Retirement Calculator
Project your retirement savings from your current balance and future contributions.
Educational estimate only. This is not financial, investment, tax, legal or lending advice, a quote or a guarantee. Read the disclaimer.
Your inputs
Illustrative growth by year.
How this calculator works
P is the starting balance, C is the contribution at each month-end, r is the entered annual percentage divided by 100 and then 12, and n is years × 12. The rate is treated as a nominal annual rate, not APY or an effective annual return. Returns are constant in this illustration; no taxes, fees, inflation, withdrawals or market volatility are modeled. Fractional years use fractional exponents; the chart shows completed years only. Years is retirement age minus current age. This projects accumulation only: it does not calculate retirement income needs, withdrawal sustainability, Social Security, pensions, eligibility or contribution limits. It cannot determine whether you have enough to retire.
Dollar results are in USD and generally rounded to the nearest whole dollar; salary equivalents and percentage outputs use two decimal places. Calculations retain JavaScript floating-point precision between steps rather than rounding every payment to cents. Displayed components may not sum exactly to displayed totals. Payoff times use whole monthly payment periods. Defaults are examples, not current rates or recommendations.
Full methodology · About the publisher and corrections
Content and calculation checks: October 12, 2026. Educational estimates; no independent professional certification is claimed.
Worked example: age 35 to 67
With $75,000 already saved, $750 contributed each month and an illustrative 7% annual return from age 35 to 67, the model projects about $1.77 million. Total contributions are about $363,000, with the remainder attributed to modeled growth.
The result is an accumulation estimate only. It does not determine a sustainable retirement income or whether the balance is sufficient for your spending needs.
Practical guide
What a retirement projection should include next
- Test lower return assumptions and shorter working periods.
- Consider inflation when thinking about future purchasing power.
- Account separately for taxes, Social Security, pensions, health costs and withdrawal strategy.
- If most savings are in a workplace plan, compare the 401(k) Calculator.
How to use the result
Change one assumption at a time to compare scenarios. For example, test a lower rate, larger contribution, different term or extra payment. This makes the calculator most useful as a decision-support tool rather than a single-number answer.
Important financial decisions can depend on taxes, fees, eligibility rules, lender policies, market returns and personal circumstances that this simplified calculator does not capture.
Frequently asked questions
Is this retirement calculator free?
Yes. SumStride calculators are free to use and do not require an account.
Are the results exact?
No. Results are estimates based on the values you enter and the assumptions described on this page. Real-world fees, taxes, rates, policies and timing can differ.
Does SumStride save my inputs?
No account is required. The calculator runs in your browser; SumStride does not need your entered values to perform the calculation.