“How much do I actually need to retire?” is the question that comes up before almost every other decision on this site — before Social Security timing, before Medicare enrollment, before any of it. And it’s surprisingly hard to answer with a single number.
Most quick answers just tell you to save 25 times your annual expenses. That’s not wrong — it’s the same math this calculator uses — but it skips the part where Social Security and any pension you have already cover a chunk of what you’ll spend. This calculator does that subtraction for you, so the number you get back is what you actually need to have saved yourself, not your total spending.
How Much Do I Need to Retire? Calculate It Here
Your Retirement Number
Enter what you expect to spend each year in retirement, what guaranteed income you’ll have coming in, and what you’ve already saved.
This uses the widely-cited 4% withdrawal rule as a starting-point estimate. It doesn’t account for taxes, investment returns, inflation, or how long you’ll live. Treat it as a conversation starter, not a full financial plan.
How This Number Is Calculated
This calculator uses the 4% rule, a widely-cited rule of thumb from retirement research: if you withdraw about 4% of your savings in your first year of retirement, and adjust that amount for inflation each year after, your money has historically had a good chance of lasting 30 years. Working backward, that means your target savings should be about 25 times the amount you need to withdraw annually — which is exactly what dividing by 0.04 does.
The “amount you need to withdraw annually” isn’t your full spending, though. It’s your spending minus whatever guaranteed income you already have coming in from Social Security or a pension, since that income covers part of your expenses without touching your savings at all. That’s the subtraction this calculator does for you.
What This Number Doesn’t Account For
The 4% rule is a starting point, not a guarantee. It doesn’t account for the taxes you’ll owe on withdrawals from a Traditional 401(k) or IRA, market performance in the specific years you retire, unusually long retirements, or major one-time costs like a health crisis. Treat the number here as a reasonable first estimate to plan around, not a precise target.
Next Steps
Once you have a target number, a few other calculators on this site can help refine it: the Retirement Budget Planner compares your income and expenses month to month, the Social Security Benefits Calculator estimates what your monthly check will actually be, and the RMD Calculator helps once you’re required to start drawing down tax-deferred accounts.