Short answer: “how much do I need to retire?” has two halves — what you’ll have, and what you’ll need. This calculator does both honestly: it projects your savings (including the employer match most calculators forget), then works out the lump sum required to fund your spending goal after Social Security, in both future dollars and today’s dollars. In the prefilled example — 35 years old, $50,000 saved, $750 a month going in with the match — you reach $1,326,140 by 65, but funding $60,000 a year of spending takes $1,435,718. That $109,578 gap closes by adding just $89 a month. Small numbers, moved early, are the whole game.
| What that is worth in today’s dollars | $0 |
| Lump sum you’ll need at retirement | $0 |
| That need, in today’s dollars | $0 |
| Surplus / shortfall | $0 |
| Total monthly saving needed (you + employer) | $0 |
| Extra you must add per month | $0 |
See the year-by-year growth of your savings
| Age | Contributed so far | Projected balance |
|---|
Educational estimate only — not financial advice. How the need is calculated: your spending goal minus Social Security/pension is the yearly amount your savings must cover; it is inflated to your retirement year, then discounted back at your expected return as a series of yearly withdrawals that grow with inflation (a growing annuity, paid at the start of each year). Returns are assumed smooth; real markets are not, and taxes and fees are not modeled. Your numbers never leave your browser.
How this calculator works
What you’ll have. Each month, your contribution plus your employer match is added, then the balance grows by your expected return ÷ 12, all the way to your retirement age: FV = current savings grown monthly + deposits grown as a monthly annuity.
What you’ll need. Your savings don’t have to fund your whole spending goal — Social Security or a pension covers part of it. The calculator takes (spending goal − Social Security/pension) as the yearly amount your savings must provide, inflates it to your retirement year, then asks: what lump sum, invested at your expected return and drawn down as yearly withdrawals that grow with inflation for your chosen retirement length, exactly funds it? That’s the present value of a growing annuity, withdrawn at the start of each year:
Need = W × [1 − q^N] / (1 − q), where W is the first year’s withdrawal (in retirement-year dollars), N the years in retirement, and q = (1 + inflation) / (1 + return). If return equals inflation, the need simplifies to W × N.
The verdict math. Gap = projected − needed. “Total monthly saving needed” solves the same projection backwards: the deposit (you + employer combined) that would make projected exactly equal needed. Every figure is also restated in today’s dollars — divide by (1 + inflation)^years — because a million dollars in 2056 is not a million dollars today.
What it deliberately does not model: taxes, fees, market ups and downs, or a part-time-work bridge. Those matter; they also belong in a conversation with a professional, not a web form pretending to be one.
The worked example
Inputs: age 35, retire at 65, $50,000 saved, $500/month from you + $250 employer match, 7% return, 3% inflation, $60,000/year spending goal, $24,000/year Social Security, 25 years in retirement.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Projected nest egg at 65 | $1,326,140 |
| …in today’s dollars | $546,352 |
| Lump sum needed at 65 | $1,435,718 |
| …in today’s dollars | $591,497 |
| Shortfall | −$109,578 |
| Total monthly saving required | $839/mo |
| Extra to add | $89/mo |
And the counter-example worth showing readers: start at 50 with $200,000, save $1,000/month at 6%, retire at 67 wanting $50,000 a year with $30,000 of Social Security — and you’re $412,345 ahead. Starting balances and Social Security do heavy lifting that “save more!” headlines ignore.
FAQs
How much do I need to retire at 60 / 62 / 67? Set your retirement age and read the “lump sum needed” line — earlier retirement raises it twice over: fewer saving years and more spending years. The year-by-year table shows your balance at every age if you want to compare stopping at different ages.
Does this count Social Security? Yes — the “yearly Social Security / pension” field. Your savings only need to cover spending above that amount, which is why the need is often lower than the scary headlines suggest. Check your actual estimate at ssa.gov and enter it here.
Why does it ask for an employer match separately? Because it’s real money most calculators merge invisibly or skip. On the default example, the $250 match alone is worth roughly a quarter-million dollars of the final balance. Never leave a match unclaimed — it’s part of your pay.
Is the “today’s dollars” number more honest? It’s the same projection, translated. A $1.33M nest egg in 30 years buys what about $546K buys today at 3% inflation. Plan in today’s dollars; it’s the unit your spending goal already thinks in.
Educational content only — not financial advice. Projections assume smooth returns and constant inflation; real outcomes will differ, and taxes and fees are not modeled. Your numbers never leave your browser.
Sources: Investor.gov compound interest calculator (method), BLS Consumer Price Index (inflation reference) Figures last verified Report a wrong number