Retirement Calculator
Enter your ages, savings, yearly returns and the income you would like in retirement. The calculator projects your balance month by month and shows whether the money lasts until the age you plan for, what monthly income it can support and how much more you would need to save. It is a simplified projection, not financial advice.
Your plan
Result
Assumptions: the yearly returns and inflation are constant and applied monthly. Contributions are added at the end of each month, withdrawals are taken at the start of each month. No taxes, fees or changes in your plans are included. Amounts have no currency symbol, so use any currency.
Calculations run locally in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to a server.
Balance and yearly flows
Savings balance by age
- Balance at the end of each year
Contributions, growth and withdrawals per year
- Contributions
- Growth (investment return)
- Withdrawals
Year by year
Age is your age at the start of each year. Amounts are in future money; the last column removes inflation.
| Age | Phase | Start balance | Contributions | Growth | Withdrawals | End balance | End balance, today's money |
|---|
How to use the retirement calculator
- Enter your current age, the retirement age you aim for and the age you want the money to last until (plan until age). If you are unsure, use a high number such as 90 or 95.
- Enter your current savings and what you contribute. Choose whether the amount is paid per month or per year, and add a yearly increase if you expect to raise it with your pay.
- Enter the expected yearly return before and after retirement, and the expected inflation.
- Enter the income you want per month. Choose "in today's money" if it should rise with prices, or "a fixed amount" if it should stay the same in nominal terms. Add other income, such as a pension, and the age it starts.
- Read the four results, then look at the charts and the year-by-year table.
How it works
The calculator steps through your plan one month at a time. A yearly rate is treated as an effective yearly rate and converted to a monthly one, so 6% a year means your money grows by 6% after twelve months:
monthly factor = (1 + yearly rate) ^ (1 / 12)
Before retirement, each month the balance grows by that factor and then your contribution is added at the end of the month. The contribution is raised once every twelve months by the yearly increase you entered. After retirement, at the start of each month the income you want is taken out, minus your other income once it has started, and the rest keeps growing at the retirement return.
Inflation is handled the same way. Prices are assumed to rise by the same percentage every year. To show an amount in today's money, the calculator divides it by the price level at that moment:
today's money = future money / (1 + inflation) ^ (years from now)
If your income is "in today's money", the withdrawal is multiplied by the same price level each month, so it keeps its buying power. If it is "a fixed amount", the same number is withdrawn every month for the whole retirement.
The four results come from this one model:
- Balance at retirement is the balance after the last saving month, shown in future money and in today's money.
- Do your savings last? is "no" when a month's withdrawal can no longer be paid in full. The age shown is the age at which that month starts.
- Income your savings can support is the monthly income, on the same basis as your wish, that would use the savings up exactly at the plan-until age. It includes your other income. The calculator finds it by trial and error until the final balance is zero.
- Extra saving needed is a flat extra amount added to your contribution from today, raised by the same yearly increase, that makes the savings last. Because the final balance changes in direct proportion to the extra amount, this is calculated exactly and rounded up to a whole unit so that the goal is always reached.
Examples
Example 1 — the preset plan. Age 35, retire at 65, plan until 90, savings 50,000, contribution 600 a month rising 2% a year, return 6% before and 4% after retirement, inflation 2.5%, wanted income 2,500 a month in today's money, other income 800 from age 67. The balance at 65 is 1,014,217, which is 483,521 in today's money. The savings last until 90 with 205,099 left, and they could support 2,646 a month. No extra saving is needed.
Example 2 — a lump sum only. Age 30, retire at 60, plan until 90, savings 100,000, no contributions, return 5% before and 3% after, inflation 2%, wanted income 3,000 a month in today's money, no other income. The balance at 60 is 432,194 (238,602 in today's money). The money runs out at age 66 and 10 months. It could support 764 a month, and about 1,551 extra a month from today would be needed to reach the goal.
Example 3 — saving late. Age 50, retire at 65, plan until 95, savings 300,000, contribution 1,000 a month with no increase, return 3% before and 1% after, inflation 3%, wanted income 2,000 a month in today's money. The balance at 65 is 693,630 (445,214 in today's money). The money runs out at age 80 and 9 months. It could support 909 a month, and 3,679 extra a month would be needed.
Example 4 — retiring now. Age 65, retire at 65, plan until 90, savings 500,000, no contributions, return 4% before and after, inflation 2%, wanted income 2,200 a month in today's money. The balance is 500,000. The money runs out at age 88 and 7 months, and it could support 2,102 a month. There is no time left to save, so the calculator says extra saving is not possible.
Choosing realistic assumptions
The result is only as good as the numbers you enter, and the future return is the least certain of them. A few habits make a projection more useful:
- Lower the return after retirement. Many people move to less risky holdings, which usually earn less.
- Think in real terms. The gap between return and inflation matters more than either number. In Example 3 the return is below inflation, which is why the plan fails so early.
- Plan until a high age. Running out of money at 85 is a bigger problem than leaving some behind at 95.
Common mistakes
- Mixing future and today's money. A wish of 2,500 a month sounds small after 30 years of inflation. Use "in today's money" unless you really want a fixed number.
- Forgetting other income. A pension or part-time work can cover a large share of the need. Enter it, but only if you are confident it will be paid.
- Counting on a return that is too high. Raising the return by one point can change the result a lot over thirty years.
Frequently asked questions
What does "plan until age" mean?
It is the age up to which the savings should last. Nobody knows their lifespan, so many people pick an age well above average life expectancy to stay on the safe side.
Why do the results change when I switch to "a fixed amount"?
A fixed amount is never raised, so each month's withdrawal is smaller in real terms than the one before. The same savings can therefore pay a higher starting figure than an income that follows inflation.
Is the extra saving a one-off sum?
No. It is an additional monthly amount, paid from today until retirement and raised each year by the same increase as your contribution. It is shown per month even if you entered your contribution per year.
Why is the balance in today's money so much lower?
Prices keep rising, so each unit of money buys less in the future. Today's money divides the future balance by the price level, which shows what it could buy compared with now.
Can I use any currency?
Yes. The calculator uses plain numbers with no currency symbol and no country-specific tax or pension rules. Enter all amounts in the same currency.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser. Your inputs are only remembered in this browser on this device, so you can return to them later, and nothing is uploaded.
This tool gives a simplified projection for general information. It does not know your taxes, fees or situation, and it is not financial, tax or legal advice. Real investment returns vary from year to year.
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