Retirement Calculator
Rough projection of savings growth toward a target balance.
Assumes a constant return; real markets vary.
Guide: Retirement Calculator
Roughly project how retirement savings might grow from a starting balance with this retirement calculator. It uses lump-sum compounding; add conservative return assumptions for long horizons. Retirement is decades long for many savers, so the biggest lever is usually a combination of how much you invest and how early you start, even though this page models only the growth phase of an existing balance.
Retirement planning limits of a simple model
Real life includes contributions, withdrawals, sequence-of-returns risk, taxes, and changing expenses. Treat this as a directional illustration, not a replacement for advice.
Sequence-of-returns risk means that bad market years early in retirement, when balances are largest and withdrawals begin, hurt more than the same losses later.
How to layer contributions mentally
If you add the same amount every month, picture each year’s contributions as a tranche with its own shorter growth runway, then sum mentally or in a spreadsheet.
For a quick hack, add this year’s expected contributions to principal once, then rerun with a slightly shorter horizon.
Withdrawal phase (conceptual)
The 4% “rule” and similar heuristics are withdrawal studies, not guarantees. This calculator does not model drawdowns or inflation-adjusted spending.
Pair with the inflation calculator when you want to stress-test whether a nominal nest egg keeps up with rising costs.