Retirement planning, one question at a time

Will your savings last? Find out privately.

Start with the decision in front of you. Each calculator asks only for the assumptions relevant to that question, gives a direct answer, and then shows the year-by-year path behind it.

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A retired couple sitting together on a bench above a sunlit mountain lake
A human plan, not a data dump See saving years, spending years, and income transitions in context.

Quick answer 1

How long will my investment last?

Use this for questions such as: “How long will $500,000 last if I withdraw $40,000 once a year and earn 7%?”

1

Enter the investment and withdrawal

Only the inputs that affect this question appear here.

$
$
The full amount is taken once on the selected schedule.
Choose how often the withdrawal occurs.
%
%
%
Use 0% for a flat dollar withdrawal or inflation for stable buying power.
years
Optional assumptions
%
A $40,000 spending need becomes a larger gross withdrawal when tax is included.
Beginning-of-interval timing is more conservative because money leaves the account sooner.
%
Today’s dollars show what each future balance would buy now.
Steady-return illustration. The chart applies the same average return every year. Historically, a diversified 60/40 portfolio has returned roughly 6–8% a year before inflation, with large swings around that average. Use the withdrawal-strategy tab for bad-start sequences and the detailed plan for Monte Carlo market paths.
What this estimate assumes
  • One account, one steady return every year, no market swings; the optional tax field grosses up each withdrawal at a flat rate.
  • No Social Security, pension, or other income — use the early-retirement bridge or full plan for those.
  • Nominal by default; switch to today’s dollars to see purchasing power.

Year-by-year path

Investment balance after withdrawals

Hover, tap, or use ← →

See the annual balance, return, and withdrawal table
YearOpeningGross withdrawal takenInvestment growthEnding
Glossary of terms used on this page
PIA / benefit at FRA
Primary insurance amount: the monthly Social Security benefit payable at full retirement age. Your SSA statement shows it.
FRA
Full retirement age — 67 for people born in 1960 or later; between 66 and 67 for 1955–1959 birth years. Survivor FRA follows a separate schedule.
COLA
Cost-of-living adjustment applied to Social Security each January.
Earnings test
Before FRA, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 earned above an annual limit ($24,480 in 2026). Withheld months raise the benefit at FRA.
RMD
Required minimum distribution from tax-deferred accounts, starting at 73 (born 1951–1959) or 75 (born 1960 or later).
QCD
Qualified charitable distribution: a gift straight from an IRA that counts toward the RMD without being taxed (up to $111,000 per person in 2026).
MAGI
Modified adjusted gross income. For Medicare it is AGI plus tax-exempt interest; it sets IRMAA two years later.
IRMAA
Income-related monthly adjustment amount: higher Medicare Part B and D premiums for people whose MAGI two years earlier exceeded $109,000 (single) or $218,000 (joint).
NIIT
3.8% net investment income tax on investment income when MAGI exceeds $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (joint).
Tax torpedo
The zone where each extra dollar of income also makes more Social Security taxable, producing a marginal rate well above the bracket.
Guardrails
A withdrawal rule that raises spending with inflation but cuts it when the withdrawal rate drifts too high and raises it when the rate drifts low.
Sequence risk
Poor returns early in retirement do more damage than the same returns later, because withdrawals are taken from a depleted balance.
Monte Carlo
Many simulated market paths drawn from a statistical model; the success rate is a rate within that model, not a real-world probability.
Backtest
Replaying a plan through actual past market returns and inflation, one start year at a time. Shows what would have happened, not a probability of what will.
Present value
What a stream of future payments is worth today at a chosen discount rate. Used to compare a pension with a lump sum.
IRR (internal rate of return)
The single yearly return that makes a set of payments exactly equal to an amount today. For a pension, it is the return the lump sum would need to earn to match the checks.
Savings multiple
Retirement savings divided by annual pay. Age-based guideposts (1× at 30, 3× at 40, 6× at 50, 8× at 60, 10× at 67) are a rule of thumb, not a personal target.