Retirement math you can check by hand, run entirely in your browser.
RetirementCalc is a set of free calculators for the questions that decide most of a retirement plan: how much you need, whether a 401k or Roth IRA is on track, what a required distribution will be, and when the numbers actually let you stop working.
The idea is straightforward. IRS contribution rules, the RMD table, and the arithmetic of compound growth are all published and standardized, but doing them correctly by hand, and keeping them current every year the IRS updates a limit, is tedious. A calculator that uses the right table and shows its work lets you check a plan statement or a fund company's projection against your own numbers.
RetirementCalc is owned and operated by Chris Terry through Encore Promotional Products, part of the Encore Editorial network of free calculators and reference sites. We are not a broker-dealer, an investment advisor, a plan administrator, or a lead-generation service you have to register with. Every tool is open with no sign-up and nothing stored. See the authors page for who writes and checks the guides here, and the editorial standards page for exactly which IRS and SSA tables back each calculator.
Each tool uses the published rule for its job rather than a house shortcut. The 401k and 403b calculators apply the current IRS elective-deferral limit and catch-up amounts. The RMD calculator runs on the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table. The retirement and investment calculators use standard compound-growth math, and the withdrawal logic behind the 4% rule traces to Bengen's original research and the Trinity study, both cited on the editorial standards page along with the years each figure applies to.
Every result is a planning estimate, not financial advice, a benefits statement, or a guarantee of future account performance. A projection assumes the inputs you provide and a fixed rate of return; real markets do not move in a straight line, and a retirement plan built on one average return can miss the effect of a bad stretch of years. For decisions that matter, confirm your account's actual figures with your plan provider or custodian and, where it counts, talk to a qualified professional.
RetirementCalc is free because it carries advertising and a small number of affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and complete a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. That revenue never changes a calculator's formula or the figure it returns, and no one pays us to alter a result. The affiliate disclosure appears at the bottom of every page.