Do You Have Enough to Retire?
How does your current retirement plan stack up against your retirement lifestyle expectations? Use our retirement calculator to gauge the trajectory of your retirement savings.
Retirement Calculator
Powered byHow Our Retirement Calculator Works
Our retirement calculator predicts how much you need to retire based on your current salary and investment dollars and divides it by your post-retirement years. Our calculator makes the following assumptions:
- 2% annual salary increase (pre-retirement)
- Cost-of-living is 70% of your annual pre-retirement salary
- 3% annual inflation (post-retirement)
- An average life expectancy of age 92
This calculator does not take into account any spousal benefits, Social Security, or other expected income from pensions or part-time work. If you’re counting on Social Security benefits as a significant portion of your retirement, calculate how much social security you will get using the formula designed by the Social Security Administration.
Retirement Calculator Definitions
Current Age: Your current age.
Retirement Age: The age you plan to retire. Depending on your birth year, your full retirement age will be from 65 to 67. If you plan to retire in conjunction with social security benefits, you can begin collecting benefits as early as 62.
Current Salary: Your annual wages before taxes.
Current Balance: The total amount you currently have saved for retirement, including any IRAs or annuities.
Annual Contributions: The percentage of your annual salary you contribute toward retirement. Include any accumulative contributions to retirement accounts, such as a 401(k) or 403(b), plus employer matching.
Anticipated Growth: The annual, after-tax investment return you expect from your retirement savings.
Understanding Your Results
The retirement calculator will compare the retirement savings you will need against the projected savings you will have by the time you retire. More specifically:
- The You Will Need calculation is based on the 70% rule of retirement, which assumes you will need about 70% of your average income during your working years for as long as you live post-retirement. This is assuming a life expectancy of age 92 (based on recent projections) and a 3% annual inflation rate (based on the past 40 years of the U.S. Consumer Price Index).
- The You Will Have calculation considers your noted salary, annual contributions, and projected growth from your current age until retirement age.
You Know Where You Stand: What’s Next?
After completing the form, the calculator will tell you whether you’re behind on your savings, just slightly off track, or on target to hit your retirement goals. Below, we’ve suggested a few action items to consider, depending on your inputs.
“Your retirement savings strategy needs some work.”
There’s no time like the present to start building a more secure retirement plan—especially if you’ve got some catching up to do. Start by getting more aggressive with your 401(k) contributions, and make sure you contribute enough to meet your employer match. By leveraging compounding interest, you can make headway fast. Learn more about annual 401(k) contribution limits.
“Your retirement savings strategy could be better.”
If you’re behind on your goals, consider ways you can bump up your contributions to gain traction quickly. An individual retirement account has several tax advantages, and you can kick in up to $6,500 a year in 2023 (or 7,500 if you’re over 50). Learn more about annual IRA contribution limits.
“Your retirement savings are looking great.”
Even if you’re on track to retire according to your goals, you may want to consider strategies to retire earlier. A financial advisor can help you take steps to plan for the future, taking into account inflation, the macroeconomy, and your lifestyle preferences.
1Study: “Retiring Into A Recession” | Retirement Living, 2023
