Retirement Calculator: Am I on Track?

Enter your age, salary, savings and how much you save, and see where you’re heading: your projected nest egg at retirement in today’s money, the target you need under the 4% rule, the savings rate that would get you there, and how you compare with Fidelity’s savings milestones for your age.

How it works

• Growth: each year your savings grow at your expected return minus inflation (the “real” return), and you add your savings rate × salary. Your salary grows by any raise above inflation.
• Need: your final salary × the income you’ll need (80% by default), minus Social Security and other income. Get your Social Security estimate at ssa.gov/myaccount.
• Target: that yearly need ÷ your withdrawal rate. At 4% that’s 25× the need, from the 4% rule.
• Milestones: Fidelity’s guideline of 1× salary by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by 67.

A worked example

At 35, earning $65,000 with $60,000 saved and putting away 10% a year, you would have about $732,000 in today’s money at 67, assuming 7% returns and 2.5% inflation. With pay rising 1% a year above inflation, your final salary is about $89,000. 80% of that, minus $1,800 a month of Social Security, means your savings must provide about $49,900 a year, so you need about $1.25 million. You’re at 59% of target, so the verdict is “Behind”. Saving 20.4% of your salary would close the gap.

Next steps

• See how you compare: average retirement savings by age.
• Pressure-test your target: what retirement really costs.
• Get the strategy right for your decade: retirement strategies by age.

These calculators are for education, not financial advice: we are not financial advisors, and your situation may differ. For big decisions, talk to a fee-only financial planner. Projections assume steady returns. Real markets rise and fall, and the 4% rule is a rule of thumb, not a guarantee.

Frequently asked questions

How much do I need to retire?

A common rule of thumb is 25 times the yearly income your savings must provide. That’s the 4% rule turned around: William Bengen’s 1994 research found that withdrawing 4% in the first year, then the same amount adjusted for inflation, lasted through every 30-year period he tested. The calculator subtracts Social Security and other income first.

How much should I have saved by my age?

Fidelity suggests aiming for 1× your salary by 30, 3× by 40, 6× by 50, 8× by 60 and 10× by 67. Those milestones assume you save 15% of your income a year from age 25 (including any employer match), invest more than half in stocks, and want to keep your pre-retirement lifestyle. They are goalposts, not pass/fail tests.

Why is everything shown in today’s money?

Because $1 million in 30 years won’t buy what $1 million buys today. The calculator uses your expected return minus inflation, so every figure is in today’s dollars and easy to compare with your current salary.

What if I’m behind?

You have three levers: save more, retire later, or plan to need less. The calculator shows the savings rate that would close the gap and what retiring three years later would do. Make sure you get your full employer match first.

Is my information stored?

No. Everything is calculated in your browser, and nothing you type is saved on our server or sent anywhere. The share link keeps your numbers in the part of the web address after the # sign, which browsers do not send to the website.