How much do I need to retire?
Tell us what you want to spend each month in retirement, your age and when you want to stop. The answer is the pot that could pay it under the 4% rule, and what to save every month to get there.
All inputs
Your answer
Spending €1,200 a month takes a pot of about €360,000. Saving about €229 a month from 30 to 60 gets you there.
- €360,000Target amount25 × a year of spending: the pot that pays €1,200 a month under the 4% rule
- €229 a monthSave every monthfrom age 30 to 60
- 30 yearsYears to gountil age 60
Under the 4% rule, a rule of thumb from US market history, not a guarantee. Savings grow at 7% a year before inflation, fees and tax; the pot then earns 5% while retired. An estimate, not a promise.
The full retirement calculator adds your current spending, inflation, tax on withdrawals and a split between index funds and bonds, and shows how long the money lasts.
Illustration only, not investment advice. Assumes a steady return; real returns vary.
Where the target comes from
The target amount is 25 times a year of spending. That is the 4% rule turned around. The rule says a pot lasted at least 30 years in most past periods of the US market if you took 4% of it in the first year and the same amount, raised with prices, in every year after (a 1994 article in the Journal of Financial Planning and the 1998 Trinity University study). So a pot of 25 years of spending is the amount to aim for.
The monthly saving is the payment that grows into that target by your retirement age, starting from what you have saved so far, at 7% a year. It is the same solve-for-the-payment maths as the savings goal calculator.
Two things change the answer most: the spending you need, and the years you give it. Halving the spending halves the target; ten more years of saving can cut the monthly amount by more than half, because interest does more of the work late on.
Questions and answers
What is my retirement number, and why is it 25 times my yearly spending?
Your retirement number, also called the FIRE number (financial independence, retire early), is 25 times your yearly spending, because of the 4% rule of thumb: a pot that pays out 4% a year covers yearly spending equal to 1/25 of its size. Spending 1,200 a month, or 14,400 a year, points to a target of 360,000. The 4% figure comes from US market studies of 30-year retirements (a 1994 article in the Journal of Financial Planning and the 1998 Trinity University study). It is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee; a lower rate such as 3% means a larger target.
Does a state pension change the number?
Yes. Enter only the spending the savings have to cover. If you expect 600 a month from a state pension and want to spend 1,800, the savings cover 1,200 a month and the target is 360,000, not 540,000. The same goes for rent from a property or a part-time income. The calculator does not estimate pensions; it works with the gap you enter.
What about inflation and tax?
The target is in today's money: the spending you enter is what you would spend now, and the 7% return here is meant as a return above inflation plus costs. Tax on withdrawals depends on where you live and how the money is held. The retirement calculator has switches for inflation, fees and a tax rate on the gain, so you can see how far each one moves the target.