US retirement planning · Social Security 2026 · 4% rule
Retirement Calculator — How Much Do I Need to Retire?
See the exact number you need, whether you're on track, and how much more per month closes the gap — with Social Security, inflation and the 4% rule built in.
Full Social Security age is 67. You have 37 years to save.
401(k), IRA, brokerage — everything earmarked for retirement.
% of income saved, including any employer 401(k) match.
S&P 500 has averaged ~10% long-run; 6–7% is a conservative plan.
Most people need 70–85% of pre-retirement pay; the mortgage and payroll taxes usually end.
You'll need about
$1.52M
to retire at 67 — that's $508k in today's money, funding $60,000/yr (80% of your income) for 23 years, on top of Social Security.
You're on track to retire at 67.
Saving 10% a year, you're projected to reach $2.05M — about $533k more than you need. You could retire earlier, spend more, or ease off saving.
Need at 67
$1.52M
Projected savings
$2.05M
Monthly income (today's $)
$5,033
25× rule check
$2.02M
Your monthly income at 67 (in today's dollars)
Your savings vs the target
Estimates only, in a smooth-return model — real markets and inflation vary year to year. The target is the present value of your inflation-adjusted spending gap (desired spending minus Social Security and other income) over retirement; the 25× figure is the classic 4%-rule cross-check. The Social Security number is a rough estimate from the 2026 bend-point formula assuming steady earnings — get your personalized figure at ssa.gov. Withdrawals may be taxable; taxes and healthcare shocks aren't modelled. General information, not financial advice.
How much do you actually need to retire?
The honest answer isn't a single famous number — it's your spending, minus what Social Security and any pension cover, multiplied out over the length of your retirement. Start with how much of your income you'll want to replace: most households land at 70–85%, because a paid-off mortgage and the end of payroll taxes and retirement saving lower the bill. On a $75,000 income at 80%, that's $60,000 a year. Social Security might cover $30,000 of it, leaving your savings to fund the other $30,000 — every year, adjusted for inflation, for two to three decades. Capitalising that stream is your number, and for a 30-year-old retiring at 67 it works out to roughly $1.5 millionin the account (about $508,000 in today's dollars).
Two shortcuts get you close. The 25× rule: take the annual spending your savings must cover and multiply by 25 — the flip side of the 4% withdrawal rule. And Fidelity's age benchmarks: 1× your salary saved by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 10× by 67. Both are useful sanity checks, and this calculator shows the 25× figure beside its more precise present-value target so you can see the range.
"Am I on track?" — the question that actually matters
Knowing you need $1.5 million is useless without knowing whether you'll get there. So the calculator projects your current path — your balance today, plus your yearly contributions growing with raises, compounding at your expected return — and compares it to the target. If you're ahead, it tells you by how much, so you can consider retiring earlier or saving less. If you're behind, it does the most useful thing any retirement tool can: it calculates the exact extra dollars per month that close the gap. That single number turns a vague worry into a concrete, fixable plan.
Social Security: the piece most calculators fudge
Social Security will likely cover a big slice of your retirement income, so ignoring it wildly overstates what you need to save. This tool estimates your benefit with the real 2026 bend-point formula— 90% of the first $1,286 of your average indexed monthly earnings, 32% up to $7,749, and 15% above, capped at the $4,207 full-retirement-age maximum. It's a rough estimate that assumes steady earnings, and you can overwrite it with your actual figure from ssa.gov, which is always worth doing. The average retired worker collects about $2,071 a month in 2026, and for many middle-income households Social Security replaces 30–40% of pre-retirement pay by itself.
Why inflation and "today's dollars" change everything
A $1.5 million target sounds terrifying until you realise most of it is inflation: in today's purchasing power it's closer to $508,000. That's why this calculator always shows both — the nominal amount you'll literally need in the account, and its value in money you understand now. It also converts your projected retirement income back into today's dollars, because a $15,000-a-month retirement income in 2063 buys what about $5,000 buys today. Planning on the nominal number alone is the most common way people either panic needlessly or quietly fall short.
