What you are on track for, what you actually need, and the age the gap closes.
Enter today's money for spending — the calculator handles inflation for you.
Your current savings and each monthly contribution are compounded at your expected return, month by month, until your target retirement age.
This is the step most retirement calculators skip. The spending you enter is in today's money, so it is inflated forward to your retirement year, then converted into a required pot using the safe withdrawal rate:
required pot = (annual spending × (1 + inflation)years) ÷ withdrawal rate
At 36,000 a year of spending and a 4% withdrawal rate, you need 900,000 in today's money — but 25 years of 3% inflation turns that into roughly 1.88 million of actual currency.
The financial independence age is the first year your projected pot exceeds the pot you would need in that year. Both numbers move, which is why the answer is rarely the age people assume.
The 4% safe withdrawal rate comes from the 1998 Trinity Study of historical US market data, which found a 4% initial withdrawal adjusted for inflation survived 30 years in almost all historical periods. It is a useful anchor, not a law. Reasons to use a lower figure: a retirement longer than 30 years, higher fees, a less diversified or non-US portfolio, or starting into a poor sequence of returns. Many practitioners now use 3.25–3.5% for early retirement.
State or workplace pensions, end-of-service benefits, property, tax on withdrawals, and healthcare costs are all excluded. If you expect a state pension, subtract it from your target annual spending before entering the figure.
A common starting point is 25 times your annual spending, which is the inverse of the 4% withdrawal rate. The critical adjustment is inflation: 25× your spending today is not 25× what that spending will cost when you actually retire.
It is a historical benchmark from US data over 30-year periods, not a guarantee. For a retirement of 40 years or more, or a portfolio with higher fees or less diversification, many planners use 3.25% to 3.5% instead.
Generally no, unless you intend to sell it and live on the proceeds. A home you live in does not generate the income the withdrawal-rate method assumes.
Be conservative. Long-run global equities have historically returned roughly 7% before inflation, but a portfolio holding bonds or cash will return less, and fees come off the top. Running the calculation at two different rates shows how sensitive your plan is.
It means contributions and returns never overtake inflated spending on these inputs. The three levers are contributing more, spending less in retirement, or working longer — and the first two are usually far more powerful than chasing a higher return.