Your retirement plan
How this calculator works
Retirement planning is a balancing act between three numbers: how much you already have, how much you can save each month, and how much you want to have when you stop working. This tool lets you approach it from either direction.
In Goal → monthly mode, you state a target amount and the tool solves for the monthly contribution required to reach it, starting from your current savings. In Monthly → final mode, you enter your monthly contribution and the tool projects how much you will have at retirement.
The math
Both modes use the same core formulas. Your current savings grow by a monthly compounding factor (1 + r/12)12t, where r is the annual return and t is the number of years to retirement. Monthly contributions build up as an ordinary annuity:
The reverse mode simply rearranges this to solve for M, the monthly contribution, after subtracting the future value of your current savings from the goal.
Using the results
Enter your current age, retirement age, expected annual return, and current savings. The chart plots your projected balance (green) against your total invested (grey), so you can see how much of your final nest egg comes from growth rather than deposits. A realistic long-term return assumption matters a great deal — small differences compound into large ones over decades.
Explore more tools
- Compound interest calculator — the main future-value tool.
- Compounding frequency comparison — annual vs daily compounding.
- Inflation calculator — your money's real purchasing power.