Savings Withdrawal Calculator
What Is a Savings Withdrawal Calculator Used For?
A withdrawal calculator shows how long your savings will last when you make regular, periodic withdrawals. It can also calculate how much you can withdraw so the withdrawals last for the selected time period.
The Savings Withdrawal Calculator calculates withdrawals and creates a withdrawal schedule based on the inputs you provide.
A withdrawal savings calculator that optionally solves for:
- Withdrawal amount
- Starting amount
- Interest rate
- Duration
Creates a printable withdrawal schedule.
Provide at least three of the following inputs to begin. You may set one input to zero to indicate an unknown value:
- Savings on Hand (PV) — The amount of savings currently in your account.
- Regular Withdrawal Amount — The amount you plan to withdraw on a regular basis.
- Number of Withdrawals — The total number of withdrawals you plan to make.
- Annual Interest Rate — The annual interest rate for your savings account.
In addition to these primary inputs, also provide the following secondary inputs:
- Today’s Date — The date on which your “Savings on Hand” equals the amount shown above.
- First Withdrawal Date — The date of your first withdrawal.
- Withdrawal Frequency — How often you plan to make withdrawals (for example, monthly, quarterly, or annually).
- Compounding Frequency — How often interest is compounded on your account.
More below…
The Calculator-Calculate Time or Amount to Deplete Savings
Information
Quickly
Pick a Date
After you enter at least three primary inputs and all secondary inputs, click the “Calc” button to calculate the unknown value, if any. Or click “Withdrawal Schedule” to view your personalized schedule. The withdrawal schedule shows the amount of each withdrawal and the date on which it will occur. The charts provide a visual view of your savings over time and the depletion of the initial balance.
If you need to change any inputs, update the relevant fields and click “Calc” again.
A withdrawal savings calculator can help you make informed financial decisions. By understanding how much you can withdraw each year, you can plan for retirement and other financial goals with greater confidence. You can also adjust your savings and withdrawal strategies as needed to stay on track.
There are several important considerations when using a withdrawal savings calculator. First, the results are based on assumptions about investment returns and withdrawal periods. These assumptions may change over time. Review your strategies regularly to confirm that they still align with your goals.
Second, the calculator assumes that you withdraw the same amount each year, adjusted for inflation. In practice, your needs and lifestyle may change. Be prepared to adjust withdrawals when necessary.
Finally, the calculator does not include other income sources such as Social Security or pensions. These sources can significantly affect your withdrawal strategy, so include them in your overall financial plan.
We hope you find this calculator helpful for planning savings withdrawals. If you have questions or feedback, please submit them below.
Withdrawal Savings Calculator Help
The savings withdrawal calculator is flexible. It is most often used to calculate how long an investment will last when you make periodic, regular withdrawals. It can also solve for the “Starting Amount”, “Annual Interest Rate”, or “Regular Withdrawal Amount” when you want to set the payout duration. For example, if the withdrawals must last 25 years, the calculator can compute any one of these three values.
Enter any three values, and enter “0” for the unknown value.
A note about “Compounding Frequency”. Selecting the “Exact/Simple” option turns off compounding. The calculator uses the exact number of days between withdrawal dates to calculate interest for each period. The “Daily” option also uses the exact number of days, but it assumes daily compounding (interest earned each day is added to principal each day). The “Exact/Simple” setting is the most conservative option because it produces the lowest future value. Daily compounding produces nearly the highest future value (except for “Continuous Compounding”).
The other compounding frequencies use periods that are not based on days. Each period is assumed to be of equal length for interest calculations. For example, with a balance of $10,000, the interest for January will be the same as the interest for February, assuming the same interest rate.
Pat Sturgis says:
Why do I repeatedly get “NaN” inserted in the Number of Withdrawals field, where I have inserted a “0,” with the other 3 fields filled with values? The calculator worked once, with a different interest rate, but hasn’t worked since. I have tried changing browsers, re-booting.
Karl says:
"NaN" means "not a number". A user should never see that. It means the calculator is not show an appropriate message.
Without knowing your specific inputs, I can’t tell you what the exact reason is you are seeing NaN. However, I can make a guess.
My guess is, you increased the interest rate and now the amount being withdrawn is less then the amount earned in interest for the period. Which means the number of periods is infinite. You can test my guess by reducing the interest rate a bit (say by 0.5 at a time).
If you give me your exact inputs, I’m also happy to let you know the reason.
BobA says:
Where is the money “stored” to earn the interest? Stocks, cash savings, combo. I am completely ignorant on this subject.
