Model retirement savings, inflation, user-entered Social Security, withdrawal-rate sensitivity, income gaps, and retirement-age scenarios.
A quick decision brief for this specific tool
Current/retirement ages, savings, month-end contribution, accumulation and post-retirement nominal returns, inflation, desired monthly income in today's dollars, planning withdrawal rate, and optional user-entered SSA benefit
Projected nominal and real balances, deposits/growth, initial withdrawal scenario, today-to-retirement income conversion, target/gap, contribution implication, modeled duration, age comparison, chart, and CSV
Monthly deterministic compounding before retirement; today-dollar income and SSA inputs inflated to retirement; portfolio target derived from the selected initial withdrawal rate; retirement withdrawals rise monthly with inflation
Choose your path
Project retirement savings with explicit timing, return, inflation, contribution, and withdrawal assumptions while separating deterministic scenarios from financial promises.
See how current savings and recurring contributions compound over time.
Enter age, retirement age, balance, contribution, and return assumptions; inspect nominal and real outcomes.
Understands contribution timing, inflation treatment, and that returns are not guaranteed.
Compare a short horizon and estimated retirement-income gap.
Enter realistic remaining years and income need, then inspect sensitivity and withdrawal assumptions.
Identifies a planning gap without treating a fixed withdrawal rate as universally safe.
Change one assumption at a time on a narrow screen.
Load a baseline, compare retirement ages or contributions, and review the chart/table.
Controls and charts remain readable and scenarios preserve units and time basis.
This tool is part of these guided projects. Each project provides step-by-step instructions with checklists and all the tools you need in one place.
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Project a starting balance and real month-end contributions under annual, semiannual, quarterly, monthly, or daily nominal compounding, with exact deposit and interest reconciliation.
Projects current savings and end-of-month contributions using a smooth nominal return compounded monthly. The year-by-year table separates deposits from modeled growth.
FV = PV(1+r)^n + PMT × [((1+r)^n − 1) ÷ r]The selected percentage converts the projected balance into an initial annual portfolio withdrawal and a target balance. It is a deterministic planning assumption, not a safe or guaranteed rate.
Initial annual portfolio withdrawal = Projected balance × Selected rateDesired income and an optional SSA benefit are entered in today's dollars and inflated to retirement. Only the remaining income need is assigned to the portfolio. The duration scenario increases withdrawals with inflation and applies the chosen post-retirement return for up to 100 years.
Portfolio income need = Inflated desired income − Inflated user-entered Social SecurityUpdated: August 2026
A 30-year-old with $15,000 in a 401(k) contributing $500/month until age 65.
→ At a smooth 7% return: about $1.073M at age 65; a 4% initial portfolio-withdrawal scenario is about $3,577/month
A 50-year-old accelerating contributions with catch-up 401(k) limits until age 67.
→ At a smooth 6% return: about $1.083M at age 67
A planner gets a monthly benefit estimate from SSA, enters it in today's dollars, and compares the same savings plan with and without that benefit rather than using a fabricated salary proxy.
No single return is reliable. Compare multiple accumulation and post-retirement return assumptions, and remember that a smooth average does not model volatility or sequence-of-returns risk.
Benefits depend on the official earnings record and claiming age. Use an SSA estimate and enter it explicitly; do not rely on an average or a contribution-derived proxy.
Build a transparent deterministic retirement scenario in your browser. Every major assumption is visible: ages, current savings, month-end contributions, accumulation return, inflation, desired income in today's dollars, initial withdrawal rate, post-retirement return, and an optional benefit copied from SSA.