How Long Will My Money Last Calculator

Subtract each withdrawal from the balance, let the rest earn the return, and repeat until the balance cannot cover a withdrawal. For level withdrawals the answer has a formula: n = -ln(1 - PV x i / R) / ln(1 + i), with i the monthly return, PV the savings and R the withdrawal. $500,000 at $4,000 a month and 5% lasts 14.5 years.

For a level monthly withdrawal R from savings PV earning a monthly return i, the number of months is n = -ln(1 - PV x i / R) / ln(1 + i), valid when PV x i is less than R. It comes from the present value of an annuity, PV = R x [1 − (1 + i)⁻ⁿ] / i. With withdrawals that rise each year there is no single formula, so the calculator steps month by month.

It depends on spending, return and inflation. At $4,000 a month, a 5% return and no yearly increase it lasts 14.5 years. At $3,000 a month with withdrawals rising 3% a year it lasts 16.4 years. Enter your own figures to see your case.

At $4,000 a month, a 5% return and withdrawals rising 3% a year, $750,000 lasts 18.9 years, so it runs out around age 81. With other income, such as Social Security starting later, it lasts longer. Set your age in the calculator to see the depletion age.

At $5,000 a month, a 5% return and withdrawals rising 3% a year, $1,000,000 lasts 20.4 years. At $4,000 a month it lasts 27.1 years. At $3,000 a month with no yearly increase it never runs out, because the 5% return exceeds the withdrawals.

Retirements often run 25 to 30 years, so the question is what withdrawal that supports. A sum that must last 30 years with withdrawals rising 3% a year at a 5% return allows a first-month withdrawal of about $1,851, which is 4.44% of the balance in the first year.

Only for a small income. At a 5% return the interest is $17,500 a year, about $1,458 a month, before tax, and it leaves the $350,000 intact. Spending more than that draws down the balance. The calculator shows how long a larger withdrawal lasts.

For $1,000,000 earning 5%, a level withdrawal of about $5,279 a month empties it in 30 years, while a withdrawal that rises 3% a year starts lower at $3,702. Use the sustainable withdrawal mode: enter the balance, return, years and increase.

A guideline from William Bengen's 1994 research: withdraw 4 percent of the portfolio in the first year, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation each year. He found that this did not run out in any 30-year period of US history from 1926, for portfolios of stocks and bonds. It is a starting point, not a guarantee.

It describes what happened in historical US data over 30-year periods, and later work has tested it. Studies of other countries found lower safe rates, retirements longer than 30 years may need rates nearer 3 percent, and Bengen himself later raised his figure. Treat it as a reference point and test your own plan in the calculator.

No rate is safe in every case. Four percent of the starting balance, rising with inflation, did not fail in historical 30-year US tests, but longer retirements, lower expected returns and poor early market years all push the safe rate down. The calculator shows your first-year rate so you can compare it with 4 percent.

Enter a yearly increase for the withdrawal. If you spend $3,000 a month today and expect costs to rise 3% a year, enter 3. On $500,000 at 5% that cuts the time from 23.1 years with level withdrawals to 16.4 years. The inflation table shows the effect.

Use a number you could defend for your own mix of investments, and test a lower one too. The return table shows the effect: on $500,000 with $3,000 a month rising 3%, a 3% return lasts 14.1 years and a 7% return lasts 20.1 years. The calculator treats the return as steady every year.

Because the balance is both growing and being drawn down, a lower return shrinks the growth that offsets withdrawals, and the gap compounds over decades. Near the point where withdrawals roughly equal growth, a one percentage point change can turn a lifetime income into one that runs out. Test a few returns around your estimate.

The calculator does not take out tax, so if your withdrawals are taxable the money lasts less than shown. The simple fix is to add the tax to the withdrawal: if you need $3,000 after tax and your tax is 15 percent, withdraw about $3,529. Savings in tax-free accounts need no adjustment.

