The Dime Daily

Retirement Calculator

By The Dime Daily Editorial Team · Published June 2025

Project your retirement nest egg from your current savings, monthly contributions, employer match, and target age. Results update instantly as you type.

Skip the fluff — TL;DR

A 32-year-old with $45,000 saved, contributing $800/month (plus a $200 employer match) at 7% average annual return will have roughly $1.9 million by age 65 — enough to support $76,000/year in retirement spending using the 4% rule.

6–7% is a common planning assumption.

How this calculator works

The calculator uses a standard future-value formula: your current savings compound at the chosen annual return, and your monthly contributions (your amount plus employer match — the portion your employer adds to your retirement account, typically matching a percentage of what you contribute) are added each month and also compound. The result is your projected balance at retirement age.

The "4% rule" then divides your nest egg by 25 to estimate sustainable annual spending. This is based on research showing that a diversified portfolio can sustain 4% annual withdrawals (adjusted for inflation) for 30+ years with high historical reliability.

The compounding gap — why starting early matters so much

Start ageMonthly contributionBalance at 65 (7%)
22$300/mo$1,018,000
30$300/mo$567,000
40$600/mo$505,000
40$900/mo$758,000

The 22-year-old investing $300/month ends up with more than the 40-year-old investing $900/month. Time is the variable no amount of money can fully replace.

💰 Dime's Take

The retirement calculator always tells the same story: time and consistency beat a large starting balance. Starting at 25 with $200/month is dramatically better than starting at 40 with $600/month, even though the 40-year-old is contributing three times as much. The numbers don't lie — start now, automate it, and let compounding do the work.

Frequently asked questions

The most widely used benchmark is 25x your desired annual spending in retirement — derived from the '4% rule,' which says a diversified portfolio can sustain withdrawals of 4% annually for 30+ years. If you want $60,000/year in retirement, you need $1,500,000. This is a planning heuristic, not a guarantee. Factors like Social Security income, healthcare costs, and longevity all adjust the number.

An employer match is free money added to your 401(k) by your employer, typically as a percentage of your own contributions (e.g., '100% match up to 6% of salary'). It absolutely counts toward your retirement savings — it's part of your total monthly contribution. Always contribute at least enough to capture the full employer match before any other investing priority. Leaving it on the table is the closest thing to turning down a guaranteed 50–100% return.

A common planning assumption is 6–7% annually for a diversified stock/bond portfolio, after adjusting for inflation. This is conservative relative to historical US stock market returns (~10% nominal) but realistic for a balanced portfolio over a full retirement horizon. Use 5% if you want a conservative estimate, 7% for moderate, and nothing above 9% without a very specific rationale.

The 4% rule is a retirement spending guideline from the 'Trinity Study' (1998). It states that a retiree can withdraw 4% of their portfolio value in year one, then adjust for inflation each year, and the portfolio has a high probability of lasting 30 years. At a 4% withdrawal rate, you need 25x your annual spending saved. The rule is a starting point — not a guarantee — and works best for 30-year retirements. Longer retirements may require a 3–3.5% withdrawal rate.
Get My Free Guide