Retirement Savings Calculator

How This Calculation Works

This calculator uses compound interest with monthly contributions. Your current savings grow each month by the monthly rate of return, and your monthly contribution is added. Over many years, compound interest accelerates growth as you earn returns on both your original savings and accumulated interest. The projected total includes your initial balance, all monthly contributions, and accumulated investment growth.

2026 Contribution Limits and Catch-Up Provisions

Contribution limits are adjusted periodically for inflation, and staying current on them helps you maximize tax-advantaged growth. For 2026, employees can contribute up to $24,500 to a 401(k), 403(b), or most 457 plans, while the IRA contribution limit is $7,500. Savers age 50 and older can add a catch-up contribution of $8,000 to a workplace plan and $1,100 to an IRA. Workers aged 60 to 63 may qualify for an enhanced "super catch-up" contribution under SECURE 2.0, allowing them to save even more in the years right before retirement.

Employer Match: Free Money to Compound

Many employers match a percentage of your 401(k) contributions, commonly 50 cents to a dollar for every dollar you contribute, up to 3-6% of your salary. Failing to contribute enough to capture the full match effectively leaves free compensation on the table. Because employer match dollars also compound over decades, missing even a few years of matching contributions early in your career can meaningfully reduce your total nest egg at retirement.

Traditional vs. Roth Accounts

Traditional 401(k) and IRA contributions are made pre-tax, reducing your taxable income today, but withdrawals in retirement are taxed as ordinary income. Roth contributions are made with after-tax dollars, so there's no upfront deduction, but qualified withdrawals in retirement — including all investment growth — are completely tax-free.

• Choose Traditional if: You expect to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement than you are now, or you want to reduce your current taxable income.
• Choose Roth if: You expect to be in the same or higher tax bracket later, you're early in your career with lower current income, or you want tax-free income flexibility in retirement.
• Consider both: Splitting contributions between Traditional and Roth accounts can provide tax diversification, giving you flexibility to manage taxable income in retirement.

Withdrawal Strategy: The 4% Rule and Sequence-of-Returns Risk

The 4% rule is a widely cited starting point for retirement withdrawals: withdraw 4% of your portfolio balance in your first year of retirement, then increase that dollar amount each year to keep pace with inflation. Historically, this approach has had a reasonable chance of lasting roughly 30 years, though it's not guaranteed and many planners now suggest a more flexible 3.5-4.5% range depending on market conditions and portfolio mix.

Sequence-of-returns risk describes the danger of experiencing poor investment returns in the early years of retirement while simultaneously withdrawing funds. Because you're selling assets during a downturn, your portfolio has less capital available to benefit from the eventual recovery, which can permanently reduce how long your savings last — even if average returns over the full retirement period are healthy. Strategies to manage this risk include holding a cash buffer, reducing withdrawals in down years, and maintaining a diversified mix of stocks and bonds.

Social Security Timing: 62 vs. 67 vs. 70

You can start claiming Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62, but doing so permanently reduces your monthly benefit by up to about 30% compared to your full retirement age (67 for most people born in 1960 or later). Waiting until your full retirement age gets you 100% of your calculated benefit, and delaying further, up to age 70, increases your benefit by roughly 8% per year of delay. Someone who delays from 67 to 70 could see a benefit that's about 24% higher than at full retirement age.

The right claiming age depends on your health, other income sources, marital status, and how long you expect to live. Married couples often benefit from coordinating claiming strategies, such as having the higher earner delay to maximize survivor benefits.

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

Once you reach age 73 under current law, the IRS requires you to begin withdrawing a minimum amount each year from traditional 401(k)s and IRAs, calculated using your account balance and IRS life expectancy tables. Roth IRAs are not subject to RMDs during the original owner's lifetime. Failing to take your full RMD can result in a tax penalty on the shortfall, so many retirees plan withdrawals in advance to manage the tax impact.

Sample Growth by Starting Age

The table below shows the approximate projected balance at age 65 for someone contributing $500 per month at a 7% average annual nominal return, starting at different ages — illustrating why starting early matters more than the size of any single contribution.

Notice that the 25-year-old contributes only 33% more in total dollars than the 35-year-old but ends up with more than double the balance, purely because of an extra decade of compounding.

Inflation-Adjusted Returns

Nominal returns reflect raw investment growth, but inflation erodes purchasing power over time. If your portfolio grows at a 9% nominal annual rate while inflation runs around 2.8%, your real (inflation-adjusted) return is closer to 6%. Using a real return rate in your planning gives you a clearer picture of what your future balance will actually be able to buy, since a $2 million portfolio in 30 years won't have the same purchasing power as $2 million today. Many retirement planners recommend running projections at both nominal and inflation-adjusted rates to understand the full range of possible outcomes.

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