Accurate Retirement Calculator
Introduction to the Retirement Calculator
Unique Retirement Calculator shows pre-retirement investing and post-retirement income in one schedule. Also optionally considers:
- Social Security, Pensions
- Inflation
- Change assumptions for pre and post-retirement
- Export analysis to XLSX/DOCX files
Speaking from personal experience: by the time you reach your 60s, you may be surprised by how quickly retirement arrives. It often feels much sooner than expected.
Still unsure?
Consider this data point from the National Council on Aging (NCOA), published in September 2024:
“An updated analysis by the National Council on Aging … finds that 80% of Americans 60 and older continue to have very few resources to pay for long‑term care or weather financial emergencies.”
If more people understood how quickly retirement approaches, would so many end up financially unprepared?
Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Regardless, take a few minutes to explore this retirement calculator and project your own financial outlook. Avoid becoming part of this troubling trend. More below …
The Calculator – for planning before and after retirement
To set your preferred currency and date format, click the “$ : MM/DD/YYYY” link in the lower right corner of any calculator.
Information
How to Use This Retirement Calculator
This calculator evaluates your current retirement savings, your ongoing contributions from income, and—optionally—any projected wage growth. It then charts your projected income after retirement to assess whether you are on track to meet your financial goals.
The Calculator Has 13 Inputs; 4 Are Required:
- Your current age
- Annual income
- ROI for retirement savings (return on investment)
- ROI during retirement
Note: The “ROI during retirement” rate begins on the date of your final retirement contribution—not on the date of your first income withdrawal. Using the final contribution date as the start of post-retirement ROI provides a slightly more conservative projection when the post-retirement ROI is lower than the pre-retirement ROI. (It is less conservative when the reverse is true.)
The calculator can solve for any one unknown among the following. To do this, enter a value of 0 for one of the four, and provide a valid value for each of the other three:
- Your life expectancy
- Percent of income invested
- Your age at retirement
- Annual income required
There are five optional inputs. You may leave any or all of them set to 0:
- Annual income increase
- Current retirement savings
- Annual inflation rate
- Income from government
- Other annual income
Examples: Creating Your Retirement Schedule & Chart
Retirement planning includes many variables. Like other financial tools on this site, this retirement planning calculator can solve for multiple unknowns. The following are example questions it can answer, depending on your assumptions and input values:
- How much do I need to save to retire?
- Set "Percent of income invested" to 0.0%
- Hover over the gold contribution line in the chart to view the annual retirement contribution amount
- When can I retire?
- Do I have enough to retire?
- At what age can I retire?
- Set "Your age at retirement" to 0
- If the calculated age equals your current age, you already have enough saved to retire.
- Set "Your age at retirement" to 0
- How much do I need to retire?
- What will my retirement income be?
- Set "Desired retirement income" to 0
- After calculating, view "Savings at retirement" in the chart
- How long will my money last?
- Set "Desired retirement income" to the total income you want, including other sources
- Set "Your life expectancy" to 0
- The result will show the age at which your retirement savings will be depleted.
Click the calculator’s button for more details about each input.
Preparing for Retirement — Assumptions
In general, as individuals approach retirement, they tend to shift their investments toward more conservative options. These conservative investments typically offer a lower rate of return, yield, or interest. For this reason, the calculator allows you to enter two different rates of return: one for the period before retirement and one for the period after retirement. The rate change takes effect on the date of your final contribution.
Click the button to view details.
If you want to enter a specific dollar amount instead of a percentageWhen deciding how much to contribute toward retirement, some users may prefer to enter a specific dollar amount instead of a percentage of income invested. If you choose this method, set "Percent of income invested" to 100% and enter the amount you plan to invest as your "Annual income." The "Annual income increase" input will still function with this approach.
If you want to calculate the age at which you can retire based on your savings plan and desired retirement income, this calculator can do that. To make the calculation, the tool must know how long you want your retirement income to last. However, the calculator does not directly ask this question—so how does it determine this?
Behind the scenes, the calculator uses a default retirement age.
