Our experts answer readers’ investing questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess investing products). Paid non-client promotion: In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners. Our opinions are always our own.
- A retirement calculator can help you predict how much you need to save for a comfortable retirement.
- The calculator considers your income, monthly savings, estimated age of retirement, and more.
- Americans often spend less as they age and can sustain a 30- to 40-year retirement on 70% of their pre-retirement income.
Personal Finance Insider’s free retirement calculator can show you whether you’re on track for a comfortable retirement.
By providing information including your age, income, savings rate, retirement balances, expected retirement spending, and how long you plan to work, it estimates how much money you’ll have compared with how much you’ll need.
Retirement Calculator
Use Insider’s calculator to see if you’re on your way to a comfortable retirement by answering a few questions about yourself, your savings, and how long you expect to keep working.
You will have about
$1,725,000
You will need about
$2,940,000
*Need is based on covering 70% of your annual pre-retirement income and a
life
expectancy of 100 years.
How to use the retirement calculator
A general rule of thumb is that the earlier you start savings the better.
“If you start investing in your retirement plans in your early 20s, the more likely you’ll have a larger pool of money to support you in retirement than if you start saving and contributing to retirement accounts later in life,” says Chloe Wolhforth, CFP and partner at Angeles Wealth Management.
For this calculator, we define a comfortable retirement as being able to live on 70% of your pre-retirement income. However, the calculator is customizable.
Here’s what you’ll need to input:
- Personal information: Current age and the age at which you expect to retire.
- Current retirement balance: The total amount of retirement savings you have across all your accounts, including 401(k)s and IRAs.
- Current household income: Your annual gross income (the amount you earn before taxes).
- Rate of savings: How much money you save toward retirement each month. You can enter this as a dollar amount or a percentage of your income.
The following inputs are pre-filled, but you can change some to customize your retirement calculation further.
- Expected annual salary increases: The calculator’s default is 2%.
- Anticipated monthly spending in retirement: We assume you’ll spend 70% of your pre-retirement income (the amount you’re projected to be earning right before you retire), but you can change that number if you expect to spend more or less.
- Life expectancy: The default calculation uses a life expectancy of 100 years.
- Investment returns: We assume your savings are invested and earn a 5% annual rate of return.
How a retirement calculator can help
Our retirement calculator is designed to track your progress toward retirement. It’s based on the idea that Americans generally spend less as they age and can therefore sustain a 30- to 40-year retirement on 70% of their pre-retirement income.
The calculator generates two important numbers:
- The amount you will have by your desired retirement age. By providing your current savings rate and retirement account balances, we’re able to estimate how much money you’ll have in savings or investments by retirement.
- The amount you will need by your desired retirement age. Using your current income and expected salary increases, we’re able to estimate how much money you’ll need in savings or investments by retirement.
Using a retirement calculator to see where you stand provides several benefits.
- Snapshot of your future: A rough estimate of how much money you’ll need to retire by a certain age is better than having no estimate at all.
- Identify shortfalls: The calculator shows if you might fall short of your financial goal, allowing you to plan for a higher savings rate or find sources of supplementary income.
- See your options: By adjusting the calculator’s inputs — such as changing your savings rate or your planned retirement age — you can see how your overall plan is affected.
“Depending on when you want to retire, your employment, your tax status and other considerations, a blend of multiple accounts may be suitable,” says Jordan Gilberti, CFP and senior lead planner at Facet.
Check out the best online financial advisors>>
What to do if you’re behind in retirement savings
If the retirement calculator shows you falling short of your financial target, don’t be discouraged. There’s still time to make adjustments to your savings rate or investment strategy to get closer to meeting your goal.
One of the most effective ways to catch up on retirement savings is to increase your income. A nationwide labor shortage has given workers significant negotiating power. If you’re unable to score a raise in your current position, consider switching jobs for a higher salary or better benefits, such as a more generous 401(k) match or investing in stocks and similar assets.
“Investing is a critical part of growing wealth. It is important to invest savings that you have identified as long-term so your assets can grow over time,” says Wolhforth.
Above all, be flexible. As you approach retirement, consider taking a part-time job, waiting to claim Social Security benefits, downsizing your home, or relocating to a more affordable city.
Read our guide to the best investment apps
Find a financial advisor in your area
You can find financial advisors in your area by searching online. The best way to be matched with an advisor is by utilizing platforms that offer matching services across a wide network of advisors, planners, and more.
Some sites to check out for advisors are the Association of African American Financial Advisors(AAAA), the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAIM), and the Garret Planning Network. The CFP Board website is also a great way to find CFPs by location and services.
