How Long Will My Retirement Savings Last?
Enter your retirement balance and the monthly amount you need from it. The calculator returns the number of years it survives and the maximum you could safely take for 20, 25 or 30 years.
Withdrawal rate decides this, not balance size
Two people with identical balances can have completely different outcomes. What matters is the ratio of what you take to what you have. $500,000 with $1,667 a month (4%) behaves very differently from $500,000 with $2,500 a month (6%) — and the table below shows why that gap dominates every other input.
| Annual withdrawal rate | On $500,000 | Roughly lasts (5% return) |
|---|---|---|
| 3% | $1,250/mo | Indefinitely in most scenarios |
| 4% | $1,667/mo | 30+ years |
| 5% | $2,083/mo | About 25 years |
| 6% | $2,500/mo | About 19 years |
| 8% | $3,333/mo | About 13 years |
Run your own balance above — the "to last 20 / 25 / 30 years" boxes convert this into a concrete monthly spending ceiling.
How the calculator works
Each month the balance earns one month of return, then the withdrawal is taken out. Every 12 months the withdrawal is increased by the inflation rate so your spending power stays level. If you enter a tax rate, each withdrawal is grossed up so the after-tax amount you keep matches the number you typed. The calculator stops when the balance hits zero, or after 100 years if it never does.
The "to last 20 / 25 / 30 years" figures are solved by bisection: the largest starting withdrawal that still survives that horizon under the same return and inflation assumptions.
Making retirement savings last longer without spending less
- Delay Social Security. Every year you wait between 62 and 70 raises the benefit permanently by roughly 7–8%. Bridging two or three years from savings often buys a much larger lifetime income.
- Use flexible withdrawals. Cutting spending around 10% after a bad market year — the "guardrails" approach — historically adds years of portfolio survival with modest lifestyle impact.
- Get the withdrawal order right. Taxable accounts first, then traditional, then Roth is the textbook sequence, and it commonly adds a year or two of after-tax portfolio life.
- Cut investment fees. A 1% annual fee is a 1% lower return in this model. Over a 30-year retirement that is not a rounding error.
Choosing realistic inputs
- Annual return. 4–5% is a conservative planning number for a balanced portfolio; 6–7% is closer to long-run history for 60/40; cash and CDs are 3–5% today but fall when rates fall.
- Inflation. The Federal Reserve targets 2%; the 30-year U.S. average is about 2.5%. Healthcare inflation runs higher, so retirees with large medical costs should test 3–3.5%.
- Withdrawal. Use what you actually spend, minus guaranteed income (Social Security, pension, annuity). That net gap is what savings must cover.
Frequently asked questions
How long will $500,000 in retirement savings last?
At $2,500 a month with 15% tax, 5% returns and 2.5% inflation, roughly 13 years. Drop the withdrawal to $1,667 a month (the 4% rule) and it stretches past 30 years. See the $500k page for the full table.
What is a safe withdrawal rate?
About 4% of the starting balance per year, rising with inflation, is the classic benchmark for a 30-year retirement. For longer horizons or lower expected returns, 3–3.5% is safer. The calculator solves this for your own numbers.
How much do I need to retire?
A rough starting point is 25× your annual spending gap — the amount your savings must cover after Social Security and pensions. If savings must produce $36,000 a year, that suggests around $900,000. Test it above rather than trusting the rule of thumb.
Will my retirement savings last if I retire at 60?
A 60-year-old should plan for a 30–35 year horizon, which pushes the safe withdrawal rate down toward 3–3.5%, and must also fund healthcare privately until Medicare at 65. Both make early retirement meaningfully more demanding than retiring at 67.
Related calculators
SavingsLast calculators are educational estimates. They assume a constant average return and steady inflation; real markets are volatile and sequence-of-returns risk can shorten how long money lasts. Nothing here is financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions.