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Will my savings last through retirement?
Annual contribution: $6,000
$900,
This week: find your actual contribution rate on your latest pay stub or retirement account.
Fig. 1. Projected balance by age, with the return held constant. Real markets vary year to year. Educational estimate, not financial advice.
$260,463
Projected balance
$900,527
Final balance
Written by Elizabeth Stein
The lab grows your desired yearly income by inflation to your retirement date, subtracts the Social Security and other income you enter, and divides what is left by 4%. That is the same as 25 times the yearly amount your savings must cover. If savings must cover $40,000 a year, the target is $1,000,000. It is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee.
Returns are a constant rate before taxes and fees, while real markets vary year to year. Social Security and other income count only if you enter them, so a result that looks short may be closer once they are in. Treat the output as one scenario.
Use a sample, not a promise. The lab opens at a hypothetical 7%. Run a lower rate and a higher one and read the range: the spread between them is the honest answer, and it shows how much your plan depends on a rate nobody can know.