What Is a Retirement Planner?
A retirement planner is a financial tool that helps you estimate how much money you need to save for a comfortable retirement. It projects the growth of your savings during your working years (the accumulation phase) and models how your portfolio will sustain withdrawals during retirement (the distribution phase). Unlike simple savings calculators, a retirement planner accounts for inflation, Social Security benefits, pension income, and the reality that your expenses will change over time.
Our free retirement planner goes beyond basic projections by showing you a year-by-year schedule of contributions, investment growth, and withdrawals from your current age through your planned life expectancy. This gives you a clear picture of whether your savings strategy will support the retirement lifestyle you want.
How to Use This Retirement Planner
- 1
Enter Your Personal Details
Input your current age, target retirement age, and the age you want to plan through (life expectancy). This determines your accumulation and withdrawal periods.
- 2
Set Your Savings Information
Enter your current retirement savings balance, monthly contribution amount, and how much you plan to increase contributions each year (e.g., with salary raises).
- 3
Configure Investment Assumptions
Set your expected annual investment return and inflation rate. A balanced portfolio historically returns 6-7% annually, while inflation averages around 3%.
- 4
Define Your Retirement Income Needs
Enter your desired monthly income in retirement (in today's dollars), expected Social Security benefits, and any other income sources like pensions or rental income.
- 5
Review Your Retirement Projection
Click "Plan My Retirement" to see your readiness score, portfolio value at retirement, required savings, and a complete year-by-year schedule showing how your money grows and is drawn down.
Retirement Savings Benchmarks by Age
Financial experts suggest the following savings milestones based on your annual salary. These are general guidelines—your actual target depends on your lifestyle, location, and retirement goals.
| Age | Savings Target | Example ($75K Salary) |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 1x salary | $75,000 |
| 35 | 2x salary | $150,000 |
| 40 | 3x salary | $225,000 |
| 45 | 4x salary | $300,000 |
| 50 | 6x salary | $450,000 |
| 55 | 7x salary | $525,000 |
| 60 | 8x salary | $600,000 |
| 67 | 10x salary | $750,000 |
Key Factors in Retirement Planning
Successful retirement planning requires balancing several interconnected variables. Understanding how each factor affects your plan helps you make better decisions.
Time Horizon
The number of years until retirement is your most powerful asset. Starting to save at age 25 instead of 35 can nearly double your retirement portfolio thanks to compound growth. Even small monthly contributions grow dramatically over decades.
Inflation
Inflation is often called the "silent killer" of retirement plans. At 3% annual inflation, the purchasing power of $1 today drops to about $0.41 in 30 years. This means if you need $5,000/month today, you will need approximately $12,136/month in 30 years to maintain the same standard of living. Our planner automatically adjusts all projections for inflation.
Investment Returns
Your portfolio's growth rate significantly impacts how much you need to save. Historically, a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds has returned 6-7% annually after inflation. Higher returns allow smaller contributions, but come with more volatility. Conservative investors should plan with lower return assumptions.
Social Security & Other Income
Social Security replaces roughly 40% of pre-retirement income for average earners. The full retirement age is 67 for those born after 1960. Delaying benefits past 67 increases your monthly payment by about 8% per year up to age 70. Pensions, rental income, and part-time work can further reduce the amount you need from savings.
Why Use Our Retirement Planner?
Full Lifecycle Projection
See your portfolio grow during accumulation and draw down during retirement in a single, unified projection from today through your planned life expectancy.
Inflation-Adjusted Numbers
All withdrawal projections are automatically adjusted for inflation, so you see the real cost of retirement in future dollars—not misleading nominal values.
Year-by-Year Schedule
View a detailed table showing contributions, investment growth, withdrawals, and ending balance for every year from now through retirement.
100% Private & Free
All calculations run entirely in your browser. Your financial data never leaves your device. No registration, no fees, no data collection.