Introduction
This retirement calculator shows if your savings will be enough. You type in your age, your pay, what you have saved, and how much you add each month. The tool then does the math and shows what your money may look like when you retire.
The calculator adds up three income sources: money from your savings, Social Security, and a pension. It compares that total to the income you want in retirement. Then it tells you if you have a surplus or a gap.
Here is what you will see:
- Your nest egg: how much your savings may grow to by your retirement age.
- Your monthly income: based on the 4% withdrawal rule, in today's dollars.
- Your readiness score: a simple number out of 100 that shows how on track you are.
- What if? See how working longer, saving more, or lower returns change your plan.
- Step-by-step math: every formula, so you can check the work.
All income results are adjusted for 3% inflation each year. That way, the numbers feel real to you today. Change any input and the results update right away, so you can test ideas fast and plan with more trust.
How to use our Vanguard Retirement Calculator
Fill in your age, income, savings, and monthly contributions, and the calculator shows your projected nest egg, your monthly retirement income, your income goal, and any gap between them.
Current Age: Type your age today in whole years, from 18 to 80.
Planned Retirement Age: Type the age you want to stop working, from 50 to 80. It must be higher than your current age. Social Security is only counted if you retire at 62 or later.
Expected Annual Return on Investments: Drag the slider or type the average yearly growth you expect on your savings, from 1% to 12%. Many people use 5% to 7% for a mixed stock and bond portfolio.
Current Annual Pre-Tax Income: Enter your gross yearly pay before taxes are taken out.
Desired Income Replacement: Pick how much of today's income you want each year in retirement, from 50% to 100%. Many planners start at 80%.
Current Retirement Savings Balance: Add up your 401(k), IRA, and other retirement accounts and enter the total.
Monthly Contribution to Retirement: Enter how much you save each month, including any employer match. You can also enter it as a percent of your gross income, and both boxes update together.
Estimated Monthly Social Security Benefit: Enter the monthly amount from your Social Security statement. This is optional, so leave it at 0 if you are not sure.
Estimated Monthly Pension Benefit: Enter the monthly pension you expect. Leave it at 0 if you will not get a pension.
Click Calculate to see your results. Use the Monthly and Annual buttons to switch how the numbers are shown, check the What If scenarios to test changes, and read the step-by-step math to see how each number was found.
Retirement Planning: What It Means and Why It Matters
Retirement planning is figuring out how much money you will need after you stop working, and how much you must save now to get there. When your paycheck ends, your savings, Social Security, and any pension take over as your income. The goal is simple: build enough money so you can pay your bills for the rest of your life.
How Much Income Will You Need?
Most people do not need 100% of their old paycheck. You stop saving for retirement, you may pay less in taxes, and work costs like gas and lunch go away. That is why planners use an income replacement rate, usually 70% to 85% of your pay before taxes. If you earn $95,000 a year and want to replace 80%, you need about $76,000 a year, or roughly $6,333 a month. Building a monthly budget for your retirement years is the best way to sanity-check that target.
The 4% Rule
The 4% rule is a common way to guess how much your savings can pay you each year. You take out 4% of your balance in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation after that. A $1 million nest egg gives about $40,000 a year, or $3,333 a month. Studies found this rate lasted about 30 years in most market conditions. It is a guide, not a promise. Bad markets early in retirement can hurt it.
Why Compound Growth Is Your Best Friend
Money you invest earns returns, and those returns earn more returns. This is called compounding, and it grows faster the longer you leave money alone. Someone who saves $500 a month starting at 25 often ends up with more than someone who saves $1,000 a month starting at 45. Time does more work than the size of your deposit.
Don't Forget Inflation
Prices go up about 3% a year over the long run. That means $1,000 in 27 years buys about what $445 buys today. A big future balance can look great and still fall short. Always compare your future income to today's prices so you know what it will really buy.
Your Three Main Income Sources
- Retirement savings: Your 401(k), 403(b), IRA, and other investment accounts. This is the part you control most. Once you turn 73, required minimum distributions also shape how much you must pull out each year.
- Social Security: You can start as early as age 62, but your check is cut by up to 30%. Waiting until your full retirement age (67 for most people today) or age 70 gives you a bigger monthly benefit. Social Security gets a cost-of-living raise most years, so it holds its buying power.
- Pension: A set monthly payment from an employer. Many pensions are fixed and never rise, so inflation slowly eats away at them.
Simple Ways to Close a Gap
If your plan comes up short, you have a few strong levers:
- Save more. Even $100 or $200 more a month adds up over decades. Aim for 12% to 15% of your pay, including any employer match.
- Get the full match. If your job matches contributions, that is free money. Not taking it is a pay cut.
- Work a bit longer. Each extra year lets savings grow, adds contributions, cuts the number of years you must fund, and can raise your Social Security check.
- Spend less later. Lowering your replacement target, moving to a cheaper area, or paying off your mortgage before you retire all shrink the amount you need.
- Use catch-up limits. At age 50 and older, the IRS lets you put extra money into a 401(k) or IRA each year. A Roth conversion may also lower taxes on future withdrawals.
Things a Projection Cannot Know
Any long-term estimate uses steady averages, but real life is bumpy. Markets rise and fall, health costs can jump, taxes change, and you may live longer than you expect. Health care alone can run into six figures over a retirement, so an HSA and a healthy emergency fund are worth building alongside your nest egg. Use your projection as a checkpoint, review it once a year, and adjust as your pay, savings, and plans change.