Retirement Calculator – Will You Have Enough to Retire?
Will you have enough money to retire?
🏦 Retirement Calculator
Projected Nest Egg · Readiness Score · Income Gap · Contribution & Age Scenarios
Results update in real time. Model includes inflation adjustment, real return, 4% rule check, and portfolio runway analysis.
📅 Your Timeline
US avg: 79M / 83W
💰 Savings & Growth
S&P 500 hist. avg: ~7%
🎯 Income Needs
In today's dollars
Estimate at ssa.gov
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Retirement planning has one core question: will your money outlast you? Most people save without ever checking. They contribute to a 401(k), watch the balance grow, and assume it'll be fine. Often it won't be — not because they made bad choices, but because no one ran the numbers. This calculator runs the numbers. Enter your current age, target retirement age, existing savings, annual contributions, expected investment return, and the annual income you want in retirement. The calculator projects your nest egg at retirement, estimates how much annual income it can sustainably provide using the 4% rule, and shows the gap — if any — between what you'll have and what you'll need. The most important variable isn't your current balance. It's time. A 30-year-old with $20,000 saved has 35 years of compounding ahead. A 50-year-old with $300,000 has 15. This calculator shows both honestly, so you can decide whether to increase contributions, adjust your target retirement age, or revise your income expectations. Social Security and pension income are factored in so your gap calculation reflects reality, not worst-case panic. The result is a retirement readiness score — and, more importantly, the specific monthly contribution increase needed to close any gap.
- ·Investment return is applied annually (compounded); actual returns vary year to year
- ·The 4% rule is used to estimate sustainable annual withdrawal from savings
- ·Social Security estimate is based on your input — use SSA.gov to get your actual projected benefit
- ·Inflation is not applied to the income goal by default (enter a higher goal to account for it)
- ·Contributions are assumed constant; does not model contribution increases over time
Projected nest egg at retirement: FV = PV × (1+r)^n + C × [(1+r)^n – 1] / r Where: PV = current savings · r = annual return rate · n = years to retirement · C = annual contribution. Annual income the nest egg can support: = FV × 4% (the 4% safe withdrawal rule) Income gap: = Desired annual retirement income – Social Security – Pension – Portfolio income (4% of FV) If gap > 0, the calculator solves for the increased annual contribution needed to close it using the same FV formula rearranged for C.
- →Annual retirement check-in — run this every year to see if you're still on track
- →After a job change or raise — recalculate with your new contribution amount
- →Considering early retirement — see how moving your target date forward affects the math
- →Deciding how much to increase 401(k) contributions during open enrollment
- →Evaluating whether to take Social Security at 62 vs. 67 vs. 70
Example 1: 38-year-old on track
Inputs: Age: 38 · Retire: 65 · Savings: $85,000 · Annual contribution: $12,000 · Return: 7% · Income goal: $70,000/yr · Social Security: $20,000/yr
Result: Projected nest egg: $1,043,000 · Portfolio income (4%): $41,720 · SS: $20,000 · Total retirement income: $61,720 · Gap: $8,280/yr
She's close but not fully funded. The gap of $8,280/year requires an additional $2,100/year in contributions starting now to close by retirement. A small, specific increase is far more actionable than a vague 'save more.'
Example 2: 45-year-old behind
Inputs: Age: 45 · Retire: 65 · Savings: $95,000 · Annual contribution: $8,000 · Return: 7% · Income goal: $60,000/yr · Social Security: $18,000/yr
Result: Projected nest egg: $575,000 · Portfolio income (4%): $23,000 · SS: $18,000 · Total: $41,000 · Gap: $19,000/yr
A significant gap. Closing it requires either increasing annual contributions by ~$8,500, retiring at 68 instead of 65, or reducing income goals. The calculator models all three — often a combination of small adjustments across all levers closes the gap without a dramatic lifestyle change.
- ✕Not accounting for Social Security income — ignoring it dramatically overstates how much you need to save
- ✕Using a nominal return rate (e.g., 10%) without adjusting for inflation — your real purchasing power grows at roughly 7% historically
- ✕Assuming you can stop contributing once you hit a balance target — the balance needs to keep growing until retirement
- ✕Underestimating retirement spending — healthcare costs often increase in retirement even as other costs decrease
- ✕Planning to retire at the Social Security full retirement age without checking how much earlier or later claiming changes the benefit
How much should I have saved by age?
Common benchmarks: 1× salary by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60, 10× by 67. These are rough heuristics — what matters more is whether your projected nest egg can generate the income you need for as long as you're likely to live. Use this calculator rather than benchmarks alone.
What is the 4% rule?
A guideline from the Trinity Study: withdrawing 4% of your portfolio in year one, adjusting for inflation each year after, has historically had a very high probability of lasting 30+ years. A $1M portfolio → $40,000/year. It's not a guarantee, but it's the most widely used and empirically grounded retirement planning benchmark.
What return rate should I use?
The historical inflation-adjusted return of the US stock market has averaged about 7% per year over long periods. For a diversified portfolio with some bonds, 5–6% is more conservative. The closer you are to retirement, the more conservative your allocation should be — use a lower rate assumption as you approach your target date.
How does inflation affect my retirement needs?
If you need $60,000/year in today's dollars and inflation runs at 3%, you'll need about $108,000/year in 20 years to maintain the same purchasing power. This calculator lets you enter an inflation-adjusted income goal (multiply your current need by ~1.8 for 20 years at 3% inflation) for a more accurate picture.
What if I have a pension or Social Security?
Enter both. These reduce how much your nest egg needs to produce. A $20,000/year Social Security benefit means your portfolio only needs to cover the gap — not your full income need. Ignoring these sources would significantly overstate how much you need to save.
At what age should I start taking Social Security?
You can claim Social Security as early as 62 (reduced benefit) or as late as 70 (maximum benefit — 8% larger per year you delay beyond full retirement age). If you're healthy and have other income, delaying often makes sense. The break-even — the age where delayed claiming pays off — is typically around 78–80. If you live past that, delaying wins.