Project your retirement nest egg, estimate monthly income, and see if your savings will last — with a year-by-year growth chart and drawdown schedule.
Results update live as you type.
Projected Nest Egg
Nest Egg at Retirement
$0
at retirement age
Monthly Income
$0
from nest egg (4% rule)
Total Contributions
$0
savings invested
Investment Growth
$0
compounded returns
| Age | Balance | Contributions | Growth |
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The Formula
Your retirement nest egg is calculated using the future value of a growing annuity formula. It compounds your current savings at the expected annual return rate while adding the future value of your monthly contributions each year. The result is the total portfolio value you'll have accumulated by retirement age — before any withdrawals begin.
Future Value Formula
About This Tool
A retirement calculator — also called a retirement savings calculator or nest egg calculator — projects how much money you'll have when you stop working, based on your current savings, monthly contributions, expected investment return, and time horizon. It's one of the most important financial planning tools you can use, because small changes in savings rate or return assumptions can dramatically alter your retirement outcome.
Our retirement planner uses the future value of a growing annuity formula, compounding monthly contributions at your expected annual return rate. It also accounts for inflation to show you what your projected nest egg will actually buy in today's dollars — a crucial distinction that simpler calculators often miss.
Use the calculator to find your retirement number, stress-test different scenarios (What if I retire at 60 instead of 65? What if returns drop to 5%?), and identify the contribution rate needed to hit your target. The year-by-year schedule shows your projected balance at every age so you can track progress milestones.
The 4% rule is used to convert your nest egg into a monthly income estimate — a widely-used benchmark from the Trinity Study suggesting that withdrawing 4% of your portfolio annually is sustainable for 30 years with a diversified portfolio.
Compound Growth
Models real compound monthly growth on savings and contributions.
Inflation Adjusted
Shows real purchasing power of your nest egg in today's dollars.
4% Rule Income
Estimates monthly retirement income using the safe withdrawal rate.
Year-by-Year Table
See your projected balance at every age from now to retirement.
100% Private
No account needed. All calculations run locally in your browser.
Multiple Scenarios
Instantly compare different retirement ages, rates, and contribution amounts.
Six inputs give you a complete retirement projection in seconds.
Set your current age and target retirement age. The difference gives you the accumulation horizon — your most powerful variable.
Enter the total current balance across all retirement accounts — 401(k), IRA, brokerage, and any other long-term savings.
Enter how much you contribute per month across all accounts. Include employer matching if applicable — it's free money that accelerates growth.
Use 7% for a balanced portfolio (historical average), 5% for conservative, or 9% for growth-oriented. This is the most impactful assumption.
Enter how much monthly income you'll need in retirement in today's dollars. The calculator inflates this to future dollars automatically.
Check the Savings Growth chart to see your balance growing year by year, the Breakdown tab for the split between savings and growth, and the Schedule tab for age-by-age detail.
Everything you need to know about retirement planning and this calculator.
The most widely used guideline is the 25× rule: multiply your expected annual retirement spending by 25. This is derived from the 4% safe withdrawal rate, which says you can withdraw 4% of a diversified portfolio per year and have a very high probability of the money lasting 30 years. For example, if you need $60,000 per year, your target nest egg is $1.5 million. This calculator shows you exactly how much you'll accumulate and how that compares to what you need.
The 4% rule originated from the 1994 Trinity Study, which analyzed historical stock and bond returns to find a withdrawal rate that would sustain a portfolio for at least 30 years in 95%+ of historical scenarios. You withdraw 4% of your starting portfolio in year one, then adjust for inflation each subsequent year. A common modern revision suggests 3.3%–3.5% for a 40–50 year retirement to account for lower expected future returns. This calculator uses 4% as the income estimate benchmark.
Historical data suggests these benchmarks: S&P 500 stocks have returned ~10% annually before inflation, or ~7% after inflation. A 60/40 balanced portfolio (stocks/bonds) has returned ~8–9% nominal, ~6% real. Conservative planners use 5–6% nominal; moderate planners use 7%; aggressive projections use 8–9%. Always use nominal returns in this calculator, not inflation-adjusted, because the tool separately factors in inflation on the income side.
Starting early is the single most powerful advantage in retirement saving — more than contribution size or return rate. This is due to compound growth: money earns returns, those returns earn returns, and so on. $500/month invested at 7% for 35 years grows to ~$985,000. Starting 10 years later ($500/month for 25 years at 7%) gives only ~$453,000 — less than half, despite only 10 fewer years. Each decade of delay roughly halves the outcome.
A common guideline is to save 10–15% of gross income for retirement, including employer matching. Fidelity recommends saving 15% total. If you're starting late, you may need 20–25%. Use this calculator's schedule to work backward: set your target nest egg, input your current savings, and adjust the monthly contribution slider until the projected balance meets your goal. Social Security (if applicable) can supplement your withdrawal needs and reduce the required nest egg.
Inflation erodes purchasing power over time. At 2.5% inflation, prices double in ~28 years. This means a retirement income of $4,000/month today needs to be about $7,300/month in 28 years to maintain the same purchasing power. This calculator shows your nest egg in nominal future dollars — the actual dollar amount — so you should compare that to your future income needs (which are also in future dollars when you factor in inflation on your monthly income goal).
This calculator is mathematically precise for the assumptions you enter. However, real-world outcomes depend on variable returns (markets fluctuate), taxes (not modeled here), Social Security income, healthcare costs, and spending patterns. Use it for planning and scenario comparison rather than a guarantee. A financial advisor can model tax-optimised strategies and Social Security timing for a more complete retirement plan.