That default age is 66.
When you enter your life expectancy, the calculator assumes you want your retirement income to last from age 66 onward. For example, if you want the income to last 20 years (which involves 21 withdrawals), enter 86 for "Your life expectancy." Or, if you want income to last 25 years, enter 91 and set "Your age at retirement" to 0.
After calculation, the calculator will determine your retirement age. It will also adjust your life expectancy so that the duration between retirement and life expectancy equals the number of years you specified.
Desired retirement incomeA note about "Desired retirement income": Most users think in terms of their total income when planning for retirement, rather than its individual components.
Therefore, the value you enter as "desired income" should represent the total annual income you want during retirement. If you also enter amounts for Social Security or pension income, those amounts will be subtracted from your desired income when calculating required investment returns.
In other words, the chart and the retirement schedule both calculate based on your investment plan, before accounting for Social Security or pension income. If you want to calculate the full income target without offsetting other sources, leave the other income fields set to zero.
The average Social Security benefit changes over time. According to the Social Security Administration (as of January 2025):
“The estimated average monthly Social Security retirement benefit for January 2025 is $1,976.”
Also, according to U.S. News & World Report (Feb. 18, 2025):
“In 2023, the latest year for which data is available, U.S. households led by someone 65 or older spent an average of $64,326.”
According to the most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023), by age of household head:
“Average pre-tax income for households led by someone:
- Aged 65–74: $63,212 per year (approximately $5,268 per month)
- Aged 75 and older: $48,342 per year (approximately $4,028 per month)
Retirement Plans Compared
Click on any of the plans below. The calculator’s input fields and chart will automatically update.
The goal is to demonstrate how three slightly different sets of inputs can produce significantly different outcomes—highlighting the impact of seemingly small changes in retirement planning.
Retirement Plan 1 — this scenario illustrates an uncomfortable retirement outcome. It assumes starting at age 35, saving 5% of a $50,000 annual income, with a 3% income increase per year. At retirement (age 65), the user begins withdrawing $25,000 annually with a 2.5% inflation adjustment. Under these assumptions, the invested funds begin depleting immediately at retirement, as shown by the red bars. The income does not last for the entire life expectancy.
Retirement Plan 2 — in this case, the retirement funds still begin to decline immediately after retirement, but they do not run out. Compared to Plan 1, this plan reduces the desired retirement income by 12.5% ($22,000 vs. $25,000) and delays retirement to age 66.
Retirement Plan 3 — this plan yields the strongest results. After retirement, the investment balance continues to grow—even after contributions have stopped—because withdrawals are initially less than the portfolio’s return. This is illustrated by increasing bar heights and the gold withdrawal line. In this example, the only reason the retirement balance begins to decline later is the 2.5% annual inflation adjustment on withdrawals. (To test this: set "Annual inflation rate" to 0 and click . You'll see that the balance continues to grow.)
Hover over any bar in the chart to view data for that age. The blue line represents annual contributions, and the yellow-gold line shows retirement income withdrawals. Hovering over a data point will display detailed values.
This retirement calculator is one of the most important financial tools on this site. Feel free to revisit and use it as often as you wish.
Other Retirement Calculators
As explained above, the calculator on this page can solve for multiple unknowns and can help answer a wide range of retirement planning questions. However, the following three calculators are simpler and more compact, making them especially suitable for smaller screens or mobile devices. Each is focused on answering a single question and requires less effort to use. You may wish to explore them as well:
- Retirement Income Calculator — estimates your projected retirement income
- Retirement Savings Calculator — calculates how much you need to contribute to your savings
- Retirement Age Calculator — estimates your retirement age based on your inputs
Retirement Calculator Help
While many of the inputs are likely self-explanatory at a basic level, we recommend reviewing the information below. Several important details are included to help ensure you understand how each input affects your results.
Your current age — the age you are now, or the age at which you plan to begin saving or investing for retirement.
