Retirement Calculator
Free · no sign-up · reviewed July 2026
Retirement can feel far away and fuzzy. This makes it concrete: see roughly how big your nest egg will be, and, using the well-known 4% rule, about how much monthly income it could provide.
Adjust your age, what you save, and your expected return to watch decades of compounding add up.
Drag to adjust
At age 65 you'll have
$1,368,287
≈ $4,561/mo in retirement income (4% rule)
💡 Over 35 years, $1,091,287 of your nest egg comes from growth, not your own pocket. Starting even a few years earlier would add a lot, because those early dollars compound the longest.
$4,561
Monthly income
4% rule estimate
$277,000
You contribute
your own money
$1,091,287
Growth adds
compounding
- What you put in$277,000
- Growth$1,091,287
- Years until retirement
- 35
- Total contributions
- $277,000
- Investment growth
- $1,091,287
- Nest egg at retirement
- $1,368,287
- Est. yearly income (4%)
- $54,731
The 2-minute guide
The 4% rule, simply
A common rule of thumb says you can withdraw about 4% of your savings in your first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation, and the money should last roughly 30 years. Flip it around and you get a target: to spend $40,000 a year, you'd want about $1,000,000 saved.
Time beats amount
The green 'growth' area on the chart is the magic of starting early. A dollar invested at 25 has 40 years to double and re-double; the same dollar at 45 has only 20. That's why contributing something now usually beats waiting until you can contribute more.
Grab the employer match first
If your job offers a 401(k) match, that's an instant, guaranteed return, often 50–100% on the money you put in up to a limit. Before anything fancier, contribute enough to get the full match. Turning it down is leaving free retirement money behind.
This is a projection, not a promise
Real returns bounce around year to year and inflation eats some of your future spending power. Treat the number as a motivating estimate, revisit it yearly, and lean toward saving a bit more than the calculator says you need.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire?
A quick answer from the 4% rule: multiply the yearly income you want by 25. Want $50,000 a year? Aim for about $1.25 million. Your real number depends on Social Security, pensions, lifestyle and health costs, so treat this as a starting target.
What return rate is realistic?
Many long-term plans use 6–7% for a stock-heavy portfolio after inflation, or a bit less as you shift toward safer investments near retirement. Returns are never guaranteed and vary year to year. This is a projection.
Is Social Security included?
No, this shows only your personal savings. Social Security would be additional monthly income on top of the nest-egg income shown here, which is one reason to treat the result as a conservative floor.
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