Roth IRA Withdrawal Calculator

A Roth IRA is the only major account where the number on the statement is the number you can spend. No tax on qualified withdrawals, no required minimum distributions, and nothing added to the income that makes your Social Security taxable.

Why the tax field stays at zero

Qualified Roth withdrawals are not taxable income, so there is no gross-up. That makes a Roth dollar worth meaningfully more than a traditional dollar — a $400,000 Roth is comparable to roughly $500,000 in a traditional IRA for someone in the 22% bracket. It is also why a Roth is usually the last account you should spend.

The two five-year rules

• For earnings to be tax free, you must be 59½ or older and have held any Roth IRA for at least five tax years. The clock starts on 1 January of the year of your first contribution and never restarts, even if you close and reopen accounts.
• For each conversion, a separate five-year clock applies before the converted amount can be withdrawn penalty free if you are under 59½. Converting at 57 means waiting until 62 to touch that particular slice without penalty.

The withdrawal ordering rules

The IRS treats Roth withdrawals as coming out in a fixed order, which is unusually favourable:

1. Your direct contributions — always tax and penalty free, at any age, for any reason.
2. Converted amounts — oldest first, tax free, penalty free after their own five years or after 59½.
3. Earnings — last out, tax free only if the account is qualified.

Because contributions come out first, a Roth doubles as an emergency fund in a way no other retirement account does.

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.

No required minimum distributions

Roth IRAs have never had RMDs for the original owner, and since 2024 Roth 401(k)s do not either. That means a Roth can be left untouched to compound for as long as you like, which makes it the natural account to spend last and to leave to heirs — they get ten years of tax-free growth before they must empty it.

Where the Roth fits in the drawdown order

The textbook sequence is taxable brokerage first, then traditional, then Roth. The refinement that matters more: use the low-income years before Social Security and required distributions to withdraw from traditional accounts or convert them, filling the lower brackets deliberately. Then let the Roth carry the years when a large withdrawal would otherwise push you over an Social Security taxation or Medicare premium threshold — a Roth withdrawal crosses neither.

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.

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.