Your life expectancy — expressed as an age. Your retirement funds must last from your retirement age until your life expectancy, plus one year to cover your final year of retirement. For reference, a 20-year-old male in the U.S. currently has a life expectancy of 77 years; a 20-year-old female can expect to live to 81. You may enter different values based on your own expectations or refer to the U.S. Social Security Administration’s life expectancy table.
Annual income — your expected annual income at the time you begin saving for retirement. If you’ve already started saving, enter your current income.
Annual income increase — your expected average annual income growth. To adjust for inflation, enter the expected income increase minus your projected inflation rate. For example, if you expect a 3% raise each year and expect 2% inflation, enter 1% to reflect real income growth.
Percent of income invested — the percentage of your income you plan to contribute toward your retirement savings. In general, the older you are when you begin saving, the higher this percentage will need to be to meet your retirement goals.
Current retirement savings — if you’ve already started saving, enter the current total balance of your retirement accounts.
ROI for retirement savings — your expected average annual return on investment (ROI) before retirement. For example, if your funds are in a standard savings account, this would be the interest rate—though this may not be the most effective investment option.
Your age at retirement — the age at which you plan to retire.
ROI during retirement — your expected average return on investments after retirement. This can be the same as your pre-retirement ROI, but typically, retirees shift to more conservative investments that generate lower returns.
Annual inflation rate — your estimate of the average annual inflation rate. This value will be used to increase your projected retirement income over time.
Desired retirement income — the total annual income you expect to need when you retire. This includes income from all sources.
Expected income from gov’t — the amount you expect to receive annually from Social Security or a government pension. This amount, along with other external income, will be subtracted from your “Annual income required” to determine how much income your retirement savings must generate.
Other annual income — any other annual income expected during retirement, such as a pension from a former employer. This income, along with government benefits, will be subtracted from your “Annual income required” to calculate how much income your savings must support.
Tersia says:
No WP plugin yet????
Karl says:
No, and I have no plans to make this a plugin.
But have you seen the 3 retirement calculator plugins listed here?
dontlosethemoney says:
would you make an exception for any sum of money? curious as to whether or not you feel the same now in 2022 after almost 3 years of advisors transitioning to virtual business models.
Karl says:
Sorry about my prior reply. (When I reply to comments or questions, I do not see the context. I only see a list of pending comments.)
I guess nearly everything has its price. You can reach me privately via the email address on the Contact page.
Ben says:
Hello,
I have two items: one a question and the other a comment on an apparent error.
The question (and I apologize if I’ve overlooked the answer in the instructions or other comments and answers): Should the “Desired Retirement Income” entry be the total projected cost of living in the first year of retirement, or should it be the total projected cost of living minus the income from other sources (such as private and government pensions)? In other words, is that value supposed to be the total demand on one’s savings, after accounting for pensions?
The apparent error: I entered current savings at age 61 and a retirement at age 62, and the calculator reduced my savings by 23 percent in the first year, even though, in the first year of retirement, the total demand on my savings, after accounting for pensions, would be about 3.3 percent of my current balance. Subsequent years’ decreases in total savings are far more gradual, as one would logically expect. I’ve reviewed my entries and can see no error on my end that would cause the calculator to do such a drastic reduction in one year.
Karl says:
Thanks for your comment and question.
Some of the details about the inputs will be visible when you click on the Help button. For example:
"Desired retirement income — what is the total annual income you expect to need on the day you retire including the income from other sources."
Yeah, I know, that’s not a consistent interface.
For the calculation issue, please copy / paste the custom URL to a reply once the calculation is completed with your inputs. That will better allow me to see specifically the problem. And if you’ve saved it, that’s a way for you to repeat a calculation without reentering all the inputs.
Ben says:
Thank you for your response.
