Four comprehensive tools to plan your retirement — build your nest egg, find your number, model your income in retirement, and see exactly what inflation does to your purchasing power over time.
1Build My Nest Egg
Enter your savings, contributions, and return expectations to project your total retirement portfolio in both nominal and inflation-adjusted real dollars.
Inflation Note: The US average annual inflation rate is 3.1% over 100 years (2.4% over 30 years). This calculator shows both nominal and real values so you know what your money will actually buy.
About You
401k + IRA + personal investing combined
Returns and Rates
S&P 500 real avg ~7%
US 100-yr avg 3.1%
Raise as income grows
Employer Match
50% match = enter 50
Index funds 0.03-0.20%
Projected Nest Egg (Nominal)
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In Today's Dollars (Real)
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Monthly Income (4% Rule)
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Total You Contribute
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Employer Match Total
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Compound Growth
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Retirement Readiness vs. 25x Annual Expenses Target
Portfolio Growth Over Time
Contributions
Investment Growth
Age
Balance (Nominal)
Balance (Real)
Your Contrib.
Employer Match
Growth This Year
Share Your Retirement Projection
Save or send your summary to a spouse, advisor, or financial planner.
Run the calculator above to generate your summary.
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2How Much Do I Need?
Calculate your personal retirement number — the exact nest egg you need to fund your desired lifestyle, fully accounting for inflation and all your income sources.
The 25x Rule: You need 25 times your annual portfolio withdrawal saved. At 3.1% inflation, $60,000 in expenses today requires approximately $150,000/year in 30 years.
Your Retirement Lifestyle
In today's dollars
Age 65 to 95 = 30 years
Income Sources in Retirement
Check ssa.gov for your estimate
Your Retirement Number (25x)
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Inflation-Adjusted Annual Need
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Annual Gap to Fund
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Monthly Savings Needed Now
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Other Income (Annual)
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Nest Egg in Real Dollars
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Conservative (3%)
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Moderate (6%)
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Optimistic (9%)
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3Retirement Income
Enter your projected nest egg and see how long it lasts, your safe withdrawal rate, and a complete year-by-year drawdown table.
The 4% Rule: Withdrawing 4% of your portfolio in year one, then adjusting for inflation annually, has historically sustained a 30-year retirement across most market cycles.
Your Retirement Setup
Total annual expenses in today's dollars
More conservative than accumulation phase
Your Withdrawal Rate
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Money Lasts Until Age
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Needed from Portfolio / yr
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Year 1 Monthly Income
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Year 20 Monthly (Inflated)
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Shortfall Risk
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Portfolio Sustainability vs. 4% Safe Withdrawal Guideline
Year
Age
Annual Withdrawal
Portfolio Return
End Balance
Status
4Inflation Impact
See exactly how inflation erodes purchasing power over time and whether your investments keep pace. Compare three scenarios side by side against your portfolio growth.
US Inflation History: 100-year avg 3.1% | 30-year avg 2.4% | 10-year avg 2014-2024 3.8% | 2022 peak 9.1%. At 3.1%, money loses half its value every 23 years.
Your Inflation Projection
30-year US historical average
100-year US historical average
Elevated scenario
Future Need at Low (2.4%)
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Future Need at Avg (3.1%)
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Future Need at High (4.5%)
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Your Portfolio Grows To
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Real Purchasing Power
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Beating Inflation?
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Year
Low (2.4%)
Average (3.1%)
High (4.5%)
Portfolio Value
Real Purchasing Power
Browse Financial Professionals
Find certified financial planners, retirement specialists, and investment advisors who can build a personalized retirement roadmap for your situation.
Why Retirement Planning Is the Most Important Financial Decision You Will Ever Make
Retirement planning is uniquely challenging because the consequences of getting it wrong are delayed by decades. The damage from under-saving does not show up for 20, 30, or 40 years — and by then the window to fix it has largely closed. The good news: if you start now, regardless of your age, compound growth still works powerfully in your favor. Every dollar invested today has more time to grow than every dollar invested next year.
The Power of Starting Early
Start at Age 22
$1.37M
$300/mo for 43 yrs at 7% avg return
Start at Age 32
$680K
$300/mo for 33 yrs at 7% avg return
Start at Age 42
$306K
$300/mo for 23 yrs at 7% avg return
Start at Age 52
$122K
$300/mo for 13 yrs at 7% avg return
The 22-year-old and the 32-year-old both invest $300/month — but the 22-year-old ends up with $690,000 more purely from starting 10 years earlier. Use Calculator 1 above to see what your own timeline produces.
The cost of waiting one year at age 35: Delaying a $500/month retirement contribution by just 12 months costs approximately $73,000 in final portfolio value by age 65 at 7% annual return.
Inflation: The Silent Force That Erodes Retirement Security
The US average annual inflation rate has been approximately 3.1% over the past 100 years and about 2.4% over the past 30 years. At 3.1%, prices double roughly every 23 years. If you need $60,000 per year today, in 30 years you will need approximately $150,700 per year for the same lifestyle.
