Use Me Calc
English (US)

Retirement calculator

Find the earliest age you can retire and your FIRE number, with inflation, housing and pensions.

Tabnext field ⌘Ksearch

Not counting rent or a mortgage; enter those under Advanced.

Reference: National average, average household spending is $77,907 a year

Source and notes

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2023–24 average

Official sources publish the mean, not the median. The mean is pulled up by high-spending households, so a typical household usually spends less. It covers all ages, including rent, mortgages and children, and retired households usually spend less. Figures for a single city come from small samples and move around from year to year, so treat them as a rough guide.

Advanced: returns, inflation, housing, pension, withdrawal rate

Earliest age

63

Retiring at 60, your money runs out around age 83

Savings at retirement (today’s money)

$857.6K

FIRE number (yearly spending ÷ withdrawal rate)

$1.3M

Every amount is in today’s money (inflation already removed). Returns (nominal; inflation is deducted separately) and inflation are assumptions; real ones change every year.

Year-by-year savings
AgeSavings at start of year
35 · Saving$100,000
36 · Saving$120,941
37 · Saving$142,498
38 · Saving$164,689
39 · Saving$187,533
40 · Saving$211,049
41 · Saving$235,256
42 · Saving$260,176
43 · Saving$285,828
44 · Saving$312,234
45 · Saving$339,418
46 · Saving$367,401
47 · Saving$396,207
48 · Saving$425,860
49 · Saving$456,385
50 · Saving$487,808
51 · Saving$520,155
52 · Saving$553,454
53 · Saving$587,732
54 · Saving$623,018
55 · Saving$659,342
56 · Saving$696,735
57 · Saving$735,227
58 · Saving$774,851
59 · Saving$815,641
60 · Retired$857,631
61 · Retired$831,384
62 · Retired$804,366
63 · Retired$776,554
64 · Retired$747,923
65 · Retired$718,450
66 · Retired$688,110
67 · Retired$656,878
68 · Retired$624,728
69 · Retired$591,631
70 · Retired$557,562
71 · Retired$522,490
72 · Retired$486,387
73 · Retired$449,222
74 · Retired$410,963
75 · Retired$371,580
76 · Retired$331,038
77 · Retired$289,304
78 · Retired$246,342
79 · Retired$202,117
80 · Retired$156,591
81 · Retired$109,726
82 · Retired$61,483
83 · Retired$11,821

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded.

How to use

  1. Pick a city or region (the default is the United States). The page shows average yearly household spending there; press “Use this number” to start from it, then adjust.
  2. Enter your age, the age you want to retire and the age you plan to live to. Plan a few years longer than you expect.
  3. Enter your savings, your monthly contribution and your yearly spending in retirement, not counting rent or a mortgage.
  4. Open the advanced settings to change the return and inflation, choose housing in retirement (own, rent or still paying a mortgage), and add expected pension income.

The result at the top is the earliest retirement age: the first age, trying one year at a time from now, where your savings last to the age you plan for. Below it you will see your savings at the retirement age you chose, the 4% rule number and a year-by-year table.

How it works

Everything is in today’s money. Real return = (1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation) − 1.

  • Before retiring: at the end of each year you add monthly contribution × 12 (it rises with inflation, so it is constant in today’s money), and the balance grows for a year.
  • In retirement: at the start of each year you take out that year’s spending, and the rest grows. Spending = living costs + rent + mortgage (while it lasts) − pension (from the age it starts).
  • Mortgage: the payment is fixed, so inflation makes it lighter in real terms until it ends.
  • FIRE number: (living costs + rent) ÷ withdrawal rate, 4% by default, without the mortgage or pension. If you enter a pension, a second figure shows the number after pension income.

Example: age 35, $100,000 saved, $1,500 a month, retiring at 60, planning to 90, spending $50,000 a year, 5% return and 2% inflation. The real return is about 2.94%, and savings at 60 come to about $858,000 in today’s money, short of the $1.25 million 4% rule number.

Limits

  • Returns and inflation are assumptions. A market drop in the first years of retirement (sequence-of-returns risk) can change the result a lot.
  • Taxes and large medical or long-term-care costs are not included.
  • The default spending reference is an average across all ages, not retired households.

FAQ

What is the 4% rule?

A common rule of thumb says you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then adjust that amount for inflation each year, and the money should last about 30 years. Your FIRE number is therefore yearly spending ÷ 4%, or 25 times your spending. The rule comes from historical U.S. market data. If you retire early and need the money for 40 or 50 years, a lower rate is safer, so this tool also simulates your savings year by year.

Why is everything in today's money?

A dollar in 30 years buys less than a dollar today. The calculator takes inflation out of the return, so every figure is in today's purchasing power and you can compare it directly with what you spend now.

What return and inflation should I use?

These are the biggest unknowns. The defaults, a 5% return and 2% inflation, are examples, not forecasts. Try a cautious case (3% return) and an optimistic one (7%). If the cautious case still works, you can be more confident.

Does this include Social Security?

Not automatically. Use your Social Security statement at ssa.gov to estimate your benefit, then enter it as monthly pension income with the age you plan to claim. The tool subtracts it from what you need to withdraw from savings from that age.

Where do the average spending figures come from?

The U.S. figures are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey: average yearly spending per household across all ages, including rent, mortgages and children. Retired households usually spend less, so use it as a reference only.

How accurate is this?

It is an estimate. It does not include taxes, big medical or long-term-care bills, year-to-year market swings or the chance you live longer than planned. Treat the result as a direction, and check with a professional before big decisions.

Sources

Last updated：

Results are for reference only. Check official sources for exact figures.

Related tools