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Retirement Calculator

Project your nest egg — with 401k matching and year-by-year growth.

Retirement planning looks complicated but reduces to one arithmetic problem: will your projected balance produce enough monthly income to cover your expenses, for as long as you live? This calculator handles the projection side — compound growth on your savings, your contributions, and your employer's match over however many years you have. The rest is knowing what you'll spend.

Balance at age 65
$1,617,705
Your contributions
$235,000
Employer contributions
$105,000
Investment growth
$1,277,705
Monthly income (4% rule)
$5,392
Multiple of contributions
4.8×
Years of growth
35

4% rule: you can withdraw ~$5,392/month for 25–30 years without depleting your portfolio. Adjust the return rate to model conservative (5%) or optimistic (8%) scenarios.

Why the employer match is the best return you'll ever get

A 50% employer match is a guaranteed 50% return on your contribution, before any investment growth. A 100% match — $1 for $1 up to 3% of salary — is a guaranteed 100% return. No investment in existence reliably returns 50–100% in a year. Not capturing the full employer match is leaving thousands of dollars on the table per year.

The compounding math makes it even more dramatic. On $300/month contributed over 35 years at 7%, your contributions grow to roughly $490,000. If your employer matches 50% ($150/month), that adds another $245,000. The match money grows just as the rest does — the total portfolio difference is nearly the same magnitude as your own contributions.

The 4% rule — how to think about your number

The 4% rule says: in year one of retirement, withdraw 4% of your portfolio, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation each year. Based on 50 years of historical data across good and bad markets, this approach has a roughly 90–95% success rate over a 30-year retirement.

The math: $1M × 4% = $40,000/year = $3,333/month. To know your number, estimate your annual retirement spending, divide by 0.04, and that's your target portfolio. $40k/year → $1M. $60k/year → $1.5M. $80k/year → $2M.

  • The rule assumes ~50/50 stocks and bonds. An all-stock portfolio historically allows 4.5–5% withdrawal; all bonds drops to ~3%.
  • It doesn't account for Social Security — if you'll receive $24k/year from SS, your portfolio only needs to cover the remaining spending gap.
  • A 3% withdrawal is considered very conservative — nearly certain to succeed even over 40+ years (for early retirees).
  • The 4% rule is a starting point. Adjust withdrawals up in strong market years and down in poor years for more flexibility.

How much to save — practical benchmarks

Fidelity's age-based savings benchmarks (as a multiple of salary) give rough checkpoints.

  • Age 30: 1× salary saved. Age 30 with $60k income → $60k in retirement accounts.
  • Age 40: 3× salary. Age 50: 6×. Age 60: 8×. By retirement (67): 10×.
  • If you're behind: prioritize. Capture employer match first. Then max Roth IRA ($7,000/year in 2024). Then add back to 401k.
  • Catching up at 50+: the IRS allows $7,500 extra in 401k contributions (total $30,500 in 2024) specifically for this reason.

Traditional 401k vs Roth 401k — which to use

Traditional: contributions are pre-tax (lowers your taxable income now), but withdrawals in retirement are taxed as ordinary income. Best when you're in a high tax bracket now and expect lower income in retirement.

Roth: contributions are post-tax (no current deduction), but growth and withdrawals are completely tax-free. Best when you're in a lower bracket now (early career) or expect tax rates to rise significantly by retirement.

Many advisors suggest: use traditional when income is above the 24% bracket; use Roth when in the 12% or 22% bracket. At 22%, a dollar in a Roth costs $1.22 now and grows tax-free forever.

How to use this retirement calculator

  1. 1
    Enter your current age and target retirement age
    The gap between these is your compounding runway. Every extra year dramatically affects the projection — adding 5 years at 7% growth increases the final number by roughly 40%.
  2. 2
    Enter your current retirement savings
    Total across all accounts: 401k, Roth IRA, traditional IRA, 403b, etc. If starting from zero, enter 0 — contributions alone can build substantial wealth over 30+ years.
  3. 3
    Set your monthly contribution and employer match
    Your monthly contribution is what you put in (not your payroll %). Employer match: if they match 50% of what you contribute, enter 50. If they match dollar-for-dollar, enter 100.
  4. 4
    Choose a return rate
    7% real is the historical broad-market baseline. Run the calc at 5%, 7%, and 9% to see your range. The spread across those scenarios tells you how much risk matters relative to your time horizon.
  5. 5
    Check the monthly income estimate
    The 4% rule estimate shows what your projected balance translates to in monthly retirement income. Compare it to your expected expenses. If it falls short, increase contributions or delay retirement by a few years.

FAQ

How much do I need to save to retire?
The common rule of thumb is 25× your annual expenses (the '4% rule'). If you plan to spend $60,000/year in retirement, target $1.5 million. More precisely: use this calculator with your current savings, contribution rate, employer match, and expected return to get a projected balance — then check whether the 4% withdrawal covers your expenses.
What is the 4% rule?
Research by William Bengen (1994) found that retirees could withdraw 4% of their portfolio in year one, then adjust for inflation each year, and have a very high probability of the portfolio lasting 30 years. At $1M, that's $40,000/year or $3,333/month. It's a planning guideline, not a guarantee — it assumes a mixed stock/bond portfolio and historical returns.
What employer match should I enter?
If your employer matches 100% of contributions up to 3% of your salary, and you contribute $500/month, they add another $500/month — that's a 100% match. If they match 50% of the first 6% of salary, and you earn $5,000/month contributing $300 (6%), they add $150 — that's 50%. Enter the match percentage relative to your contribution amount.
What annual return rate should I use?
US broad stock market (S&P 500) has historically returned ~10% nominal / ~7% real (after ~3% inflation) per year over long periods. For a diversified portfolio (stocks + bonds), 5–6% real is a reasonable middle estimate. For an all-bond or conservative portfolio, 2–4% real. Use 7% as a baseline and run scenarios at 5% and 9% to bound your range.
How much should I contribute to my 401k?
At minimum: enough to capture the full employer match — that's an immediate 50–100% return. Beyond that, the 2024 401k contribution limit is $23,000 ($30,500 if you're 50+). A common target is 15% of gross income including employer match. If you're behind on savings, maximize your tax-advantaged accounts (401k, Roth IRA) before taxable investment accounts.
When does compound growth really kick in?
The last third of your savings horizon typically produces more than the first two thirds combined. In a 30-year plan at 7%, your money doubles roughly every 10 years: by year 10 you have 2× the contributions, by year 20 about 4×, by year 30 about 8×. This is why starting at 25 vs 35 is so much more powerful than increasing contributions later.

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