Retirement Withdrawal Calculator: How Many Years Will Your Money Last?

How long will my money last once the paychecks stop? This free retirement withdrawal calculator answers with simple drawdown math: it takes your nest egg, subtracts your yearly spending year after year, and shows the exact year your balance reaches zero. It assumes your balance does not grow at all, so the number you get is a plain, conservative floor with no market hopes baked in. No signup, everything runs in your browser.

Quick answer

Your runway comes down to two numbers: your nest egg and your yearly spending. Divide the first by the second. A nest egg of $800,000 with $50,000 a year of spending lasts exactly 16 years, because $800,000 divided by $50,000 is 16. That is the whole method. Everything else on this page, including the inflation option in the calculator, is a refinement of that one division.

How to Use This Retirement Withdrawal Calculator

1. Enter your total retirement savings. Add up your 401(k), IRA, brokerage and any other accounts you will spend from.
2. Enter your yearly withdrawal. This is what you plan to take out each year to live on.
3. Optional: turn on the inflation adjustment. If you switch it on, your yearly withdrawal rises by the inflation rate you set, which is what really happens to spending over a long retirement.
4. Hit Calculate. See how many years your money lasts, the total you withdraw along the way, and a year by year table showing your balance fall to zero.

How Is “How Long Will My Money Last” Calculated?

There is no return term in this math, because the calculator assumes no growth. Each year it does one thing: it subtracts that year’s withdrawal from your balance. The formula is a single division:

Years your money lasts = starting balance ÷ yearly withdrawal

So $600,000 at $40,000 a year lasts 15 years. $600,000 at $30,000 a year lasts 20 years. Notice what is missing: at zero growth, no withdrawal rate lasts forever. Any steady spending eventually empties the account, and the only question is when. Pages that tell you money can last indefinitely are quietly assuming investment returns. This page would rather show you the floor first, because any growth your savings do earn then stretches your runway beyond the number shown here instead of being required to reach it.

The inflation option changes one thing. Instead of subtracting the same amount every year, the calculator raises your withdrawal by your inflation rate each year before subtracting it. A withdrawal of $50,000 rising at 2.5% a year becomes about $67,244 by year 13, so the balance empties sooner. The widget works it out year by year so you never have to do that math by hand.

Two levers, two effects:

• Spend less → money lasts longer, and the effect is direct. Cutting yearly spending from $50,000 to $40,000 on an $800,000 nest egg stretches 16 years into 20 years.
• Start with more → every extra $50,000 saved at $50,000 a year of spending buys exactly one more year.

Worked Example: Robert and Linda’s 16 Years

Meet Robert and Linda. Both are 65 and just retired with $800,000 saved. They plan to spend $50,000 a year. Following the Package 6 reframe, their example is now run with no growth at all.

Step 1: Do the division: $800,000 ÷ $50,000 = 16 years. They withdraw $800,000 in total, and their balance reaches zero in year 16, at age 81.

Step 2: Watch what $10,000 more spending does: At $60,000 a year, $800,000 ÷ $60,000 gives 13 years and 4 months, and the money runs out at age 78. That extra $10,000 a year, a nicer car and more travel, costs them 2 years and 8 months of runway. Once you are retired, the withdrawal rate matters more than almost anything else.

Step 3: Turn on the inflation adjustment: If their $50,000 withdrawal rises 2.5% a year, the calculator gives 13 years and 7 months instead of 16. Rising withdrawals chew through the same nest egg faster, which is exactly why the toggle exists.

And the 4% check: The famous 4% rule on $800,000 means withdrawing $32,000 a year. With no growth assumed, $800,000 ÷ $32,000 = 25 years, to age 90. That is also why this page works as a simple 4 percent rule calculator: enter 4% of your savings as the yearly withdrawal and read off the years. Just remember the original rule was built on market returns doing part of the work, so treat its 30 year reputation with care.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will $500,000 last in retirement?

Divide and see. At $40,000 a year of spending, $500,000 lasts 12 years and 6 months. At $30,000 a year it lasts 16 years and 8 months. At $20,000 a year, the 4% rule amount on $500,000, it lasts exactly 25 years. Run your own numbers in the retirement withdrawal calculator above, because the spending rate decides the answer more than the size of the nest egg.

What is the 4% rule?

It comes from the Trinity study in 1998, which found that withdrawing 4% of a portfolio in year one, then adjusting the amount for inflation, survived every 30 year period in US market history for a half stock, half bond mix. Two honest caveats: that history relied on investment returns, which this calculator does not assume, and a rule of thumb is not a promise. At zero growth, a 4% withdrawal simply lasts 25 years, because 100 divided by 4 is 25.

Why does this calculator assume no growth?

Because a drawdown floor is the most honest starting point. If you know your money lasts 16 years with no growth at all, then any growth your savings do earn is a bonus that stretches the runway further. Planning tools that assume strong returns every single year can flatter your plan. This retirement drawdown calculator shows the worst simple case first, on purpose.

Should I adjust withdrawals for inflation?

It depends on how your spending will really behave. Prices rise over a long retirement, so a flat withdrawal quietly buys less every year. Turn the inflation option on and a $500,000 nest egg at $40,000 a year, rising at 2.5%, lasts about 11 years instead of 12 years and 6 months. Many retirees also spend less as they age, which works in the opposite direction. Testing both ways is the honest way to answer how long will my money last.

What if I want to leave money behind?

Then set part of the nest egg aside before you do the division. If Robert and Linda wanted $200,000 left untouched, only $600,000 is spendable, and at $50,000 a year that is 12 years of spending instead of 16. Enter the spendable part as your balance in the calculator and the drawdown math stays exactly the same.

Can I withdraw more early and less later?

Yes, and it is a common pattern: spend more while you are healthy and travelling, less later. Just model it honestly. Run the calculator once with the higher early amount to see when the balance would empty at that pace, then again with the lower later amount. Front loading always shortens the runway compared with flat spending, and it is better to see that trade off in numbers than to discover it at 80.

Related Calculators

• 401k Calculator: total your contributions, employer match and tax savings
• Roth IRA Calculator: check your 2026 contribution limit and tax free withdrawals
• Tax Refund Calculator: withdrawals affect your tax bill, so estimate it too
• All retirement calculators: every retirement tool on the site

Thousands of retirees ask how long will my money last every month, and most answers quietly depend on the market behaving. Use this retirement drawdown calculator to get the answer that depends only on your two numbers, and any return your savings earn becomes extra years, not a requirement.

Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational purposes only and is not investment, tax, or financial advice. This calculator assumes no growth: your balance only falls as you withdraw, and no investment returns are applied at any point. If you use the inflation option, only your withdrawal amount rises each year. Real retirements also involve taxes, Social Security timing and irregular expenses, so consider consulting a fiduciary financial advisor for retirement planning.

Sources: Trinity study (1998, “Retirement Spending: Choosing a Sustainable Withdrawal Rate”); Bengen (1994).

Use this retirement withdrawal calculator to test different spending levels and see how each choice changes your runway.

This retirement withdrawal calculator uses drawdown math only, so the result is a conservative floor rather than a forecast.

Try the retirement withdrawal calculator with your own savings and spending, with the inflation option on and off, to compare both runways.