Here’s the URL: https://accuratecalculators.com/retirement-calculator?currentAge=61&retirementAge=62&avgLifeExpectancy=95&retirementROI=0.06&annualIncome=80700&annualInvestment=-581040&inflationRate=0.025&annualIncomeIncrease=0.025&perOfIncomeInvested=0¤tRetirementFund=1226660&additionalIncome=3400&govtIncome=44300&preRetirementROI=0.06&annualIncomeRequired=82700&startDate=Mon+Jul+01+2019+00%3A00%3A00+GMT%2B0200+(CEST)&secondDate=Wed+Jul+01+2020+00%3A00%3A00+GMT%2B0200+(CEST)&rateChangeDate=Mon+Jul+01+2019+00%3A00%3A00+GMT%2B0200+(CEST)&retirementDate=Wed+Jul+01+2020+00%3A00%3A00+GMT%2B0200+(CEST)&endDate=Tue+Jul+01+2053+00%3A00%3A00+GMT%2B0200+(CEST)&nInvestments=0&nWithdrawals=34&fvOfSavings=&pvOfIncome=680690.38&isInterestOnlyWithdrawal=false#retirement
Ben says:
Also, for some reason the calculator replaces the 0 I entered percent contributed and replaced it with “-720.0” when I pressed the calculate button.
Karl says:
I see what you mean. Thanks for taking the time to send the URL. That helps.
Changing the "Percent of income invested" to -720 may appear to be a bug, but it’s not. The calculator is working as designed. Notice in the documentation that a user can enter "0" "Percent of income invested" and the calculator will calculate what percent of income must be invested in order for the retirement funds to last until death. This retirement is over funded, so no additional investment is needed. And actually, 720% of one year’s income can be withdrawn and the funds still will last until death. The calculator shows this large withdrawal, as you pointed out, in the first year.
I understand, this is not what you want, but mathematically, it is correct.
What I suggest you do is enter "0.1%" for "Percent of income invested." That prevents the calculator from trying to solve it. And since there is only one year to retirement, the 1/10 of a percent (apporx. $80) does not have a material impact on the result.
I also suggest that you don’t enter an "Annual income increase?" since there is no 2nd year of income.
Hope this helps. Personally, i found this interesting.
Karl says:
I think what I will probably do is, with the next update to this calculator, change the way it handles "Percent of income invested" so that if the result is negative (indicating over funded retirement account) is set the result to 0.0% and not make a large initial withdrawal.
Mark says:
Karl, Question on the retirement calculator. Would be great if you break out the “Income from Gov..?” question to separate income streams for SS (his and hers) and allow different start dates for turning that on at later ages. Would like to see the break-out of the spend down on all my savings first, and then how SS/Pension effects those numbers by turning on SS at a later age.
Thanks! Mark
Karl says:
Hi Mark, I have a few "to-dos" for this calculator and one of them has to do with two SS amounts. The problem is, I have a lot of "to-dos"! I still have additional calculators I’m creating and new calculators normally bring more visitors than tweaks to existing ones. So it will be a while before I get back to this, since it’s certainly not a quick addition.
Bernd says:
Hi Karl,
do you have the retirement-plan calculator for download to include to my brazilian wordpress site?
Hugs
Bernd
Karl says:
Hi Bernd, There are 3 retirement calculators listed on the plugin page.
Bernd says:
Hi Karl, yes I know.
I was thinking about the more complete one with pre and afterwards planning.
Could you provide It?
Hugs
Karl says:
Hi Bernd, presently, I have no plans to expand the number of plugins that I offer. I’m currently working on new calculators for this site.
RSN says:
Hi. First off, this is an amazing calculator. Thanks. I don’t know if anyone else has similar problems, but I have multiple options that take place between retirement and age 70. For example, inputting ss amounts that differ for my wife and I and depending upon when we take distributions. Based on these inputs, the effect it has on withdrawal amounts (and ultimate $$$ to heirs) varies quite a bit. Also, we have a potential variable for pension if my wife passes before me. Right now we collect x but if she passes before me, I only collect .25x. Obviously this impacts the future. Not sure if the program, as is, contemplates these type of variables and, if not, I understand. If you have any suggestions, that would be great. Again, many thanks for a great program.
Karl says:
Thank you. I’m glad to hear that you like the calculator.
I definitely need to revisit the calculation options. A few others have asked about figuring in income from multiple social security accounts or pension funds.
