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Wealth Preservation Analysis

Retirement Calculator

Determine your "Retirement Alpha". Analyze the gap between your current trajectory and your post-employment lifestyle goals.

Accumulation Profile

Growth Focus

Retirement Horizon

Include estimated Social Security, pensions, or rental income.

Life Stage Planning

Engineering Your
Financial Exit

Retirement is not an age; it's a number. Whether you're aiming for traditional retirement or the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, success depends on managing three variables: Burn Rate, Growth Rate, and Time.

The Nest Egg Target

Our calculator determines your "Lump Sum" goal—the amount required at age 65 to sustain your lifestyle until age 90, accounting for inflation and a more conservative post-retirement portfolio.

Sequence Risk

A market crash just before or after you retire can be devastating. We model different return rates for your "Accumulation" and "Distribution" phases to reflect a shift toward safer, income-producing assets.

Purchasing Power

$5,000 a month today won't buy $5,000 worth of goods in 30 years. Our model uses a projected inflation rate (historically 3%) to show you what you'll actually need to maintain your standard of living.

The 4% Rule: Is it Still Relevant?

The Trinity Study famously suggested that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement (adjusted for inflation thereafter) and have a high probability of your money lasting 30 years.

While a good rule of thumb, modern planners often suggest 3.3% - 3.5% given current market volatility and longer life expectancies. Our calculator helps you test these different withdrawal percentages against your goal.

Social Security: The Foundation

For the average American, Social Security provides roughly 30% to 40% of their retirement income.

  • Age 62: The earliest you can claim, but your benefit is permanently reduced by up to 30%.
  • Age 67: Full Retirement Age (FRA) for those born after 1960. You get 100% of your primary insurance amount.
  • Age 70: The maximum delay. Your benefit increases by roughly 8% for every year you wait past FRA.

Retirement Savings Benchmarks:

  • • By Age 30: 1x your annual salary saved.
  • • By Age 40: 3x your annual salary saved.
  • • By Age 50: 6x your annual salary saved.
  • • By Age 67: 10x your annual salary saved.

How to Close a Savings Gap

If our calculator shows a shortfall, you have four primary "levers" to pull:

  1. Retire Later: Every extra year of work is one less year of withdrawal and one more year of compounding.
  2. Save More: Increasing your savings rate by even 1% or 2% can have a massive impact over 20 years.
  3. Reduce Expenses: Lowering your "Income Need" in retirement significantly reduces the required Nest Egg.
  4. Adjust Allocation: Moving to slightly higher-growth assets (if your risk tolerance allows) can close the gap, though this increases Sequence Risk.

The Role of Healthcare

One of the most underestimated costs in retirement is healthcare. Fidelity estimates a couple retiring today will need $315,000 just for medical expenses. If you are retiring before age 65 (Medicare eligibility), ensure you have a robust plan for private insurance premiums.

Roth vs. Traditional: Tax Strategy

Traditional IRAs/401ks give you a tax break today but are taxed as ordinary income when you withdraw. Roth accounts are funded with after-tax dollars but grow and withdraw 100% tax-free. A mix of both allows for maximum "Tax Diversification" in retirement.