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Planning Your Retirement Savings
This calculator projects your retirement savings from today's balance to your target retirement age, factoring in monthly contributions, an optional annual step-up, investment returns before and after retirement, and inflation. The result shows both your projected nest egg and what that amount is really worth once inflation is stripped out.
Beyond the projection, it checks whether your savings can sustain your desired monthly income throughout retirement, and shows how your progress compares to your FIRE number — the amount needed to live off a safe withdrawal rate indefinitely.
How the projection works
Each year until retirement, your balance grows by your assumed pre-retirement return and is topped up by your contributions, which can increase annually to reflect raises or inflation. After retirement, the calculator switches to your post-retirement return assumption and models withdrawals against your desired income.
- Pre-retirement growth: compounds your balance plus contributions at your expected return before retiring
- Contribution step-up: increases your monthly contribution by a fixed percentage each year
- Inflation adjustment: converts your future balance into today's purchasing power so the number is meaningful
- Post-retirement drawdown: tests whether your sustainable monthly income covers your desired spending
Understanding your FIRE number
The FIRE number is typically calculated as 25 times your annual expenses, based on the idea that withdrawing 4% of your portfolio per year has historically been sustainable over long retirements. It's a useful benchmark, but a more conservative withdrawal rate (3–3.5%) gives extra safety margin if you plan to retire very early or markets underperform.
Example
Starting with $20,000 saved at age 30, contributing $800/month with a 3% annual increase, at a 7% pre-retirement return, could realistically build a substantial nest egg by 65. The projection also converts that figure into today's dollars using your inflation assumption, so you can judge whether it will actually cover your desired lifestyle.
+How much money do I need to retire?
A common rule of thumb is 25 times your annual expenses, based on a 4% safe withdrawal rate. Your actual number depends on your desired lifestyle, expected Social Security or pension income, and how long your retirement needs to last.
+What is the 4% rule?
The 4% rule suggests you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in your first year of retirement, then adjust that amount for inflation each year after, with a reasonably low risk of running out of money over a 30-year retirement.
+What is a FIRE number?
Your FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) number is the portfolio size needed to cover your expenses indefinitely using a safe withdrawal rate — usually calculated as 25× your annual spending.
+How does inflation affect my retirement savings?
Inflation erodes purchasing power over time, so a dollar amount that sounds large decades from now may buy much less than it does today. This calculator converts your projected balance into today's money so you can judge it realistically.
+What's a realistic rate of return to assume?
Many long-term projections use 6–8% annually for a diversified stock-heavy portfolio before retirement, and a more conservative 4–5% after retirement as the portfolio shifts toward capital preservation. Past performance doesn't guarantee future returns, so consider testing a few scenarios.
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