The problem I run into (and I run into it with almost all the calculators) is the trade-off between adding features and having it be at least somewhat easy to use. A lot of users are after calculators that give them “just an idea” and they are not so much into the analysis. In general, I try to strike a balance. But with the retirement calculators, I have 3 other ones that are more straight forward to use. So I think I will (eventually) add some more flexibility. Thanks for writing.
Karl says:
Perhaps I should add, you can do a lot of what you want to do with this calculator. It’s a general-purpose time value of money calculator. That is, you’ll have to model the cash flows, but you can certainly do retirement planning with it. It lets you increase/decrease amounts on any date. You can increase values by percent. And you can adjust rates. Scroll down the page, and there are a number of tutorials. They get into details about cash flows, but not retirement planning.
Bryan says:
Hi Karl,
Is the “Annual income?” after-tax income?
and is the “Desired Retirement Income” in today’s dollar?
Thanks.
Tom Pappas says:
Love this calculator and the visuals. One item I would change however, is to take the information in the post retirement income section and account for inflation. Most people will not do that and it will create a shortfall in their saving needs.
Karl says:
Great! Glad you like it. The calculator does support an inflation adjustment for the post-retirement income. Please see the 3rd item down under post-retirement. Or is this not what you meant?
Tom Pappas says:
Correct. However there is a gap between the amount you put in for Desired Retirement Income and Income from Government for the time period between current day and when those payments start. So for a 45 year old person I will likely base my needs in current dollars. If I say I want $80,000 the calculator uses that as my starting point – which is still 20 years (or so) away. What most calculators do is to apply an inflation factor to that so you enter the amount you desire in today’s dollars, and it will use the inflated figure for your first payout in retirement. Without that someone would need to recognize this and calc it for themselves. For me that is easy, as I am only 6 years from retirement. However if you don’t account for it it could be a pretty big factor. At 2.5% inflation that $80,000 I want 20 years from now would equate to about $128,000.
Karl says:
You are right of course. I need to rethink the design as to how I can incorporate your idea. The current layout is pretty cramped.
In the meantime, anyone can use this inflation calculator. For the 80,000 after 20 years, it comes up with 131,000.
Mark Zimmer says:
Karl, Question on the retirement calculator. Would be great if you break out the “Income from Gov..?” question to separate income streams for SS (his and hers) and allow different start dates for turning that on at later ages. Would like to see the break-out of the spend down on all my savings first, and then how SS/Pension effects those numbers by turning on SS at a later age.
Thanks! Mark
Karl says:
Thank you for your constructive suggestions. Having the ability to support 2 retirements (or at least 2 social securities) has been requested before. I will look into it this year. Currently, I have quite a few changes backed up.
Mark says:
The problem with most all the retirement calculators is they don’t allow for the draw down of SS (his and/or hers) in the later years….. if you want to draw down some of your 401k first for a few years, and then compute adding in SS in the later years and reducing some of that 401k payment, it becomes a long math computation.
I hope you can find a way and time to improve this calculator. Thanks!
Karl says:
“…becomes a long math computation.”
You are right about that!
Interesting, I’ve done the opposite. I’ve started to take SS and not draw down on the investment accounts. I figure, why withdraw the tax deferred investments and pay taxes at a higher tax rate when my income is higher? But also, let the investments increase in value at a higher rate-of-return (hopefully!) than the increase in the value of the SS?
Renae E. says:
Your calculators are amazing. I use them often. Can you add to the retirement calculator either the ability to download a spread sheet of the yearly data? Also, it would be nice to incorporate the Required Minimum Distributions. While I think I can live off SS and a modest withdrawal from my 403B, I would like to know the real changes in the amount left after applying the RMD.
Karl says:
I’m glad you find the calculators useful.
Adding the ability to factor into the calculation the RMD sounds to me like a good idea. I need to study how it works and how to implement it. However, I have a lot on my plate right now. It won’t happen for a while.
The ability to export to a spreadsheet is something I want to add as well. A lot of the code changes recently (moving to a new site) was done with this in mind.