Retirement Calculators
Retirement planning calculators: project your nest egg, 401(k), Roth IRA, and how much you need to retire.
Retirement planning is a single question asked from three angles: how much will I have, how much do I need, and which account should the money go into. The calculators here cover all three. Two of them model specific tax-advantaged accounts with contribution limits set annually by the IRS, and those limits are read directly from our dated registry rather than typed into the page — so the figures you see are the same ones the calculations use. The third works at the portfolio level, projecting a nest egg and converting it into sustainable income.
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- CentCompass
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- 1 min read
Calculators
When to use each calculator
- 401(k) Calculator
- Use it when you have a workplace plan, especially one with an employer match. It shows how much of the eventual balance is your money, employer money, and pure growth.
- Roth IRA Calculator
- Use it to project tax-free growth and to check whether your income falls inside the contribution phase-out range for your filing status.
- Retirement Calculator
- Use it to see the whole picture: what your savings are on track to become, the income that supports at a 4% withdrawal rate, and whether that meets your goal.
Choosing between them
401(k) or Roth IRA first?
Contribute to the 401(k) at least up to the full employer match, since that is guaranteed compensation you forfeit otherwise. Beyond the match, a Roth IRA offers wider investment choice and tax-free withdrawals, which is why many savers use both: the workplace plan to the match, then an IRA alongside it.
Traditional or Roth?
Traditional contributions are pre-tax and taxed on withdrawal; Roth contributions are after-tax and withdrawn tax-free. The choice turns largely on whether you expect a higher tax rate now or in retirement, which makes Roth relatively more attractive earlier in a career.
Account calculators or the retirement calculator?
The 401(k) and Roth IRA tools model one account with its own rules and limits. The retirement calculator ignores account structure and asks whether the total is enough. Use the account tools to decide where to contribute, and the retirement calculator to decide whether you are contributing enough.
Guides
- How a 401(k) WorksContributions, the employer match, vesting, tax treatment and withdrawals — what actually happens inside a workplace retirement plan and where the money comes from.
- Roth IRA vs Traditional IRAPay tax now or pay it later. How the two accounts differ on deductions, withdrawals, RMDs and income limits — and which suits which situation.
Explore more
Browse every calculator on the site, read our financial guides, or see how CentCompass is built and reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to retire?
A common starting point is 25 times your desired annual spending, which follows from a 4% withdrawal rate. The figure falls once you account for Social Security or a pension, so treat it as an upper bound rather than a target.
Are the contribution limits current?
Yes. Contribution limits and income phase-out ranges come from our dated registry of IRS figures, which records the effective tax year, the source, and the review status on the data sources page.
Do these include Social Security?
No. Add your estimated benefit separately — the Social Security Administration provides personalised projections. Ignoring it will overstate how much you need to save on your own.
Do the projections adjust for inflation?
No. Results are nominal, so a figure that looks generous decades out may support a lower standard of living than it appears. Model a real return by subtracting expected inflation if you want purchasing power.
What if I am behind on saving?
The available levers are saving more, working slightly longer, or spending less in retirement. Catch-up contributions raise the annual ceiling from age 50, and delaying retirement helps twice by adding contributions while shortening the drawdown.
Sources
- IRS — Retirement topics — 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits
- IRS — Roth IRAs
- Social Security Administration — Retirement benefits
- U.S. Department of Labor — Types of Retirement Plans
How this page is produced
Editorial process. CentCompass is maintained independently, and this page is written and checked against the official publications listed above before it goes live. There is no separate editorial reviewer. This page was last checked on . See our editorial policy.
How the calculations work. Every result comes from a small, unit-tested calculation engine rather than a spreadsheet or a hardcoded table. Loans use the standard amortization formula, growth uses compound-interest math, income tax applies the federal progressive brackets, and payroll applies Social Security and Medicare rules. Our methodology sets out each one.
Where the figures come from. Tax brackets, standard deductions, FICA parameters, and contribution limits are stored once in a dated registry and read directly by the calculators — the same values appear in the text above, so the two can never drift apart. Each figure records its source, effective tax year, and review status on our data sources page.
Update policy. Regulatory figures are checked against their primary source when the IRS, SSA, or another authority publishes new values — typically each autumn for the following tax year — and again at the scheduled review date recorded for each dataset. Figures that have not been checked yet are marked as draft on the data sources page until that check is complete.
Educational purposes only — not financial, tax, or investment advice (disclaimer).