How Long Will My Money Last Calculator

This withdrawal calculator works like a compound interest calculator with withdrawals. At the start of each month, or each year in yearly mode, your regular withdrawal comes out first. What is left then earns your expected return, compounded so that a year with no withdrawals grows by exactly the yearly rate you enter.

Once a year the withdrawal rises by your inflation rate, so it keeps its purchasing power. Enter 0% inflation to keep it flat. When withdrawals outpace growth, the balance falls until the money runs out. The calculator counts every full withdrawal, adds the final partial one and shows the balance by year in the chart and the table.

Use it as an investment withdrawal calculator for a brokerage account, a savings withdrawal calculator for cash, or an investment calculator with withdrawals that rise with inflation. The math is the same for any balance.

Say you have $500,000 saved and take out $2,000 a month, raised 3% a year for inflation, while the rest earns 5% a year.

The money covers 27 years of withdrawals, plus a final partial withdrawal of $3,348. By year 27 the withdrawal has risen to $4,313 a month. The balance is $463,281 after 10 years and $282,697 after 20 years.

Raise the withdrawal to $2,500 a month and the money lasts 20 years and 4 months. Keep $2,000 a month but lower the return to 4%, and it lasts 23 years and 7 months. To make it last 30 years, start with $1,851.14 a month.

Your starting withdrawal rate is the first year of withdrawals divided by the starting balance. Taking $40,000 a year from $1,000,000 is a 4% rate. The results show this rate next to how long the money lasts, so the tool also works as a withdrawal rate calculator.

The 4% rule comes from studies of past US stock and bond returns: withdraw 4% of the starting balance in the first year, then raise that dollar amount with inflation each year. In most 30-year periods tested, the money lasted the full 30 years. It is a rule of thumb, not a promise, and a safe withdrawal rate for your own money depends on your returns, inflation, fees and how many years you need.

To see how much you can withdraw, set Make it last to the number of years the money must cover. The results show the most you could take out each month or year, rising with inflation, for the money to last that long.

The same math answers "How long will my savings last?", "How long will my 401(k) last?" and "How long will my investments last?" Enter the balance and what you plan to take out, and it works as a portfolio withdrawal calculator or an IRA withdrawal calculator for retirement withdrawals.

Results are before tax. The calculator does not model income taxes, early withdrawal penalties, required minimum distributions or fees, so money taken from a 401(k) or a traditional IRA can leave you less to spend than the amount you withdraw.

If Social Security, a pension or other income covers part of your spending, enter only the part your savings must cover. A smaller withdrawal makes the money last longer.

The calculator uses one steady return every year, which is a simplification. Real markets rise and fall, and the order matters: losses in the first years of withdrawals shorten how long money lasts more than the same losses later, because withdrawals sell more of the portfolio while prices are low. This is called sequence of returns risk.

To allow for market drops, try a lower expected return and see how much the timeline shrinks.

To see a range of outcomes instead of one steady path, run a Monte Carlo simulation for your portfolio. It is free with a free GNG account and tests thousands of possible market paths over up to 10 years.