How much money do I need to retire?

Work backward from spending: at a 4 percent withdrawal rate you need about 25 times your desired annual portfolio income. If you want $40,000 a year from savings on top of Social Security, that is roughly $1 million. Higher withdrawal rates shrink the target but raise the risk of outliving the money.

What is the 4 percent rule?

A guideline from historical market research: withdraw 4 percent of your portfolio in the first retirement year, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation, and a diversified portfolio survived every historical 30-year period. It is a planning benchmark rather than a promise, and some current research suggests starting closer to 3.5 to 4 percent.

Is $500 a month enough to retire on?

Started at 30 with $50,000 already saved and a 7 percent return, $500 a month grows to about $1.6 million by 67, which supports roughly $5,300 a month at a 4 percent withdrawal rate before Social Security. Started at 50, the same contribution reaches far less, which is why the years matter more than the amount.

Should I include Social Security in this calculator?

No, keep it separate. This tool projects portfolio income only; your Social Security benefit adds on top and depends on your earnings record and claiming age. Estimate it with the Social Security calculator, then add the two income streams to compare against your expected spending.

How is this different from the FIRE calculator?

This one answers what you will have at a retirement age you choose. The FIRE calculator inverts the question: given your savings rate, when do you hit financial independence. Use this for conventional retirement planning and FIRE when the retirement date itself is the variable you are solving for.

Retirement Calculator

Project your retirement savings to any age and see the monthly income they could sustain: contributions, compound growth, and the withdrawal-rate math.

X f in

Balance at retirement

$1,603,693.25

Monthly income it could sustain: $5,345.64
Annual income it could sustain: $64,147.73
Years until retirement: 37 years
Total contributed: $272,000.00
Investment growth: $1,331,693.25

Retirement savings by age

Quick answer: With the example inputs this page loads by default, the headline result (Balance at retirement) comes to $1,603,693.25. Project your retirement savings to any age and see the monthly income they could sustain: contributions, compound growth, and the withdrawal-rate math. Change any input above and every figure updates instantly in your browser.

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Fact-check: results on this page are verified against an independently coded reference oracle that covers all 106 calculators on this site. See how we verify .

Two numbers decide most retirements: the balance your savings grow to, and the rate you can safely withdraw from it. This calculator projects your current savings plus monthly contributions to your retirement age, then converts the balance to sustainable income using your withdrawal rate; at the common 4 percent rule, every $100,000 saved supports about $333 a month.

What this result means

Read the monthly income line against your expected spending, remembering Social Security stacks on top of it. If the gap is large, the levers rank by power: time (retiring later compounds twice, more growth and fewer funded years), contribution rate, and only then the return assumption, which you should keep conservative rather than optimistic. This is the general-purpose projection: when you want the earliest possible date given your savings rate, use the FIRE calculator; to grade progress against a spending target, retirement on-track; for employer-match and salary-growth detail, the 401(k) calculator. Estimates, not advice.

Assumptions

Contributions are made at the end of each month and compound at the exact monthly rate that reproduces your annual return, held constant to retirement age. Real returns vary year to year; the projection is a steady-rate simplification for planning.
Retirement income is the balance times your withdrawal rate (annual, divided by 12 for the monthly figure). The 4 percent guideline comes from historical research on 30-year retirements (the Bengen studies and the Trinity study); it is a planning rule, not a guarantee, and recent analyses argue for somewhat lower starting rates.
All figures are nominal (not inflation-adjusted), and taxes are not modeled: withdrawals from pre-tax accounts owe income tax, Roth withdrawals do not, and the mix changes what the income line buys. Social Security is not included and stacks on top of the portfolio income shown.
Contributions are assumed constant in dollars. Contribution limits, employer matching formulas, and salary growth are deliberately not modeled here; the 401(k) calculator handles the employer-plan mechanics.
This is the general-purpose projection tool. The FIRE calculator solves for the earliest retirement date your savings rate supports, and the retirement on-track calculator grades your progress against a spending-based target.
This is an estimate for educational purposes only, not investment or retirement advice.

Key terms

Definitions for the terms this calculator uses, in our finance glossary .

How it works

The projection has two halves: accumulation and conversion.

Accumulation. Your current savings and monthly contributions compound at the exact monthly rate that reproduces your annual return, (1 + annual)^(1/12) - 1, with contributions added at the end of each month until retirement age. The chart’s year-by-year schedule is the same iteration the headline balance comes from, so the two always agree.

Conversion. The balance turns into income at your withdrawal rate: balance x rate is the sustainable annual draw, divided by 12 for the monthly figure. The 4 percent default comes from the historical safe-withdrawal research (the Bengen studies and the Trinity study, both built on 30-year retirements); it is a planning benchmark, and recent analyses argue for starting slightly lower.

This is deliberately the simple, general-purpose retirement tool. The FIRE calculator solves for the earliest date your savings rate supports, retirement on-track grades progress against a spending target, and the 401(k) calculator models employer matching and salary growth.

Worked example

Age 30, retiring at 67, $50,000 saved, $500 a month, 7 percent return, 4 percent withdrawal rate.

Growth: 37 years = 444 monthly contributions at r = 1.07^(1/12) - 1.
Lump sum: $50,000 x 1.07^37 = $611,180.91. Contributions: $500 x annuity factor = $992,512.34.
Balance at 67: $1,603,693.25 on $272,000 contributed ($1,331,693 of growth).
Income: 4% x balance = $64,147.73 a year, about $5,345.64 a month, before Social Security.

Scope and limitations

Nominal dollars at a constant return; no inflation adjustment, taxes, contribution limits, employer match formulas, or Social Security (estimate that separately and add it on top). Withdrawal-rate income is a first-year draw, not a guarantee the money lasts any specific number of years. This is an estimate for education, not investment advice.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to retire?: Work backward from spending: at a 4 percent withdrawal rate you need about 25 times your desired annual portfolio income. If you want $40,000 a year from savings on top of Social Security, that is roughly $1 million. Higher withdrawal rates shrink the target but raise the risk of outliving the money.
What is the 4 percent rule?: A guideline from historical market research: withdraw 4 percent of your portfolio in the first retirement year, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation, and a diversified portfolio survived every historical 30-year period. It is a planning benchmark rather than a promise, and some current research suggests starting closer to 3.5 to 4 percent.
Is $500 a month enough to retire on?: Started at 30 with $50,000 already saved and a 7 percent return, $500 a month grows to about $1.6 million by 67, which supports roughly $5,300 a month at a 4 percent withdrawal rate before Social Security. Started at 50, the same contribution reaches far less, which is why the years matter more than the amount.
Should I include Social Security in this calculator?: No, keep it separate. This tool projects portfolio income only; your Social Security benefit adds on top and depends on your earnings record and claiming age. Estimate it with the Social Security calculator, then add the two income streams to compare against your expected spending.
How is this different from the FIRE calculator?: This one answers what you will have at a retirement age you choose. The FIRE calculator inverts the question: given your savings rate, when do you hit financial independence. Use this for conventional retirement planning and FIRE when the retirement date itself is the variable you are solving for.

Related calculators

Learn how this works

New to this topic? Our companion guide explains it in plain language: Average and Median Retirement Savings by Age: How Do You Compare?

By Sam Sage Last reviewed July 2026.