The biggest lever is time — then your savings rate
Two inputs dominate the outcome, and neither is the market return. The first is how early you start: $500 a month at 7% from 25 becomes about $1.5 million by 67, but starting at 40 yields under a third of that. The second is your savings rate— the share of income you put away — which, as the early-retirement community has shown, decides your timeline far more than clever investing does. If the verdict above says you're behind, the highest-impact moves are raising your savings rate, grabbing every dollar of 401(k) employer match, and letting compounding do the rest.
Worked example: 30 years old, $75,000 income
The setup. You're 30, earn $75,000, have $30,000 saved, and put away 10% a year. You want to replace 80% of your income and retire at 67, planning to age 90.
The need. 80% of $75,000 is $60,000 a year. Your estimated Social Security is about $2,746 a month ($32,952 a year), leaving roughly $27,000 a yearfor savings to cover. Capitalised over a 23-year retirement and grown to age 67, that's a target of about $1.52 million— around $508,000 in today's dollars.
The verdict.Saving 10% of a salary that grows 2% a year, starting from $30,000 and compounding at 7%, you're projected to reach about $2.05 million by 67 — comfortably ahead of the target, thanks to starting at 30. Change just one thing — start at 45 instead of 30, still saving 10% — and the surplus flips to a shortfall of about $374,000, needing roughly $600 a month more to fix. Enter your own numbers above — the single most important one is your age today.
Frequently asked questions
How much money do I need to retire?
A fast rule: multiply the annual income you'll need from savings by 25 (the 4% rule). If you'll spend $60,000 a year and Social Security covers $25,000, your savings must cover $35,000 — so you need about $875,000 in today's dollars. This calculator does it more precisely: it takes the present value of your inflation-adjusted spending gap over your whole retirement, then shows the figure both in today's dollars and as the (larger) nominal amount you'll actually need in the account at retirement. For a 30-year-old earning $75,000 and retiring at 67, the target is roughly $1.5 million nominal — about $508,000 in today's money after Social Security.
What is the 4% rule for retirement?
The 4% rule, from financial adviser William Bengen's 1994 research and the Trinity Study, says you can withdraw 4% of your nest egg in your first year of retirement and adjust that amount for inflation each year, with a high chance the money lasts about 30 years. It's the basis of the '25x rule' — since 4% is 1/25, you need roughly 25 times your first-year spending. So $40,000 a year of spending from savings implies a $1 million portfolio. It's a planning starting point, not a guarantee; some retirees use 3.5% to be safer or a flexible rate that adjusts to markets.
How much should I have saved for retirement by age?
Fidelity's widely-used benchmarks: aim for 1x your salary saved by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60 and 10x by 67. On a $75,000 salary that's $75,000 by 30 and $750,000 by 67. They're rough guideposts — your real target depends on when you retire, how much you'll spend, and your Social Security. The best test isn't a multiple of salary but whether your projected savings cover your actual spending gap, which is exactly what the 'am I on track' verdict above checks for your numbers.
How much will I get from Social Security?
Your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of earnings, run through a progressive formula. For 2026 the monthly benefit at full retirement age (67) is 90% of the first $1,286 of your indexed monthly earnings, plus 32% up to $7,749, plus 15% above that — capped at $4,207. The average retired worker gets about $2,071 a month in 2026. This calculator auto-estimates your benefit from your income and lets you edit it, but for an exact figure create an account at ssa.gov and read your statement. Claiming before 67 permanently reduces it; waiting until 70 increases it.
Is $1 million enough to retire?
It depends entirely on your spending. Under the 4% rule, $1 million supports about $40,000 a year from savings, inflation-adjusted. Add an average Social Security benefit (~$25,000 a year) and that's roughly $65,000 of gross annual income — comfortable in a low-cost area, tight in an expensive city, and reduced further by taxes on withdrawals. The honest answer comes from working backwards: enter your real expected spending above and see whether $1 million clears your target. For many higher earners the number is closer to $1.5–2.5 million; for frugal households $1 million is plenty.
Does it matter if I start saving late?
Enormously, because compounding rewards time more than amount. Saving $500 a month at 7% from age 25 to 67 grows to about $1.5 million; start at 40 and the same $500 reaches only about $479,000 — under a third, for just 15 fewer years. The fix if you're starting late: raise your savings rate hard (the calculator shows exactly how much more per month closes your gap), capture every employer 401(k) match, use catch-up contributions after 50, and consider working a couple of extra years — each delay both adds savings and shortens the retirement you must fund.
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