Retirement Savings Calculator
Retirement math is really just compound interest over a long runway, plus regular contributions. Fill in your current numbers to see a projection of what you could have by the time you retire.
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How It Works
This projection combines two things: your current balance growing on its own with compound interest, and a stream of future monthly contributions that also compound until retirement. The formula is the future value of a present sum plus the future value of a monthly annuity, both using your expected monthly return rate.
Small changes compound dramatically over decades — increasing your monthly contribution by even a modest amount in your 20s or 30s can outweigh a much larger increase started in your 50s, simply because the earlier money has more time to grow.
Worked Example
A 30-year-old with $15,000 already saved, contributing $400/month until retiring at 65, at a 7% expected annual return, ends up with a projected balance of roughly $893,000. Of that, only about $183,000 came from actual contributions — the remaining $710,000 or so is investment growth compounding over 35 years. Start the same plan 10 years later, at age 40, and the projected balance falls to around $410,000 despite contributing nearly as much in total — a stark example of why retirement calculators consistently emphasize starting age over contribution size.