How long will my money last?
Put in what you have, what you spend and when Social Security starts. You get the age your savings run out, and every year on the way there.
Drawing $55,000 a year from $600,000 at 65, your money
runs out at 89
From 67, the guaranteed income of $24,000 a year means the savings pay $31,000 a year. It pays 24 years in full. From 89, the $24,000 a year of guaranteed income is all that comes in, leaving $31,000 a year of spending uncovered ($6,714 in the first of those years).
At 3% a year above inflation, every year the same. Withdrawals come out at the start of each year, before that year's growth.
Show the year-by-year numbers
| Age | Savings at the start | Guaranteed income | Taken from savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | $600,000 | $0 | $55,000 |
| 66 | $561,350 | $0 | $55,000 |
| 67 | $521,541 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 68 | $505,257 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 69 | $488,484 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 70 | $471,209 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 71 | $453,415 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 72 | $435,088 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 73 | $416,210 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 74 | $396,767 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 75 | $376,740 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 76 | $356,112 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 77 | $334,865 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 78 | $312,981 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 79 | $290,441 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 80 | $267,224 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 81 | $243,310 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 82 | $218,680 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 83 | $193,310 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 84 | $167,179 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 85 | $140,265 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 86 | $112,543 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 87 | $83,989 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 88 | $54,579 | $24,000 | $31,000 |
| 89 | $24,286 | $24,000 | $24,286 ($6,714 short) |
Tax on withdrawals, uneven returns, and spending that changes with age are not modeled. The link carries your figures after the #, so you can save or share it. Your figures are not sent to us.
What moves the answer most
Start from the example above: $600,000 at 65, spending $55,000 a year, $24,000 a year of Social Security from 67, at 3% above inflation. The money lasts to 89.
Spend $5,000 a year less and it lasts to 97. Earn 1% instead of 3% and it lasts to 84. Spending is the input you control, and it usually moves the answer as much as the return you hope for.
The years before Social Security cost the most
Until guaranteed income starts, savings pay all of the spending. Once it starts, they pay only the part it does not cover. So a later Social Security claim means a few expensive years first and a bigger check for the rest of your life.
Whether waiting pays off depends on how long you live. The Social Security break-even calculator gives the age at which a later claim catches up.
Questions people ask
- How long will my money last in retirement?
- It depends on four things: how much you have, how much you take out each year, what the money earns above inflation, and when guaranteed income such as Social Security starts covering part of the spending. The calculator above works it through year by year and gives the age the savings run out.
- Is it in today's money?
- Yes. Spending, savings and income are all in today's dollars, and the return is the return above inflation. A result of $100,000 at 85 means $100,000 of today's buying power, not a nominal balance that inflation has quietly shrunk.
- Why does the order of withdrawals matter?
- The calculator takes each year's withdrawal at the start of the year and lets only what is left grow. Taking it at the end would let the whole pot earn a year's return first, which flatters the result. Starting each year with the withdrawal is the cautious order.
- What about a market crash early in retirement?
- The calculator uses one return for every year. Real returns are uneven, and the order they arrive in matters: a bad run in the first years, while the pot is largest, shortens how long it lasts even if the average return over the whole retirement is the same. Lowering the return is a rough way to test for that.
- Does it include taxes?
- No. Withdrawals from a 401(k) or traditional IRA are taxed as income, and taxable accounts can owe tax on gains. If your spending figure is after tax, add the tax you expect to pay to the yearly spending.