{
  "slug": "retirement-withdrawal-calculator",
  "title": "Retirement Withdrawal Calculator — How Long Your Money Lasts (2026)",
  "heading": "Retirement Withdrawal Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/retirement-withdrawal-calculator",
  "summary": "Set a nest egg, a withdrawal rate, and an inflation assumption — see how many years the portfolio survives and what a sustainable draw looks like.",
  "description": "The question behind every retirement plan is whether the money outlasts you. This calculator runs a year-by-year simulation: your portfolio grows at your assumed return, your withdrawal rises with inflation, and the balance either survives the horizon or runs out — and it tells you the year. It also reports the 4% rule figure and the maximum inflation-adjusted withdrawal your horizon can actually support.",
  "formula": "Each year: ending balance = (starting balance − withdrawal) × (1 + return); the withdrawal then grows by inflation. The sustainable figure is the largest year-one withdrawal that still leaves a positive balance at the end of your horizon.",
  "dateModified": "2026-08-31",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=retirement-withdrawal-calculator",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "balance",
      "label": "Retirement savings",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 850000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "withdrawal",
      "label": "Annual withdrawal in year one",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 42000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "otherIncome",
      "label": "Other annual income",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": "Social Security, pension, rental.",
      "default": 30000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "spend",
      "label": "Annual spending target",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 72000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "returnPct",
      "label": "Assumed annual return",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 6,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": -10,
      "max": 20
    },
    {
      "id": "inflation",
      "label": "Assumed inflation",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2.7,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 15
    },
    {
      "id": "years",
      "label": "Years you need it to last",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 30,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": 60
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "lastsYears",
      "label": "Years the portfolio lasts",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "survives",
      "label": "Survives your horizon?",
      "format": "raw",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "ending",
      "label": "Ending balance",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "sustainable",
      "label": "Max sustainable first-year withdrawal",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "sustainableRate",
      "label": "That as a withdrawal rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "fourPercent",
      "label": "The 4% rule figure",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "currentRate",
      "label": "Your current withdrawal rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "gap",
      "label": "Spending gap not covered",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Retirement savings: 850000 $",
      "Annual withdrawal in year one: 42000 $",
      "Other annual income: 30000 $",
      "Annual spending target: 72000 $",
      "Assumed annual return: 6 %",
      "Assumed inflation: 2.7 %",
      "Years you need it to last: 30"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Years the portfolio lasts: 30",
      "Survives your horizon?: Yes — money outlasts the horizon",
      "Ending balance: $133,705.59",
      "Max sustainable first-year withdrawal: $43,182.67",
      "That as a withdrawal rate: 5.08%",
      "The 4% rule figure: $34,000.00",
      "Your current withdrawal rate: 4.94%",
      "Spending gap not covered: $0.00"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter retirement savings ($).",
      "Enter annual withdrawal in year one ($).",
      "Enter other annual income ($) — Social Security, pension, rental..",
      "Enter annual spending target ($).",
      "Enter assumed annual return (%).",
      "Enter assumed inflation (%).",
      "Enter years you need it to last.",
      "Read your years the portfolio lasts on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Standard 4% draw",
      "values": {
        "balance": 850000,
        "withdrawal": 34000,
        "returnPct": 6,
        "inflation": 2.7,
        "years": 30
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Early retirement, 40 years",
      "values": {
        "balance": 1400000,
        "withdrawal": 52000,
        "returnPct": 6.5,
        "inflation": 3,
        "years": 40
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Aggressive draw",
      "values": {
        "balance": 600000,
        "withdrawal": 42000,
        "returnPct": 5,
        "inflation": 3,
        "years": 30
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What is the 4% rule?",
      "a": "It comes from the Trinity Study: withdraw 4% of your portfolio in the first year of retirement, then increase that dollar amount with inflation each year. Across historical 30-year US windows, that pace rarely exhausted a balanced portfolio. It's a planning benchmark, not a guarantee."
    },
    {
      "q": "How much can I safely withdraw in retirement?",
      "a": "It depends on your horizon, asset mix, and flexibility. Longer retirements and bond-heavy portfolios support less; a willingness to cut spending in down years supports more. Many planners now cite a range of roughly 3.3% to 4.5% rather than a single number."
    },
    {
      "q": "What is sequence of returns risk?",
      "a": "The risk that poor market returns arrive early in retirement, while your balance is largest. Selling into a decline to fund withdrawals permanently shrinks the base. Holding one to three years of spending in cash or short bonds is the common defense."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should I withdraw from taxable, traditional, or Roth accounts first?",
      "a": "The conventional order is taxable first, then traditional, then Roth — but blending is often better. Filling the low brackets with traditional withdrawals in your early retirement years reduces the RMDs that would otherwise force you into a higher bracket later."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/rmd-calculator",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/roth-conversion-calculator",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/inherited-ira-rmd-calculator"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Retirement Withdrawal Calculator — How Long Your Money Lasts (2026) (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/retirement-withdrawal-calculator)"
}