Other income covers part of your spending, so you take less from savings. On $500,000 with $4,000 a month of spending, adding $2,000 of other income cuts the monthly draw to $2,000 and extends the time from 11.8 to 27.1 years in the example. Enter it in the other income box.

It is your current age plus the number of years the money lasts. A 65 year old whose savings last 16.4 years has a depletion age of about 81.4. Enter your age in the calculator to see it. If the money lasts the full 100 years the calculator modeled, no depletion age is shown.

Then the balance grows or stays level and never runs out. For example, $1,000,000 at a 5% return earns about $4,074 a month, so level withdrawals of $3,000 are covered and the balance keeps growing. The calculator reports that the money lasts the full 100 years it models.

The simulation stops at 100 years, long enough for any retirement. If the balance is still positive then, it reports that the money lasts at least that long rather than a precise age. This happens when withdrawals are below the returns and below the yearly increase in costs.

It is your first-year withdrawals from savings as a percent of the starting balance. Withdrawing $3,000 a month from $500,000 is $36,000 a year, a 7.2% rate. The calculator shows it so you can compare with the 4% rule. A higher rate lasts a shorter time, other things equal.

Spend less, find other income, or accept more return risk. On $500,000 at a 5% return with a 3% yearly increase, withdrawing $2,500 instead of $3,000 a month extends the time from 16.4 to 20.4 years. The levers table compares the options.

Choose the sustainable withdrawal mode, then enter the balance, return, number of years and yearly increase. The calculator finds the largest first-month withdrawal that leaves exactly zero at the end. It is a ceiling, not a recommendation, because a bad market could make it run out sooner.

Not separately. Subtract your fees from the return you enter. If your investments earn 6% before a 1% fee, enter 5%. Fees compound against you over decades, so test a net return that matches what you actually keep, not the headline return.

At the start of each month, before the remaining balance grows for that month. This is the conservative convention for monthly income, and it gives slightly shorter times than withdrawals at month end. The calculator converts the annual return to an exact monthly rate so a year grows by precisely the return you enter.

No. It is a projection from steady assumptions. Real markets are uneven, and a poor start to retirement can shorten the time even when the average return matches. Treat the result as a way to compare plans, and revisit it each year with your actual balance.

It is the risk that poor returns come early in retirement, when withdrawals take a large share of the balance. Two plans with the same average return can end very differently depending on the order of returns. This calculator uses a constant return, so it cannot show that risk. Test lower returns as a stand-in.

Yes, as a projection of withdrawals from any pool of savings. Enter the balance, the amount you plan to withdraw, your expected return and a yearly increase. Remember that withdrawals from pre-tax accounts are taxable, so enter the withdrawal before tax and consider adding the tax to it.

The inflation input handles it. With $750,000, $4,000 a month and a 5% return, level withdrawals last 29.3 years, but withdrawals rising 3% a year last 18.9 years. Use the rate you expect for your own costs, since a small difference in the yearly increase changes the answer noticeably.

Enter the yearly rise in cost you expect for your own spending. A figure around the long-run inflation rate is a common choice, and some people use a lower figure for the later years because spending can fall with age. The increase table shows how sensitive the result is.

It takes a monthly withdrawal. If you plan to withdraw once a year, divide the yearly amount by 12 for an approximate answer, which is slightly conservative because the money in the account earns a little less than if you took it later in the year. A $20,000 annual withdrawal is about $1,667 a month.

The arithmetic is exact for the assumptions, and the level-withdrawal case matches the standard annuity formula. The assumptions are the limit: a steady return, a steady increase and no taxes or fees. Use it to compare plans and to find out roughly how sensitive your plan is.

It does not model taxes, fees, market ups and downs, changing spending, one-off expenses, health costs or the risk of living longer than planned. It treats the return and the yearly increase as steady. It is a planning aid, not financial advice.

Pick how long the money lasts, or how much you can withdraw. Enter your savings, monthly spending, expected return, yearly increase, any other income and your age. The results show how long the money lasts, the age it runs out, the withdrawal rate and the total taken out.