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How Much Should I Save for Retirement?

Saving 15% of a $70,000 salary from age 30 to 65 at 7% growth builds roughly $1.5 million by retirement.

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Rex says

Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.

Try a scenario

Click to load — tweak from there.

Inputs

Result

Projected retirement balance

$1,872,769

Total you contributed

$392,500

Investment growth earned

$1,480,269

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How to use this

  1. 1Enter current retirement savings ($).
  2. 2Enter monthly contribution ($).
  3. 3Enter years until retirement.
  4. 4Enter expected annual return (%).
  5. 5Read your projected retirement balance on the right — it updates as you type.
  6. 6Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.

About this calculator

Retirement savings grow through a combination of your contributions and compound investment returns over your working years. This calculator projects your nest egg forward using your current savings, monthly contribution, expected annual return, and years until retirement, using the standard future-value-of-an-annuity formula plus growth on your existing balance.

FormulaFV = Current Savings × (1+r)^n + Monthly Contribution × [((1+r)^n − 1) ÷ r] × (1+r), where r is the monthly rate and n is months.

Worked example

Using the values the calculator loads with:

Inputs

  • Current retirement savings: 25000 $
  • Monthly contribution: 875 $
  • Years until retirement: 35
  • Expected annual return: 7 %

Results

  • Projected retirement balance: $1,872,769
  • Total you contributed: $392,500
  • Investment growth earned: $1,480,269

What each field means

Inputs

Current retirement savings ($)
The current retirement savings used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 25000 $ so you have a working example on load.
Monthly contribution ($)
The monthly contribution used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 875 $ so you have a working example on load.
Years until retirement
The years until retirement used in the calculation. Starts at 35 so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–50.
Expected annual return (%)
The expected annual return used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 7 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–15 %.

Results

Projected retirement balance
Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Total you contributed
Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
Investment growth earned
Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.

FAQ

How much should I save for retirement?

Saving $875/month (about 15% of a $70,000 salary) starting with $25,000 saved, over 35 years at 7% average annual return, grows to roughly $1.5 million, of which about $1.1 million is investment growth.

Why 15% of income as a savings target?

It's the commonly cited benchmark from retirement researchers assuming you start in your late 20s to 30s and want to replace about 70-80% of pre-retirement income alongside Social Security.

What return rate should I assume?

7% real-world nominal return is a reasonable long-term average for a diversified stock/bond portfolio; conservative planners sometimes use 5-6% to build in a safety margin.

What if I start saving later?

Starting 10 years later roughly cuts your final balance in half at the same contribution rate, because you lose a decade of compounding — the earliest years of saving matter disproportionately.

Accuracy and 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.

Related tools

How Long Until I Hit a Million Dollars?

Starting with $50,000 and investing $1,000/month at 7% annual return, you'll reach a million in about 22.5 years.

How Much Can I Withdraw in Retirement?

On a $1,000,000 portfolio, the 4% safe withdrawal rule allows about $40,000 a year, or $3,333 a month.

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RevenueLab. (2026). How Much Should I Save for Retirement?. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/how-much-to-save-for-retirement
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