Retirement Income Calculator
See how long your portfolio lasts, how much you can withdraw each year, and where Social Security fits in.
Your details
Other income
Assumptions
This calculator runs entirely on your device. Nothing you enter is uploaded, stored, or sold. How this works
Portfolio lasts until age 97
32 years
Starting withdrawal $90,909 (7.58% of the portfolio)
Includes your inputs, the full breakdown, and every row of the table.
First-year withdrawal
$90,909
Gross, before taxes
Initial withdrawal rate
7.58%
Above the 4% guideline
4% rule income
$78,000
Portfolio + Social Security + pension
Guaranteed income
$30,000
37.5% of spending
What this means
- You have a 2-year gap before Social Security begins, and the portfolio carries the entire spending load during it. That bridge period is when sequence-of-returns risk does the most damage.
- This model assumes a constant return every year. Real markets do not cooperate — a bad first decade with the same average return can shorten portfolio life considerably.
How the retirement income calculation works
Retirement income planning is the reverse of accumulation. Instead of asking how big a balance will grow, you ask how long a balance survives a rising withdrawal against uncertain returns. Three inputs dominate: the initial withdrawal rate, inflation, and how much guaranteed income you have from Social Security or a pension.
Guaranteed income is worth more than its dollar amount suggests, because it is the part of your spending that markets cannot touch. The larger the share of your budget covered by Social Security and pensions, the more volatility your portfolio can safely absorb.
Frequently asked questions
What is sequence-of-returns risk?
The risk that poor returns arrive early in retirement, while withdrawals are shrinking the balance. Two retirees with identical average returns can end up in very different places depending on the order those returns arrived.
Should I delay Social Security to reduce portfolio strain?
Often yes. Spending portfolio assets from 65 to 70 to buy a permanently higher, inflation-adjusted benefit converts market risk into guaranteed income — particularly valuable for the higher earner in a couple, since it also raises the survivor benefit.
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Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for general information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and the assumptions described above. Confirm any figure with a qualified professional before acting on it.