See how big your nest egg could grow from your current savings and monthly contributions, with a full year-by-year projection, instantly in your browser.
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This retirement calculator projects how large your retirement savings could grow between now and the day you retire. It combines what you have already saved with the money you keep adding each month, then compounds the whole pot at your expected annual rate of return. The result is an estimated nest egg, split into how much you contributed yourself and how much came from investment growth, plus a year-by-year table so you can watch the balance build. Everything runs in your browser, so none of your figures are sent anywhere.
It compounds monthly: your current savings grow as a lump sum, and every monthly contribution is treated as a regular deposit that earns returns from the month it is added. The projection assumes a steady contribution and a constant average return, which is a useful planning estimate rather than a guarantee, since real markets rise and fall from year to year.
Reviewed by the ToolBrainy Team · Calculations run entirely in your browser · Last updated July 2026
Type how old you are now and the age at which you want to stop working. The difference gives you the number of years for your savings to compound. Try both 60 and 65 as a target to see how 5 extra years in the workforce affects the final balance.
Current savings is everything you have saved so far in any retirement or investment account. Monthly contribution is the amount you add each month — include employer match if you have one. Annual return is your expected average rate: use 5–6% for a conservative estimate, 7–8% for a balanced portfolio, or higher if you invest aggressively.
The headline shows your projected nest egg at retirement. The two stats below split it into how much you personally contributed versus how much came from investment returns — on long timescales, growth often far exceeds contributions, which is the power of compounding. The table shows the balance at every age so you can track progress checkpoints.
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See contributions and growth build at every age.
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Age 25, $5,000 saved, $300/month contribution, 7% return, retiring at 65. Projected nest egg: over $980,000. Most of that growth comes from investment returns, not contributions — total contributions would be around $149,000. Starting at 25 vs 35 with the same inputs would roughly halve the final balance.
At 45 with $80,000 saved, targeting retirement at 65. Enter different monthly contributions — $500, $1,000, $1,500 — to see what final balance each produces at 7%. This helps identify the contribution level needed to reach a specific target and whether closing the gap is realistic on your current income.
If your employer matches contributions up to 3% of your salary, and you earn $60,000, that is $1,800 a year — $150 a month effectively added for free. Include this in your monthly contribution figure to see the full picture. Employer matching is one of the highest-return actions available in retirement planning.
Run the same inputs at 5%, 7%, and 9% to see how sensitive your final balance is to investment performance. The difference between 5% and 7% over 30 years is often hundreds of thousands of dollars — which helps justify keeping a diversified equity allocation rather than moving entirely into cash as you age.
Compare retiring at 55 versus 65 with the same inputs. The result shows not just the smaller balance from 10 fewer years of compounding, but also that 10 fewer years of contributions compounds the gap significantly. Useful for evaluating whether FIRE-style early retirement is achievable given your current savings rate.
Each year, update current savings with your actual balance and re-run the projection. Compare where the calculator says you should be against the year-by-year table from your original plan. This turns the tool into a lightweight retirement tracker — no spreadsheet required.
The calculator uses monthly compounding. Your current savings grow as a lump sum: balance × (1 + monthly rate) for each month. Every monthly contribution is added to the balance before compounding that month, so each deposit starts earning returns immediately. After the total number of months until retirement, the result is your projected nest egg, split into contributions (everything you added) and growth (everything earned from returns).
It depends on how your money is invested. A global stock index fund has historically averaged 7–10% annually before inflation over long periods, though individual years vary widely. A balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds typically averages 5–7%. Cash and fixed deposits often return 2–4%. Use 5–6% for a conservative estimate, 7% for a moderate one, and 8–9% if you invest aggressively. Run the same numbers at multiple rates to see the realistic spread of outcomes.
No. The projection shows the nominal future balance — the raw number, not adjusted for inflation or tax. To estimate real purchasing power, a rough rule is that 2–3% annual inflation roughly halves purchasing power over 25–30 years. For a more conservative plan, use a return rate that is 2–3% lower than your expected gross return to approximate an inflation-adjusted result.
A common rule of thumb is the 4% withdrawal rule: at retirement, you can sustainably withdraw about 4% of your nest egg per year. To generate $40,000 a year in retirement income, you would need $1,000,000 saved. Work out your target retirement income, divide by 0.04, and that is the nest egg size to aim for. Enter that target and work backwards by adjusting the monthly contribution until the projection matches it.
Compounding rewards time disproportionately. At 7% return, $10,000 doubles roughly every 10 years: $10,000 at 25 becomes $80,000 by 65; the same $10,000 invested at 35 becomes only $40,000. The same effect applies to ongoing contributions. Starting a decade earlier at the same monthly amount can more than double the final balance — which is why small contributions in your twenties often matter more than large ones in your fifties.
Yes — completely free, no account required, and no financial data is sent to any server. All calculations run locally in your browser.
No. The Retirement Calculator runs entirely in your web browser, so there is nothing to download or install — just open the page and enter your figures.
Yes. The tool works in any modern mobile browser, so you can project your retirement savings on your phone or tablet the same way you would on a desktop.