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Retirement Savings Goal Calculator

The nest egg you need and the monthly saving to get there — sized from the income you want in retirement, not a generic round number.

Written by Dorothy Ibrahim, 10+ years in banking & finance

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How we calculate this

This calculator sizes the nest egg you need for retirement from the one thing that actually matters — how much you want to spend each year once you stop working — and then works out the level monthly saving to reach it. It turns your target spending into a nest-egg figure using a safe withdrawal rate, grows your current balance forward at your expected return, and solves the future-value-of-an-annuity for the monthly amount that closes the remaining gap. Enter your spending, current savings, horizon, return, and withdrawal rate to see the target and the monthly number.

The formulas
Nest-egg target
annual retirement spending ÷ safe withdrawal rateA 4% withdrawal rate is the same as a 25× target ($60,000 → $1,500,000).
Future value of current savings
current savings × (1 + return)^years
Monthly saving needed
gap × monthly rate ÷ ((1 + monthly rate)^months − 1)The future-value-of-an-annuity solved for the payment; if current savings already clear the target, this is zero.
Worked example
  1. With the defaults — $60,000 annual retirement spending at a 4% safe withdrawal rate — the nest-egg target is $60,000 ÷ 0.04 = $1,500,000 (25× spending).
  2. The $50,000 saved today grows at 6% for 25 years to about $214,594, leaving a future-value gap of roughly $1,285,406 to close.
  3. Solving the annuity for a 6% return over 25 years (300 months) gives a required saving of about $1,855 per month.
Rates, benchmarks & sources

Figures current as of 2026-07-02. See our methodology & editorial standards for how constants are versioned and verified.

What this tool doesn’t model
  • It assumes a constant annual return and steady monthly contributions; real markets do not move in a straight line, so revisit the plan periodically.
  • It works cleanest in real (after-inflation) terms — spending in today’s dollars and a real return — and does not separately model inflation, taxes, or Social Security.
  • The safe withdrawal rate is a planning heuristic from historical data, not a guarantee your money will last exactly through retirement.
  • It is an educational estimate, not financial advice — for a plan tailored to your situation, talk to a fee-only advisor.

Frequently asked questions

How much do I need to retire?

A common rule of thumb is that your nest egg should be about 25× your annual retirement spending, which corresponds to a 4% safe withdrawal rate. This calculator turns the spending you enter into that target, then works out the monthly saving needed to reach it given your current balance, time horizon, and expected return.

What is a safe withdrawal rate?

It is the percentage of your nest egg you can withdraw in the first year of retirement (adjusting for inflation thereafter) with a low risk of running out. The classic figure is 4%, which implies a 25× target. A lower rate is more conservative and requires a larger nest egg, so this tool lets you set the rate yourself.

Why does this matter more for freelancers?

Freelancers have no employer pension and no automatic workplace 401(k), so the entire retirement burden is self-directed. On the upside, self-employed shelters like a Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA allow much larger tax-advantaged contributions than a typical employee plan — use them to hit the monthly number this tool gives you.

Should I use a real or nominal return?

This tool works cleanest if you enter spending in today’s dollars and use a real (after-inflation) return, commonly 5–7%. That keeps the target in today’s dollars too, which is far easier to reason about. If you prefer nominal figures, inflate your spending target accordingly.

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