollars, which overstates how long the money lasts. Another is entering monthly spending in the annual expenses field; use the Monthly Expenses field for that. The results are educational estimates, not financial advice; a qualified financial planner can help with a full retirement plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

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