Retirement withdrawals

How Long Will My Money Last Calculator

Compare how a savings balance supports fixed monthly withdrawals versus withdrawals that rise with inflation. See when each scenario runs out, the balance at your chosen horizon and a downloadable monthly schedule.

Constant-return scenarios

Display currencyChanges the label only. No exchange-rate conversion. Starting savings$ Initial monthly withdrawal from savings$Enter the amount your portfolio must provide after other income. Include any withdrawal taxes in the amount you need; this tool does not calculate them. Annual nominal return before fees%Includes all investment growth and income. Do not add dividends again. Annual fee on the balance%If your return is already after fees, use 0% here. Flat fees and trading costs are excluded. Annual inflation assumption% Model horizon in years

Private by design: calculations run in your browser. Downloading a schedule is optional.

Read this result carefullyA projection is not a safe withdrawal rate.

Returns follow a smooth path here. Market losses early in retirement can change the outcome. No probability of success, lifespan or tax system is modeled. “Not depleted” applies only to the selected horizon.

Your withdrawal comparison

Initial annual withdrawal as a share of starting savings: —. This is a description of your inputs, not a recommended rate.

Same savings, return and fee; different withdrawal paths
Model output	Fixed withdrawals	Inflation-adjusted withdrawals
Depletion within horizon	—	—
Full monthly withdrawals funded	—	—
First underfunded withdrawal	—	—
Ending nominal balance	—	—
Ending balance in today's purchasing power	—	—
Total nominal withdrawals paid	—	—

The final payment can be partial. “Full monthly withdrawals funded” counts only fully covered payments before any shortfall. After depletion, requested amounts remain visible but no further payments are funded.

Year-by-year balance

Withdrawal columns show the planned monthly amount in that year, even if the money has already run out. Balances are nominal, measured after the year's final withdrawal.

Show the annual schedule

Deterministic annual snapshots
Year	Fixed monthly withdrawal	Inflation-adjusted monthly withdrawal	Fixed ending balance	Inflation-adjusted ending balance

How to use the result

Start with the amount your savings must cover.

If monthly spending is 3,000 and other income covers 1,000, enter 2,000 as the initial portfolio withdrawal. Use one currency throughout. The inflation-adjusted path then increases that entire 2,000 withdrawal once a year; it does not separately project your pension, rent or benefits.

Compare a lower return, a higher withdrawal and a higher inflation assumption. Use an amount you can change rather than treating the default as a recommendation.

Compare fixed and inflation-adjusted withdrawals →

Understand the 4% rule and its limits →

Worked example without investment growth

With savings of 120,000, withdrawals of 1,000 at each month-end, 0% return, 0% fees and 0% inflation, the balance pays 120 full withdrawals and is exhausted at month 120, or 10 years. The next requested withdrawal is underfunded. Adding positive inflation to the adjusted path increases later payments and exhausts the same starting balance sooner.

Method and assumptions

After-fee annual growth factor = (1 + nominal annual return) × (1 − annual fee). Monthly growth factor = that annual factor raised to 1/12. Each month, the opening balance grows by this factor, then the requested withdrawal is paid up to the amount available. Fees are modeled proportionally through this factor, rather than as one annual bill.

Fixed withdrawals keep their initial nominal amount. Inflation-adjusted withdrawals stay unchanged for the first 12 months and multiply by (1 + inflation) at months 13, 25 and so on. The ending balance in today's purchasing power divides the nominal balance by (1 + inflation) raised to the selected years. Calculations use unrounded amounts; displayed money rounds to whole currency units and CSV values to two decimals.

This global educational model excludes tax calculations, changing returns or inflation, one-off spending, account restrictions, currency changes, flat fees, historical backtests and mortality. It does not establish whether you can retire or make a withdrawal “safe”. To estimate savings before retirement, use the Retirement Savings Calculator.

Sources

The examples are original Finance Charts calculations. The ECB explains inflation and purchasing power. BlackRock's sequence-of-returns illustration explains why return order matters once withdrawals begin. These sources support the concepts, not the chosen rates or a forecast. The ECB source has a euro-area context and BlackRock's illustration is US investor education; this calculator adopts no jurisdiction's tax or pension rules.