This retirement calculator from Calculator Bank helps you determine how much you need to save for retirement by calculating future savings based on contributions, interest, and time.
Plan your future with confidence
Required Monthly Savings
Total Savings Needed at Retirement
Understanding Retirement Calculator Key Inputs
This retirement calculator helps you plan for a financially secure future by estimating how much you need to save monthly to reach your retirement goals. Below is an explanation of each input field and how it affects your retirement planning.
Current Age
Your current age establishes the starting point for your retirement. This value determines how many years you have until retirement, directly affecting the timeframe for your investments to grow through compounding.
The longer your money can grow, the less you’ll need to save each month to reach your goals. Every additional year of saving and investing in your early career may drastically reduce the financial burden later in life.
Planned Retirement Age
Your planned retirement age is when you think you will stop working full-time and begin living off your accumulated savings. This decision has implications for your financial strategy.
Retiring earlier means you need more savings to fund a longer retirement period, while delaying retirement allows more time for investments to compound and reduces the years your savings must last. The default age of 67 aligns with the full Social Security retirement age for many individuals born after 1960. Still, you should adjust this based on your career goals and health considerations.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy is your estimate of how long you’ll live, deciding the duration your retirement savings must last. This challenging variable requires careful consideration of family health history, personal health status, and lifestyle factors.
While average U.S. life expectancy is around 79 years, financial planners often recommend projecting to age 90 or beyond to ensure financial security throughout your later years. When you underestimate this figure, it creates the risk of outliving your savings—one of the most financial challenges retirees can face
Current Pre-Tax Income
Your current annual income before taxes serves as the foundation for calculating retirement needs. Most retirement planning approaches assume you’ll want to maintain a similar lifestyle after retiring, which typically requires a significant portion of your pre-retirement income.
The calculator uses this figure, along with your expected income growth, to project your final working income and, subsequently, your retirement income needs. This value should reflect your total household income if you’re planning for a shared retirement.
Current Income Increase
Your anticipated yearly pay increase over the course of your remaining working years is reflected in this percentage. It takes into consideration changes in the cost of living, career progression, and general salary inflation.
Although this varies greatly depending on your business, position, and economic situation, typical values are between 2% and 4% per year. While those approaching retirement often enjoy relatively moderate rises, early-career professionals may see higher growth rates. Your retirement projections will stay reasonable if you use a conservative estimate.
Income Needed After Retirement
This percentage indicates how much of your pre-retirement income you expect to need annually after retiring. Many financial advisors suggest planning for 70-80% of pre-retirement income, reflecting reduced expenses in certain categories (commuting, work clothes, retirement contributions) offset by potential increases in others (healthcare, leisure activities). Your retirement vision—whether it includes extensive travel or a more modest lifestyle—should guide this estimate. Higher percentages create more financial security but require larger monthly savings.
Average Investment Return
This rate is your expected annual return on investments over your lifetime, accounting for different asset allocations and market performance. While historical stock market returns have averaged around 7-10% before inflation, most financial experts recommend using more conservative estimates (5-7%) for long-term planning to account for market volatility and economic cycles. Your risk tolerance, investment knowledge, and timeframe should influence this figure.
Inflation Rate
The inflation rate accounts for the rising cost of goods and services over time, which gradually erodes purchasing power. This rate is used to calculate how much more income you’ll need in the future to maintain your standard of living.
The Federal Reserve targets an inflation rate of approximately 2%, though the historical average has been closer to 3%. Even seemingly small differences in this rate can dramatically impact long-term projections—at 3% annual inflation, prices effectively double approximately every 24 years, making this one of the most critical factors in retirement planning.