See how much you'll have at retirement, your estimated monthly income, and whether you're on track to reach your goal.
A popular guideline is the 25× rule: save 25 times your expected annual expenses in retirement. For example, if you expect to spend $60,000/year, you'd need $1.5 million. This is based on the 4% safe withdrawal rate.
The 4% rule states that you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in year one of retirement, then adjust each year for inflation, and your portfolio is likely to last 30+ years. It's based on historical US market returns from the Trinity Study (1998).
A balanced portfolio (60% stocks / 40% bonds) has historically returned about 7–8% annually before inflation, or roughly 5–6% after inflation. Conservative planners often use 5–6% nominal; optimistic planners use 8–9%. The default of 7% is a widely-used middle estimate.
Dramatically. Due to compound interest, money invested at age 25 has about 40 years to grow before retirement at 65. Saving $500/month starting at 25 vs. 35 (at 7% return) results in roughly $1.3M vs $610K — more than double from just 10 extra years.
Yes, but conservatively. Social Security is a meaningful income source for most Americans, but benefit levels may change. Use this calculator's "Social Security / Pension" slider to model your expected monthly benefit. The average US Social Security benefit in 2025 is about $1,800/month.