🏖 Retirement Savings Calculator
Find out if you're on track to retire comfortably - and exactly how much you need to save each month.
Find out if you're on track to retire comfortably - and exactly how much you need to save each month.
How much do I need to retire?
A common rule of thumb is 25× your expected annual spending in retirement — the inverse of the 4% safe-withdrawal rate. If you plan to spend $40,000 a year, you need about $1 million invested. Your exact target depends on retirement age, expected real returns, inflation, and any other income such as a state pension or social security. UK savers targeting early retirement at 55 face an additional ISA-bridge requirement until the NMPA rise in 2028 — see our retire-at-55 calculator for the UK-specific pot, monthly savings, and 55-57 bridge maths.
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How to use this calculator
Takes about 3 minutes.
- Enter your current age and the age you'd like to retire
- Add your current retirement savings and the amount you contribute each month
- Set the expected annual return — 6 to 8 percent is a standard real-return assumption
- Enter the desired annual retirement income you want your portfolio to support
- USA only: add your employer 401(k) match percentage if applicable
- Review your projected balance, the 4% safe-withdrawal income it generates, and your savings gap
Try these scenarios
Tap a scenario to load it into the calculator above.
Methodology & Sources
This calculator implements the standard retirement growth + drawdown formula: Future value = PV × (1+r)^n + PMT × [((1+r)^n − 1) / r]. Region-specific tax and rate defaults are sourced directly from each country's primary government source and reviewed against the publication date below.
- USA: IRS — federal income tax brackets and contribution limits.
- UK: GOV.UK — HMRC personal allowance, National Insurance, and dividend rates.
- SA: SARS — personal income tax brackets and tax rebates.
Last verified: May 2026.
Key concepts
Time is the dominant variable. A 25-year-old saving $300/month until 65 at a 7% real return ends with roughly $720k. The same person starting at 40 needs to save about $900/month to land at the same number. Compounding rewards early decades disproportionately.
Real return assumption. Most planners use a 4-7% real (after-inflation) return for a diversified equity-heavy portfolio. The US S&P 500's long-run average is around 7% real (Federal Reserve and Shiller data); add bonds and the figure drops.
The 4% rule. William Bengen's 1994 research showed a retiree could withdraw 4% of their starting balance, adjusted for inflation, for 30 years with very high success across historical periods. It's a starting point — not a guarantee.
Withdrawal-phase years. The calculator's 'retirement years' input matters: a 30-year retirement needs a bigger pot than a 20-year one at the same spending level. Plan to age 95 if you have family longevity.
Sequence-of-returns risk. A bear market in your first five years of retirement does more damage than the same drawdown 20 years in. This is why many planners shift to a more conservative asset mix in the run-up to retirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Worked example
Sara is 35, lives in the US, has $40,000 already in her 401(k) and contributes $500 a month. Her employer adds a 50% match on the first 6% of salary, which works out to roughly $250 extra a month on her $100,000 income. She wants to retire at 65 on $60,000 a year in today's money.
Plugging in a 5% real return over 30 years, her $40,000 starting balance grows to about $173,000. The combined $750 monthly contribution adds another $620,000 of compounded value. Total projected pot: roughly $793,000. At the 4% safe-withdrawal rate that funds $31,700 a year — about $28,000 short of her $60,000 target.
She has three real levers. Push contributions to $1,100 a month (her own $850 plus the same match) and the pot lands near $1.05m. Delay retirement to 67 — only two extra years — and she clears $880,000 with the original contribution. Combine both and she comfortably clears the 25× target without changing her expected spending.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring the employer match. Leaving any of a 401(k), SIPP or RA employer match on the table is a guaranteed loss of 50-100% on the matched portion. Most plans match the first 3-6% of salary; capturing that is always the first move, ahead of paying down moderate-rate debt or topping up an ISA.
- Using nominal returns instead of real. Plugging in 8% without inflation-adjusting makes your final pot look 60-80% bigger than it will actually buy. Always model in real (after-inflation) terms — a 5% real return is roughly equivalent to 7-8% nominal at 2-3% inflation.
- Cashing out a 401(k) at job change. A $30,000 cash-out at 30 costs roughly $300,000 of compounded growth by 65 at a 7% return, plus the 10% IRS early-withdrawal penalty and federal income tax on the way out. Always roll to a new 401(k) or IRA — the paperwork takes an afternoon. For a wrapper-by-wrapper view of how Roth, Traditional, and taxable brokerage growth compare over the same 30-year horizon under 2026 IRS limits, use the IRS-aware compound interest calculator.
- Sitting in cash for safety. Holding a retirement pot in money-market funds or cash ISAs for decades because equities feel risky locks in real losses to inflation. Time horizon, not volatility, is the relevant risk for money you won't touch for 20+ years.
- Forgetting the spouse. Households running one retirement number for both partners often under-fund. UK and US tax wrappers let each spouse use their own allowance — two ISAs at £20,000 each is £40,000 of tax-free room per household, not £20,000.
Last reviewed: · See editorial policy