Retirement Calculators
Retirement Calculator
Enter your age, current balance, monthly contribution, and an assumed annual return, and the calculator projects your balance at retirement — plus what the classic 4% rule would let you withdraw in year one.
Retirement projection
Projected balance at 65
$1,015,810
30 years of growth · 4% rule first-year withdrawal $40,632
Breakdown
A compounding projection from the ages, amounts, and return you assume — real returns vary year to year and are not guaranteed. This is an estimate for planning, not financial advice; taxes and fees are not modeled.
About this calculator
A free retirement calculator that projects how a starting balance and steady monthly contributions compound between now and your retirement age. It splits the projected balance into your contributions, employer contributions, and investment growth, and includes a 401(k) view with employer-match math and a withdrawal view that estimates how long savings last in retirement. Everything is computed in your browser from the assumptions you enter. Markets do not return a fixed percentage every year, so treat the result as a planning estimate — not financial advice, a return guarantee, or a plan recommendation.
How the projection works
The calculator compounds monthly: each month your balance grows by one twelfth of the assumed annual return and your contribution is added. Run long enough, growth — not deposits — does most of the work. A 35-year-old with $50,000 saved who adds $500 a month at an assumed 7% annual return is projected to reach about $1,015,810 by 65, and only $180,000 of that is contributions; roughly $786,000 is compounding.
That is also why the starting decade matters more than the final one. The same inputs started at 45 instead of 35 lose twenty years of compounding on every early dollar. If the projection looks short, the levers in rough order of power are: start sooner, contribute more, retire later, and only then assumptions about return.
Choosing an assumed return honestly
The single most sensitive input is the assumed annual return. Long-run U.S. stock-market averages before inflation have historically landed near 7–10%, while diversified portfolios with bonds run lower; many planners model 5–7% to stay conservative. The calculator applies whatever you choose, so check the result at a couple of rates rather than anchoring on one optimistic number.
The projection deliberately leaves out taxes, fees, employer vesting schedules, and inflation. A useful habit is to run the numbers once with your nominal return and once a couple of points lower as a rough inflation-adjusted view of future buying power.
By variant
Questions
- Is the retirement calculator free?
- Yes. It is free, needs no account, and runs entirely in your browser; nothing you enter is uploaded or stored.
- What rate of return should I assume?
- That is your call, and the honest answer is a range. Long-run U.S. equity averages have been near 7–10% before inflation, and mixed portfolios lower. Running the projection at 5%, 7%, and 9% shows how wide the realistic outcome band is.
- Does the projection include taxes or inflation?
- No. It projects the nominal account balance only. Taxes depend on the account type (401(k), Roth, taxable) and your future rates; for a rough inflation-adjusted view, rerun it with a return two or three points below your nominal assumption.
- What is the 4% rule shown under the result?
- A common rule of thumb that withdrawing about 4% of the starting balance in the first retirement year — adjusted for inflation thereafter — has historically lasted about 30 years. It is context, not a guarantee; the withdrawal view lets you test your own numbers.
- Is this financial advice?
- No. It is a compounding projection from assumptions you control. For decisions about account types, allocations, or retirement timing, talk to a qualified financial professional.