Retirement Calculator
See how your savings compare with your retirement spending plan.
How much have you invested for retirement?
Retirement plan · $45,000 / year · 30 years · 4% real return
Use amounts in today's dollars. Real return means growth after inflation. Savings and spending keep pace with inflation in this model.
Needed at retirement
Monthly retirement spending
New contributions
Your retirement timeline
Today
Retirement
Plan ends
How this retirement estimate works
All amounts are in today's dollars. The annual real return is growth after inflation; the same constant assumption applies before and during retirement. Monthly growth uses (1 + annual real return)^(1/12) − 1.
Before retirement, contributions are added at each month's end. In retirement, monthly spending is withdrawn after growth. The required balance is the present value of these withdrawals over the number of retirement years you choose, with zero remaining after the last withdrawal.
At 0% real return, $24,000 annual spending for 20 years requires $480,000 at retirement. A $120,000 starting balance plus $1,000 per month for 10 years grows to $240,000, leaving a $240,000 shortfall in this example.
This is an illustrative spending plan, not a guaranteed outcome or a safe withdrawal recommendation. Taxes, fees, pensions, Social Security, variable returns, and living beyond the chosen horizon are not modeled. A surplus applies only to this finite plan. No inputs are saved.
Methodology reviewed: September 5, 2026.