Retirement Calculator

Project your retirement savings and see if you are on track to meet your retirement goals.

100% Free No Sign-Up Calculated in Your Browser

Current Age

Retirement Age

Life Expectancy

Current Savings

Monthly Contribution

Annual Return Before Retirement (%)

Annual Return During Retirement (%)

Annual Inflation Rate (%)

Retirement Nest Egg

at age 65

Monthly Income

in today's dollars

Years in Retirement

Total Contributions

Investment Growth

Project how your current savings and monthly contributions will grow by retirement age, and estimate a sustainable, inflation-adjusted monthly income throughout retirement.

How It Works

How Retirement Calculator Works

During the accumulation phase, the calculator steps forward one month at a time from your current age to your retirement age: each month your balance grows by your expected pre-retirement return (divided by 12) and then your monthly contribution is added, compounding the whole way.

For retirement itself, it treats your nest egg as a fixed pool that must last from retirement age to life expectancy, working backward with the annuity-payment formula (the same math as a loan payment, run in reverse) to find the level monthly amount that fully depletes the balance by the end of that period, given your expected post-retirement return.

That nominal monthly income is then divided by (1 + inflation)^(years until retirement) to show what it's actually worth in today's purchasing power, and the result is flagged as "On Track" (real income of $3,000/mo or more), "Moderate" ($1,500–$3,000), or "Underfunded" (below $1,500).

Worked Example

See It In Action

Starting at age 30 with $50,000 saved, contributing $500/month until retiring at 65 (35 years of saving), at a 7% pre-retirement return, the nest egg grows to about $1,475,835 — of which $260,000 came from contributions and roughly $1,215,835 is investment growth. Drawn down over 20 years in retirement (to life expectancy 85) at a 4% return, that supports a nominal income of about $8,943/month, or roughly $3,768/month in today's dollars after 2.5% inflation — marked "On Track."

Real-World Use Cases

Who Uses Retirement Calculator and Why

Projecting whether your current savings rate and contributions will realistically fund a target retirement age.
Seeing how much of your eventual nest egg comes from your own contributions versus investment growth over a multi-decade career.
Estimating a sustainable monthly retirement income in both nominal terms and today's purchasing power after inflation.
Checking how changing your life expectancy assumption shifts the monthly income your nest egg can support.

Common Mistakes

Mistakes to Avoid

Comparing the nominal monthly income figure to your current-day expenses instead of the inflation-adjusted figure — the nominal number is in future dollars, which buy less than today's dollars after decades of inflation.
Assuming a longer life expectancy always makes the plan look worse without realizing it's the same nest egg being spread over more years, which mechanically lowers the sustainable monthly draw.
Treating the "On Track / Moderate / Underfunded" labels as a personalized verdict rather than the simple fixed-dollar thresholds they are ($3,000+, $1,500-$3,000, and below $1,500 in today's dollars).

Pro Tips

Tips for Best Results

Focus on the inflation-adjusted monthly income figure when judging whether your plan is realistic, since that's the number expressed in today's purchasing power.
Because contributions compound every month for decades, starting to save even a few years earlier can matter more to your final balance than increasing the contribution amount later.

Troubleshooting

Fixing Common Problems

My projected nest egg seems much larger than what I've actually contributed. — This is expected — the calculator compounds your balance monthly at your expected return for the full accumulation period, so investment growth can end up far exceeding your raw contribution total over a long career.

Glossary

Terms Explained

Accumulation phase: The years before retirement during which your balance grows through contributions and compounding investment return.

Real income: Your projected monthly retirement income adjusted for inflation, reflecting what it will actually be worth in today's purchasing power.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my nest egg number look so much bigger than what I actually contribute?

Because compounding growth is applied every single month for decades — in the example above, contributions total $260,000 but investment growth adds over $1.2 million on top, showing why starting early matters more than the contribution amount alone.

Why is my monthly retirement income shown twice, in two different amounts?

The "nominal" figure is what your nest egg would pay out in future dollars; the inflation-adjusted figure translates that into today's purchasing power, since prices (and what money buys) will be higher decades from now.

How does life expectancy affect the result?

A longer life expectancy spreads the same nest egg over more years in retirement, which lowers the sustainable monthly income; a shorter life expectancy allows a higher monthly draw from the same balance.

What do the "On Track," "Moderate," and "Underfunded" labels mean?

They're simple thresholds on your inflation-adjusted monthly income: $3,000+/month is labeled On Track, $1,500–$3,000 is Moderate, and below $1,500 is Underfunded — a quick gut check, not a personalized financial plan.