Projected Nest Egg
$350,326.58
Retirement Savings Analysis
Check whether your current savings rate will meet your retirement income goal.
Sustainable Annual Income
$22,425.09
Desired Income
$40,000.00
Surplus / (Gap)
-$17,574.91
You may fall short of your goal — consider increasing monthly savings.
How to use the Retirement Savings Analysis
The Retirement Savings Analysis is free and runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your device. It opens pre-filled with a realistic example, so you can see how it works before replacing any figure with your own; the results update as you type. Press Calculate to refresh the result panel, or Reset to return to the example.
The inputs it asks for:
- Current Savings — a dollar amount.
- Monthly Savings — a dollar amount.
- Years to Retirement — a number.
- Expected Return (Pre-Retirement) — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
- Desired Annual Income — a dollar amount.
- Withdrawal Years — a number.
- Expected Return (Retirement) — a percentage (enter 6 for 6%).
The formula
It grows your savings to retirement, then converts that nest egg into the level annual income it can sustain across your withdrawal years — the payment that draws the balance to zero while it keeps earning your retirement-phase return — and compares it to your goal:
Nest egg = Savings·(1 + r)ⁿ + PMT·((1 + r)ⁿ − 1)/r
Sustainable income = Nest egg · wr / (1 − (1 + wr)⁻ʸ)- r, n, PMT
- the monthly return, months to retirement, and monthly saving
- wr, y
- the retirement-phase annual return and the number of withdrawal years
It uses two different returns — one while saving, a usually lower one while drawing down. The sustainable income empties the balance exactly over your withdrawal years, so outliving that horizon is the risk; a lower withdrawal return gives a safer, smaller figure.
Worked example
Using the example values — Current Savings $50,000.00, Monthly Savings $400.00, Years to Retirement 20, Expected Return (Pre-Retirement) 6%, Desired Annual Income $40,000.00, Withdrawal Years 25, and 1 more — the Retirement Savings Analysis returns a Sustainable Annual Income of $22,425.09. It also reports Projected Nest Egg ($350,326.58), Desired Income ($40,000.00), Surplus / (Gap) (-$17,574.91).
Prefer your own numbers? Change any field above and this recomputes instantly.
Key terms
- Accumulation vs decumulation
- The saving phase vs the spending-down phase of retirement.
- Sustainable income
- The annual withdrawal that exhausts the balance over the planned years.
- Nest egg
- Projected savings at the moment you retire.
Frequently asked questions
Why two different return rates?
Portfolios are usually shifted toward safer, lower-returning assets in retirement, so the withdrawal-phase return is typically lower than the accumulation return. Using one rate for both would overstate income.
Does it leave a cushion?
No — it draws the balance to zero over your withdrawal years. To guard against a long life or bad markets, target income below the sustainable figure.
What if I fall short?
Save more monthly, retire later, or trim the income goal. Small increases early compound most; the shortfall note flags when your rate won't meet the target.