Estimate how much you need for retirement and whether your current savings rate keeps you on track. Project nest-egg growth and retirement income.
Adjust your contributions, expected return, and retirement age to close any gap between your projected and required savings.
A common rule of thumb is that you will need enough savings to replace roughly 70–80% of your pre-retirement income each year, though your real number depends on your lifestyle, expected expenses, and other income such as pensions or social security. Another popular guideline, the 4% rule, suggests you can withdraw about 4% of your nest egg in the first year of retirement and adjust for inflation thereafter. Use the calculator to estimate the savings target that supports your desired annual retirement income.
The 4% rule is a guideline suggesting that retirees can withdraw 4% of their portfolio in the first year of retirement, then increase that amount with inflation each year, with a reasonable chance the money lasts about 30 years. It is a starting point, not a guarantee — market conditions, fees, and longevity all affect the real safe withdrawal rate. Many planners now treat 4% as flexible, adjusting spending in poor market years to protect the portfolio.
Because of compounding, money saved in your twenties and thirties has decades to grow, so each dollar contributed early can become several dollars by retirement. Starting late means you must save far more each month to reach the same goal, since you lose years of growth. Even small, consistent contributions begun early often outperform much larger contributions started later — a difference you can see by changing the start age in the calculator.
Inflation steadily reduces the purchasing power of money, so a fixed sum buys less in the future than it does today. A retirement target that ignores inflation will understate how much you actually need. Sound planning either inflates your future expense estimate or expresses goals in today's money and assumes returns above inflation. Keeping inflation in mind ensures your projected nest egg still supports your intended lifestyle decades from now.
The calculator answers this by comparing your projected savings at retirement with the target your desired income requires. If there is a shortfall, you can close it by increasing monthly contributions, retiring slightly later, adjusting your return assumptions, or planning for lower expenses. Testing these levers shows the smallest realistic change that puts you back on track.