Related Post
Our experts answer readers’ investing questions and write unbiased product reviews (here’s how we assess investing products). Paid non-client promotion: In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners. Our opinions are always our own.
- A retirement calculator can help you predict how much you need to save for a comfortable retirement.
- The calculator considers your income, monthly savings, estimated age of retirement, and more.
- Americans often spend less as they age and can sustain a 30- to 40-year retirement on 70% of their pre-retirement income.
Personal Finance Insider’s free retirement calculator can show you whether you’re on track for a comfortable retirement.
By providing information including your age, income, savings rate, retirement balances, expected retirement spending, and how long you plan to work, it estimates how much money you’ll have compared with how much you’ll need.
Retirement Calculator
Use Insider’s calculator to see if you’re on your way to a comfortable retirement by answering a few questions about yourself, your savings, and how long you expect to keep working.
You will have about
$1,725,000
You will need about
$2,940,000
*Need is based on covering 70% of your annual pre-retirement income and a
life
expectancy of 100 years.
How to use the retirement calculator
A general rule of thumb is that the earlier you start savings the better.
“If you start investing in your retirement plans in your early 20s, the more likely you’ll have a larger pool of money to support you in retirement than if you start saving and contributing to retirement accounts later in life,” says Chloe Wolhforth, CFP and partner at Angeles Wealth Management.
For this calculator, we define a comfortable retirement as being able to live on 70% of your pre-retirement income. However, the calculator is customizable.
Here’s what you’ll need to input:
- Personal information: Current age and the age at which you expect to retire.
- Current retirement balance: The total amount of retirement savings you have across all your accounts, including 401(k)s and IRAs.
- Current household income: Your annual gross income (the amount you earn before taxes).
- Rate of savings: How much money you save toward retirement each month. You can enter this as a dollar amount or a percentage of your income.
The following inputs are pre-filled, but you can change some to customize your retirement calculation further.
- Expected annual salary increases: The calculator’s default is 2%.
- Anticipated monthly spending in retirement: We assume you’ll spend 70% of your pre-retirement income (the amount you’re projected to be earning right before you retire), but you can change that number if you expect to spend more or less.
- Life expectancy: The default calculation uses a life expectancy of 100 years.
- Investment returns: We assume your savings are invested and earn a 5% annual rate of return.
How a retirement calculator can help
Our retirement calculator is designed to track your progress toward retirement. It’s based on the idea that Americans generally spend less as they age and can therefore sustain a 30- to 40-year retirement on 70% of their pre-retirement income.
The calculator generates two important numbers:
- The amount you will have by your desired retirement age. By providing your current savings rate and retirement account balances, we’re able to estimate how much money you’ll have in savings or investments by retirement.
- The amount you will need by your desired retirement age. Using your current income and expected salary increases, we’re able to estimate how much money you’ll need in savings or investments by retirement.
Using a retirement calculator to see where you stand provides several benefits.
- Snapshot of your future: A rough estimate of how much money you’ll need to retire by a certain age is better than having no estimate at all.
- Identify shortfalls: The calculator shows if you might fall short of your financial goal, allowing you to plan for a higher savings rate or find sources of supplementary income.
- See your options: By adjusting the calculator’s inputs — such as changing your savings rate or your planned retirement age — you can see how your overall plan is affected.
“Depending on when you want to retire, your employment, your tax status and other considerations, a blend of multiple accounts may be suitable,” says Jordan Gilberti, CFP and senior lead planner at Facet.
Check out the best online financial advisors>>
What to do if you’re behind in retirement savings
If the retirement calculator shows you falling short of your financial target, don’t be discouraged. There’s still time to make adjustments to your savings rate or investment strategy to get closer to meeting your goal.
One of the most effective ways to catch up on retirement savings is to increase your income. A nationwide labor shortage has given workers significant negotiating power. If you’re unable to score a raise in your current position, consider switching jobs for a higher salary or better benefits, such as a more generous 401(k) match or investing in stocks and similar assets.
“Investing is a critical part of growing wealth. It is important to invest savings that you have identified as long-term so your assets can grow over time,” says Wolhforth.
Above all, be flexible. As you approach retirement, consider taking a part-time job, waiting to claim Social Security benefits, downsizing your home, or relocating to a more affordable city.
Read our guide to the best investment apps
Find a financial advisor in your area
You can find financial advisors in your area by searching online. The best way to be matched with an advisor is by utilizing platforms that offer matching services across a wide network of advisors, planners, and more.
Some sites to check out for advisors are the Association of African American Financial Advisors(AAAA), the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAIM), and the Garret Planning Network. The CFP Board website is also a great way to find CFPs by location and services.
