Retirement calculator 2026
A private retirement pot grows through monthly contributions and compound returns while working, then pays out a fixed income each month until the money runs out. From current age, retirement age, savings, contribution and return, it projects the pot at retirement and the age at which a desired income would deplete it.
- Pot at retirement€339,032.48
- Total contributed€128,000.00
- Money lasts to age100
- Years covered35 years
Over time
Illustration only, not financial advice. Assumes a constant rate and regular intervals; real products vary. Verify with a professional.
Two phases, one monthly loop
The calculator runs a single monthly loop split into two phases. From your current age up to your retirement age it is the accumulation phase: each month your balance is multiplied by one plus a monthly rate, then your monthly contribution is added on top. The monthly rate is simply the expected annual return divided by twelve - a nominal rate, not a compounded equivalent of it. The balance at the moment you reach retirement age becomes your pot, and the loop then switches to the drawdown phase: the same monthly rate keeps applying, but instead of adding a contribution, your desired monthly income is subtracted every month. This continues until the balance would fall to zero, or until you reach age 100, whichever comes first. Figures are rounded to whole cents only for display.
A worked run: EUR 20,000 growing to a EUR 339,032 pot
Take the calculator's own defaults with one change. Current age 35, retirement age 65, current savings EUR 20,000, monthly contribution EUR 300, expected annual return 5%, desired monthly income EUR 2,000. Over the 360 months to retirement, the accumulation phase compounds the starting balance and every contribution at a monthly rate of 5% divided by 12, ending with a pot of about EUR 339,032 at age 65 - against EUR 128,000 actually paid in, which is EUR 20,000 starting plus 360 payments of EUR 300. Switch to drawdown: withdrawing EUR 2,000 a month while the rest keeps earning the same 5%, the projection has the pot running out at age 90, covering 25 years of retirement. Enter exactly these six numbers above and you should see the same result.
The assumptions carrying the number
The result rests on assumptions the tool does not relax. The annual return you enter is treated as constant every single month, in both accumulation and drawdown - no good years, no bad years, no volatility around it. Contributions and withdrawals are exactly the amount you typed, paid every month without a gap, with no raises, career breaks, lump sums or early withdrawals worked in. No investment fees, platform charges or taxes are deducted from the balance or from the income drawn. No state pension, employer scheme or other income source is added; this projects your private savings pot only. Ages are capped internally between 16 and 95, and the projection stops at age 100 even if money is technically still left, which is why a healthy pot can simply show as lasting to 100.
Where a straight-line projection breaks down
Real retirement saving does not move in a straight line the way this projection does. Investment returns vary from year to year, and the order in which good and bad years arrive matters more during drawdown than the long-run average does, because losses taken while you are withdrawing shrink the pot faster than the same losses would earlier on. The tool also works in nominal terms: it does not strip out the effect of rising prices, so a pot or income figure decades out is not automatically worth the same in real purchasing power. Careers rarely produce a flat, uninterrupted contribution stream, and spending needs in retirement typically change with age rather than staying fixed. None of this is modelled, so treat the pot size, depletion age and years covered as an illustration of the mechanics, not a forecast.
What the output is actually useful for
Used well, this projection is a comparison tool. Change one input at a time - a higher monthly contribution, a later retirement age, a lower desired income - and watch how the pot, the depletion age and the years covered shift; that sensitivity tells you more than any single number on its own. It is also a reasonable order-of-magnitude check on a savings plan someone has proposed to you, or on whether your current contribution looks roughly right for the retirement age you have in mind. It is not a prediction of your actual balance decades from now, and it is not a substitute for a full financial plan. Returns in the drawdown phase may also be taxed depending on where you live, and this figure takes no account of that at all.
FAQ
Does the pot include a state pension or any other income?
No. The calculator only projects the private savings described by the inputs above - your current savings plus monthly contributions, growing at the return rate you set. It has no data on state pensions, employer pension schemes or any other income source, so the actual income available to you in retirement could differ from the figure shown here.
Why is the pot so much bigger than the amount I actually paid in?
Because compounding applies to the whole balance, not only to new contributions - early money and early contributions earn returns for decades, and those returns then earn further returns themselves. In the worked example, EUR 128,000 paid in over 30 years grows into a pot of about EUR 339,032; the gap is compounding, not a mistake in the numbers.
Can I model a contribution that pauses or changes partway through?
Not directly - the tool assumes one fixed monthly contribution running every month until retirement. To approximate a pause or a career break, try entering a contribution closer to your realistic average across the whole period, then compare that result against your original number to see how much difference it makes.
Is 'expected annual return' a figure before or after fees?
It is applied exactly as typed, with nothing deducted for fees, charges or tax in either the accumulation or the drawdown phase. If you want the projection to reflect real-world costs, enter a return that already has your expected fees and charges subtracted from it, rather than pasting in a gross market figure.