Retirement Savings Calculator
Project your retirement savings from today's age and contributions — and see what that corpus could mean for your monthly income using the 4% rule.
Estimates assume a constant rate of return and are not inflation-adjusted — actual results will vary.
How to Use the Retirement Savings Calculator
Five numbers project your full retirement timeline.
Enter your ages
Your current age and target retirement age determine how many years your savings have to grow.
Add savings and contributions
Include what you've already saved and how much you plan to contribute each month going forward.
Set an expected return
Use a realistic long-term average for your investment mix to see your projected corpus and estimated monthly retirement income.
How Your Retirement Corpus Is Projected
The same compounding math behind long-term investing, applied to your specific timeline.
📐 The growth formula
Your current savings grow using compound interest, while monthly contributions add up and compound alongside them — the same math behind any long-term investment projection, applied to your specific age gap until retirement.
💰 The 4% rule for retirement income
Once you know your projected corpus, the 4% rule estimates a sustainable annual withdrawal: 4% of your total savings in year one, adjusted for inflation afterward — designed to make your money last roughly 30 years.
The 4% Rule in Practice
How different retirement corpus sizes translate into estimated annual and monthly income.
| Retirement Corpus | 4% Annual Withdrawal | Estimated Monthly Income |
|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $20,000 | $1,667 |
| $1,000,000 | $40,000 | $3,333 |
| $1,500,000 | $60,000 | $5,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $80,000 | $6,667 |
The 4% rule is a guideline, not a guarantee — market conditions, sequence of returns, and your actual spending needs all affect how long savings will last.
Tips for Retirement Planning
Small habits that meaningfully change your retirement outcome.
✅ Building a stronger retirement
- Increase contributions whenever your income grows, not just your spending
- Capture any employer retirement match in full — it's essentially free money
- Revisit your projection every few years as your savings and goals change
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Assuming Social Security or a pension alone will be enough
- Using an overly optimistic return rate that overstates your real corpus
- Not accounting for healthcare costs, which tend to rise later in retirement
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about retirement savings projections.
A common guideline is to save enough that withdrawing 4% per year covers your expected annual expenses, which generally means a corpus of about 25 times your desired annual retirement income.
The 4% rule suggests that withdrawing 4% of your retirement savings in the first year, then adjusting that amount for inflation each year after, has historically had a strong chance of lasting 30 years without running out.
Many long-term planners use a range of 6-8% annual return for a diversified stock-heavy portfolio, though more conservative estimates around 5-6% are common for planning purposes to avoid overestimating.
No, this calculator projects nominal (non-inflation-adjusted) growth. To plan more conservatively, consider using a lower expected return to roughly account for inflation eroding purchasing power over time.