🏖️ Retirement Calculator
Retirement saving is a race between your contributions and compound growth — and time matters more than timing. This calculator grows your current savings and monthly contributions at your expected annual return until your chosen retirement age.
The result is in future dollars and before taxes or inflation. A common next step is to compare the projection against the inflation calculator to see what it is worth in today's money.
How to use this calculator
Enter your current age, planned retirement age, existing savings, monthly contribution and expected return to project what your nest egg could be worth.
- Enter your Current age and your planned Retirement age.
- Type your Current savings and the Monthly contribution you will keep up.
- Enter the Expected annual return as a realistic percentage.
- Press Calculate, then raise the monthly contribution to see how much earlier saving changes the outcome.
Frequently asked questions
What does this calculator project?
It grows your current savings and every monthly contribution at your expected annual return until your retirement age, then reports the projected balance, the total you contributed, the growth earned, and the number of saving years.
How is the growth calculated?
The current savings compound over the full period, and the monthly contributions use the future-value-of-an-annuity formula with the annual return converted to a monthly rate. Contributions are assumed to start immediately and continue every month.
What does a typical example produce?
Starting at 30 with $20,000 saved, contributing $500 a month at a 7% return until 65 gives a projected balance of about $1,130,000. You would have contributed $230,000, so roughly $900,000 of that is investment growth.
Should I treat this as a promise?
No. The result is in future dollars before taxes and inflation, and real markets do not grow in a smooth line. Use the inflation calculator alongside it to translate the projection into today's purchasing power.