Find out if you're on track for retirement. Enter your current savings, contributions, and goals to see a year-by-year projection.
To calculate how much you need for retirement, estimate your desired annual retirement income, subtract expected Social Security benefits, and multiply the gap by 25 (the inverse of the 4% safe withdrawal rate from the Trinity Study). For example, if you need $60,000/year and expect $22,000 from Social Security, you need approximately $950,000 in retirement savings, adjusted for inflation.
This calculator models two phases: an accumulation phase (from now until retirement) where your savings grow through contributions and investment returns, and a withdrawal phase (retirement onward) where you draw down your savings to fund your lifestyle.
The "Amount Needed" estimate uses the 25x rule (inverse of the 4% withdrawal rate), adjusted for inflation. If you need $60,000/year in today's dollars and expect $21,600/year from Social Security, you need roughly 25 times the gap ($960,000) in inflation-adjusted terms at retirement.
Returns during accumulation default to 7% (historical stock market average after inflation). Returns during retirement use a more conservative 4% (typically a 60/40 stock/bond allocation). Inflation erodes purchasing power, so your needed income grows each year. Social Security estimates should come from your SSA.gov statement.
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