How Much Do I Need to Retire? Nest Egg and the 4% Rule
Published 2026-11-02
Retirement calculator queries usually hide two questions: “What will my savings become?” and “Can I live on that?” A simple sketch grows today’s balance plus monthly contributions to a retirement age, then tests a 4% first-year withdrawal.
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Run these formulas with your own numbers. Math stays in your browser.
Open Retirement Calculator →That is what our retirement calculator does. It is not a forecast of markets, Social Security, taxes or sequence-of-returns risk. Pair it with the investment, compound-interest and inflation tools if you want the pieces separately.
Open the retirement calculator
Enter current age, retirement age, today’s savings, a monthly contribution, an expected annual return and how many retirement years to test. You will see a projected nest egg, a 4% annual withdrawal and how long that withdrawal lasted in the sketch.
How the nest egg is grown
Contributions are added at month-end. Growth uses a monthly equivalent of the annual return, (1 + r)^(1/12) − 1, so 7% is not treated as 7% ÷ 12 simple interest.
i = (1 + annual return)^(1/12) − 1
Nest egg = savings × (1 + i)^N + contribution × [((1 + i)^N − 1) ÷ i]
4% withdrawal = 0.04 × nest egg
What the 4% rule is (and is not)
The common teaching is: withdraw 4% of the starting nest egg in year one, then adjust for inflation, and a 30-year retirement often survived historical US portfolio samples. It is a research rule of thumb, not a guarantee. A bad decade at the start can exhaust a portfolio faster. Fees and taxes cut the net return you should type.
| Nest egg | 4% / year | About / month |
|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $20,000 | $1,667 |
| $1,000,000 | $40,000 | $3,333 |
| $1,500,000 | $60,000 | $5,000 |
Inflation and real return
A 7% nominal return and 3% inflation is a rough 4% real-return story, not a forecast of either series. Use the inflation calculator to see what today’s dollar becomes in 20 or 30 years at a constant rate. Official CPI is a year-by-year index, not that single rate.
- Enter ages as whole years (retirement age cannot be below current age).
- Enter current savings and the monthly amount you can add.
- Enter a net annual return (after a typical fee, if you want that baked in).
- Set the retirement-years test (the tool caps the horizon).
- Read nest egg, 4% withdrawal and years funded in the sketch.
What this page will not do
It ignores employer matches, Social Security, pensions, Roth versus traditional tax, required minimum distributions and glide paths. A target-date fund will not earn a flat 7%. If you need the payment that hits a future goal, the finance calculator can solve for PMT. “Retirement calculator” and “how much do I need to retire” stay in demand because the 4% sketch is easy to search and easy to misuse — change the return by one point in the retirement calculator and read the nest egg again before you treat one run as a plan.
Use the free tool
Run these formulas with your own numbers. Math stays in your browser.
Open Retirement Calculator →Frequently Asked Questions
Is 4% safe?
It is a historical planning rule, not a promise. Spending flexibility and a cash buffer matter as much as the percentage.
Should I enter a real or nominal return?
The calculator treats the rate as nominal. Pair it with the inflation calculator if you want a constant-dollar reading.
Does this include Social Security?
No. Add that income outside this sketch.
Can I model withdrawals only?
The tool grows a nest egg, then tests a 4% withdrawal for the years you enter. It is not a full decumulation planner.
Is this investment advice?
No. Markets do not return a constant rate.
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