Retirement Calculator

What this calculator actually models

The projection compounds your current balance monthly at the annual return you set, adds your monthly contribution at the end of each month, and rolls that forward until you reach your target retirement age. It then divides the future balance by the compounded rate of inflation to translate the number into today's dollars. That second figure, the real ending balance, is the one that matters for planning purposes.

Nominal versus real, and why the gap widens over time

A million dollars in 1985 was a serious retirement. A million in 2055 will not feel the same. Inflation compounds against purchasing power the same way returns compound in your favor. At 3 percent annual inflation, prices roughly double every 24 years. Over a 30-year projection, the difference between the nominal and real columns is not a rounding error; it is the entire picture.

The contribution lever is stronger than the return lever

Most people spend their time debating expected returns. The rate you assume matters, but it is largely outside your control. Your contribution rate is not. Raising a monthly contribution by even a few hundred dollars, held consistently for 20 or 30 years, typically moves the ending balance more than a percentage point adjustment to expected returns. Run the tool both ways and see.

What the projection does not include

It does not include Social Security, defined-benefit pensions, rental income, or the eventual sale of a business. It does not model taxes on distributions, sequence-of-returns risk in the early retirement years, or a bear market in year one that changes everything. A serious retirement plan layers those on top of a portfolio projection like this one.

How to use this in conversation

The most useful part of the projection is not the exact ending number. It is the gap between where the projection lands and what an honest retirement lifestyle actually costs. If the real ending balance funds 15 years and your longevity assumption is 30, the plan needs more contribution, a later retirement date, a different income strategy, or all three. That gap is where insurance-based solutions like permanent cash value or income-focused annuity structures earn a serious look.

None of that is captured here. This tool exists to make the portfolio side of the picture honest, so the rest of the planning conversation can happen against a real number instead of a hope.