Case Study: Robert and Linda Had Enough Until Inflation Proved Otherwise
Robert and Linda retired at 65 with $750,000 and $48,000 per year in expenses. Social Security and a pension covered $18,000; their portfolio covered the rest at exactly the 4% rule. At 3.1% annual inflation their budget needed to be $70,000 by age 78 and $95,000 by age 91. Their fixed withdrawals could not keep pace. By their late 70s they faced a growing gap with no good options left.
The 4% Rule and the 25x Rule
The 4% Rule holds that a diversified portfolio can sustain a 4% annual withdrawal (adjusted for inflation each year) for 30 years without running out of money across most historical market conditions. The 25x Rule flows directly from this: you need 25 times your annual portfolio withdrawal saved. If you need $60,000 per year from your portfolio, you need $1,500,000 saved.
Important: The 4% rule was designed for 30-year retirements. If you retire early or plan for 35-40 years, most financial planners recommend a 3-3.5% withdrawal rate — meaning you need 28-33x your annual expenses, not 25x.
Retirement Accounts You Should Be Using
401(k) and 403(b) — Start Here
If your employer offers any retirement match, contributing enough to capture the full match is the single highest-return investment available. A 50% match is an immediate 50% guaranteed return before your money earns a cent. Never leave employer match on the table. The 2025 contribution limit is $23,500 ($31,000 if age 50 or older).
Roth IRA — Tax-Free Growth for Life
Roth IRA contributions grow and can be withdrawn completely tax-free in retirement — including all decades of compound growth. The 2025 limit is $7,000 ($8,000 if 50 or older). Income limits apply.
HSA — The Triple Tax Advantage
Health Savings Accounts offer a unique triple tax benefit: contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-free, and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. After age 65, HSA funds can be withdrawn for any purpose. Healthcare is often the largest retirement expense — maxing your HSA is one of the most underused retirement strategies available.
Key Retirement Milestones
Age 50 — Catch-Up Contributions
Extra $7,500/yr in 401(k) and $1,000 more in IRA above standard limits.
Age 59.5 — Penalty-Free Withdrawals
Begin withdrawing from retirement accounts without the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
Age 62 — Earliest Social Security
Benefit permanently reduced by up to 30% vs. waiting until full retirement age.
Age 65 — Medicare Eligibility
Medicare begins at 65. Late enrollment penalties are permanent — enroll on time.
Age 67 — Full Retirement Age
Full Social Security retirement age for those born 1960 or later.
Age 70 — Maximum Social Security
Each year past full retirement age adds 8% permanently to your benefit.
Age 73 — Required Minimum Distributions
IRS requires annual withdrawals from traditional 401(k)s and IRAs. Roth IRAs are exempt.
Every Year — Review and Rebalance
Review your asset allocation annually and shift more conservative as retirement approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions About Retirement Planning
The most common guideline is 25 times your expected annual portfolio withdrawal. Your personal number depends on your lifestyle, retirement age, Social Security, pension, and healthcare costs. Use Calculator 2 above to find your exact personalized retirement number. Most financial planners recommend aiming for $1M to $2M for a middle-class retirement of 25-30 years.
The S&P 500 has returned approximately 10% annually before inflation and roughly 7% after inflation over its history. For the accumulation phase, 6-7% is commonly used for diversified equity portfolios. For the drawdown phase in retirement, most planners use 4-5% for a more conservative allocation.
At the US historical average of 3.1%, prices double approximately every 23 years. If you retire at 65 needing $60,000 per year and live to 95, your expenses in the final year will be approximately $150,700 in nominal dollars. Any plan that ignores inflation will run short. Use Calculator 4 to model your specific numbers.
Always capture your full employer 401(k) match first — it is an immediate 50-100% return that no debt payoff can beat. After that, prioritize paying off high-interest debt above 7-8%. For low-interest debt below 5%, investing alongside payoff is often the better math over the long run.
Claiming at 62 permanently reduces your benefit by up to 30%. Waiting until 70 increases it by 8% per year past full retirement age. The break-even point is typically around age 80-82. If you are in good health and can fund early retirement from other sources, delaying to 70 usually maximizes lifetime benefits.
Absolutely not. A 50-year-old contributing $1,500/month including employer match over 17 years to age 67 at 7% return builds approximately $590,000 plus Social Security. Catch-up contributions allow an extra $7,500/year in a 401(k). Retirement security is absolutely achievable starting at 50 with a committed plan.
Sequence of returns risk is the danger of experiencing poor investment returns early in retirement while making withdrawals. Early losses are devastating because you sell shares at depressed prices to fund expenses and those shares cannot recover. Protections include keeping 2-3 years of expenses in cash, reducing spending during downturns, and using Social Security or annuities to reduce reliance on portfolio withdrawals when markets are down.