Retirement Calculator
Estimate how much you need to save for retirement based on your age, income, and goals.
How it works
Retirement planning inverts a normal savings question. Instead of asking what a sum will grow to, it asks what sum is needed to fund a given level of spending indefinitely. The common approach multiplies the annual spending you want by 25 — the inverse of a 4% withdrawal rate — to produce a target portfolio.
The 4% figure comes from historical analysis of US market returns over 30-year retirements. It is a planning convention, not a guarantee, and its assumptions matter. It presumes a diversified portfolio, a roughly 30-year horizon, and tolerance for the possibility that an unusually bad sequence of early returns depletes the portfolio faster than average. Retiring earlier extends the horizon well beyond 30 years, which argues for a lower withdrawal rate and therefore a larger target.
Sequence-of-returns risk is the part most calculators understate. During accumulation the order of annual returns does not affect the final balance. During withdrawal it does, sharply: poor returns in the first few years force you to sell more shares to fund the same spending, permanently reducing the base that later recovery can act on. Two retirees with identical average returns can end up in very different positions based purely on which years were bad.
Build your target from projected spending rather than from current income. Some costs fall in retirement — commuting, payroll taxes, retirement contributions themselves, often the mortgage. Others rise, healthcare most reliably. Income replacement ratios are a rough shortcut; your own expected expenses are the real input. Everything runs in your browser — no login, no upload, and no figure you enter leaves the page.
FAQ
What is the 4% rule?
A planning convention suggesting you can withdraw 4% of a portfolio in the first year of retirement, adjusting for inflation thereafter, with reasonable historical odds of lasting 30 years. It is derived from past US market data, not a guarantee.
Why multiply annual expenses by 25?
Twenty-five is the inverse of 4%. If you plan to withdraw 4% a year, the portfolio must be 25 times the first year's spending. A more conservative 3.5% withdrawal implies a multiple of roughly 28.5.
What is sequence-of-returns risk?
The risk that poor returns early in retirement force selling more assets to fund the same spending, permanently shrinking the base available for later recovery. It affects withdrawal phases but not accumulation phases.
Should I plan from income or from expenses?
From expenses. Income replacement ratios are a rough shortcut. Your projected spending is the figure that actually has to be funded, and it shifts in retirement — some costs disappear, healthcare typically rises.
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Disclaimer: MoneyCalc provides estimates for educational purposes. These are not financial advice. For significant decisions, consult a licensed financial advisor or tax professional.