Karl says:
If your question is, where should you invest the money, I’m afraid I’m not qualified to provide investment advise. I am happy to answer any questions you have about what calculator to use, or how to use a calculator.
Guy says:
this is really a great tool Karl, thank you
Karl says:
Thank you, Guy. I’m happy to hear you found it useful.
Greg Taylor says:
This is exacty what I was looking for as I approach retirement! THANKS!
Karl says:
You’re welcome. Happy retirement!
Aldo says:
Is this based on what we use to call a “sinking fund” equation back in engineering school?
Gary says:
How to choose compounding frequency on mutual fund investments?
Karl says:
I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean. The compounding frequency is the compounding frequency. It does not matter if it’s for a loan, a mutual fund, or whatever. If you are asking "what" compounding frequency you should pick for a mutual fund, I would suggest annually, as that is most conservative.
Gary says:
Forgive my naivete’; I was simply asking what method of compounding to choose and have entered into the box on your calculator, when the monies are currently held in a mutual fund account.
Karl says:
It’s a good question. I just wasn’t sure what your question was.
The compounding option generally is made available for savings and similar accounts that specify a compounding frequency.
But the calculator can be used for mutual funds, and what you set it to depends on how you set the rate. Say, for example, your mutual fund states they average a 7% annual return. Then I would set compounding to annually.
However, if again, for example, you see that your fund returned 2% for the last quarter then you need to do a little arithmetic. Since the calculator asks for an annual rate, you should enter 8%. And since the return was for a quarter, I would set the compounding to quarterly.
But the bottom line is when projecting how long income from a mutual fund might last, it can only be an estimate since we do not know how the fund will perform in the future. And the “error” from picking the “wrong” compounding frequency may pale compared to the change in the fund’s future performance. So compounding for a mutual fund is definitely not something one needs to stress out over.
Ev says:
Thank you for this calculator. It’s exactly what I was looking for. As spouses who are already retired, it’s been impossible to find calculators that made sense. Other calculators I’ve found have to do with pre-retirement. Do you have one that adds in social security income?
Karl says:
I’m not exactly sure what you want to calculate. This retirement calculator is for retirement planning. It has a saving/investing cash flow and a withdrawal cash flow. The withdrawal cash flow allows the user to include social security income.
Lee Holsenbeck says:
your annual interest rate is 5.5%, so if it is a mutual fund; you are expecting a 5.5% return annually or is it a 5.5% return on some sort of money market, CDs, or annuities ?
Karl says:
That rate is simply a default value. The calculators on this site are designed so a user can quickly see what a schedule will look like without having to stop and enter values.
Enter whatever rate fits your needs.
Ed says:
Could you add inflation support?
1000/month today won’t look like much in 15 or 20 years.
Karl says:
Please try this investment calculator. It has a withdrawal feature and the amount can be adjusted by an inflation factor. Please let me know how you make out.
Ed says:
Based on another calculator titled ‘How Long Will My Money Last’ I would expect 300K, at 5% gain and 3% inflation for 15 years (180 pmts) to provide $1934 at payment #1 and $3034 at payment #180.
In the first year that calculator reports the monthly range for the 1st twelve withdrawal payments begin at $1934 and end at $1988, approx. a $5 increase each month.
The https://accuratecalculators.com/investment-calculator does not replicate, even closely, those results. Your Withdrawal Calculator comes the closest to the interface I desire, albeit it doesn’t support inflation or report incrementing monthly withdrawal figures.
Payment or donation would be forth coming if that happened, and I think the app would rise to the top in the world of calculators.
Thanks
Ed
Karl says:
Hi Ed, first, let me say that these calculations are hypothetical since there are several assumptions being made, as I’m sure you understand. Also, two calculators can model the withdrawal differently, and neither will be wrong. That said, I’m wondering what you mean by "even closely?" I see the two calculations as being close.
The investment calculator adjusts the withdrawal for inflation once a year, not each month. If I take $1,934 and increase it by 3%, I get $1,992, which should be the withdrawal amount starting with the 13th period, and that’s exactly what the investment calculator gives me. What did you get?
To confirm this, make sure your options are set this way:
Annual Inflation Rate?: 3.000% Adjust Cash Flow For Inflation?: Yes Federal Marginal Tax Rate?: 0.000% State Marginal Tax Rate?: 0.000% Are State Taxes Deductible?: No Whether or not state taxes are deductible on Federal tax return. Taxes Calculated on Withdrawal?: No If "No", taxes are calculated on investment gain. Management Fee?: 0The calculator has different values when it’s first loaded. Make sure you set the adjustment for inflation to "Yes," and remove the tax rate.