How much do I need to retire?

Under the classic 4%-rule your needed nest egg is your desired annual retirement income divided by 0.04 (or your chosen safe-withdrawal rate). Example: $48,000/yr ÷ 0.04 = $1.2 million.

What return should I assume for retirement projections?

A long-run diversified equity portfolio has historically returned 6-8% nominal. Stress-test your plan with a lower assumption (4-5%) to make sure you're still on track under a weaker market.

How does the 4%-rule work?

The 4%-rule (Bengen 1994) says you can withdraw 4% of your starting nest egg in year one, then adjust each year for inflation, and have a high probability of the money lasting 30 years across most historical periods.

What happens if I retire 3 years earlier?

Retiring earlier means fewer years of compounding growth and fewer years of contributions — projected nest egg drops materially. Use the 'What if' band on this page to see the impact against your current plan.

Finlatitude · Retirement

Are you on track to retire the way you actually want to?

Plug in six numbers to see your projected nest egg vs. the amount you'd need at your target retirement age using the classic 4%-rule withdrawal math. Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is saved, nothing is shared.

Your inputs

Current age

yrs

Target retirement age

yrs

Current retirement savings

USD

Monthly contribution

USD/mo

Expected annual return

Desired monthly income (today's money)

USD/mo

On track

You'll clear your target with $127,834 to spare at age 65. Consider stress-testing with a lower return.

Projected at age 65$1,327,834

111% of goal · +11% surplus

Needed nest egg$1,200,000

Assumptions

33 yrs of growth at 6.5% · 4% withdrawal rate · $48,000 / yr income

What if I retire earlier, later, or delay to 70?

Same savings, same contributions

3 yrs earlier

Shortfall

$1,071,971

at age 62

-$255,863 (-19%)

Your plan

On track

$1,327,834

at age 65

3 yrs later

On track

$1,638,208

at age 68

+$310,374 (+23%)

Delay to 70

On track

$1,881,047

at age 70

+$553,213 (+42%)

Three extra years of contributions and compounding is often the single biggest lever available to a mid-career saver — and delaying to age 70 typically also boosts Social Security benefits by ~8% per year of deferral (US only).

Projected growth

Age 32 → 65

Sharpen your plan

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This estimator uses the constant-return / 4%-rule simplification. Real markets vary, taxes, inflation, and social-security income aren't modeled. Use it as a directional check, not personalised financial advice — see a licensed advisor before making retirement decisions.

Methodology

How the Retirement Calculator works

The Retirement Calculator uses the industry-standard compound-interest formula applied monthly. Your current portfolio value is grown at your assumed real-return rate (net of inflation), monthly contributions are added at the start of each period, and the result at your target retirement age is compared against your required nest-egg using the classic 4 %-rule (Bengen 1994) withdrawal math: required nest egg ≈ 25 × your annual retirement spending.

The "What if" sliders surface the three highest- sensitivity levers: raising your monthly contribution, extending your retirement age to 70, and shaving your target annual spending. Each lever is modelled independently so you can see the marginal effect of a single change rather than a compound forecast.

Return rates default to 6.5 % real — the trailing 50-year average for a 70/30 equity/bond blend after US CPI. Adjust it upward only if your portfolio is heavily equity-weighted AND you have the stomach to hold through drawdowns like 2008 and 2020 without selling.

Takeaways

Three levers that decide your nest egg

Start-age dominates contribution-rate. A $200/mo contribution begun at 25 outperforms a $600/mo contribution begun at 40 across most reasonable return assumptions. Time in the market is a bigger lever than any amount of catch-up discipline.

The 4 %-rule is a floor, not a ceiling. Bengen's original work tested worst-case retirement sequences; subsequent research shows a flexible "guardrails" approach (Guyton-Klinger) can sustain 4.5-5 % withdrawal rates in most historical periods. Don't over-save because the headline number is conservative.

Delay-to-70 is the sleeper lever. In the US, three extra years of contributions AND three extra years of compounding AND an 8 %/yr Social Security delayed-retirement credit combine to raise typical nest-egg size by roughly 40-55 %. If your health and job allow it, it's almost always the single biggest adjustment available.

Questions we hear

Frequently asked questions

›

What return rate should I actually use?

For a globally-diversified 70/30 portfolio, 6-7 % real (post-inflation) is the defensible historical mean. Use 5 % if you want a conservative scenario, 8 % only if you're nearly 100 % equities and comfortable with the volatility. The tool defaults to 6.5 % to split the difference.

›

Does this account for Social Security or other pensions?

No — the calculator models your personal portfolio only. If you expect Social Security, state pensions, or an annuity, subtract their annual payout from your target annual spending before entering it. For example, $60k target spending minus a $24k SS benefit = $36k needed from the portfolio.

›

What about taxes on withdrawals?

The 4 %-rule target is pre-tax; adjust your target annual spending upward if your account is traditional 401(k)/IRA and the full withdrawal will be ordinary income. Roth accounts are already after-tax. Mixed accounts fall somewhere in between.