Investment Withdrawal Calculator

The 4% rule states that withdrawing 4% of your initial portfolio value in year one — then increasing that dollar amount by inflation annually — has historically sustained a 30-year retirement in most market scenarios. It was introduced by financial planner William Bengen in 1994 using U.S. historical return data going back to 1926.

It depends on your withdrawal rate and portfolio return. At a 4% withdrawal rate ($40,000 per year, or about $3,333 per month) with a 6% average return, a $1 million portfolio can last 30+ years. At a 6% withdrawal rate ($60,000 per year), the same portfolio may deplete in roughly 24 years. Use the calculator above to model your specific numbers. For what counts as enough to retire on in the first place, see our am I ready to retire guide.

At a 4% initial withdrawal rate, a $3 million portfolio supports about $120,000 a year (roughly $10,000 a month) with the same 30-year sustainability the 4% rule describes for any balance, since the rule is a percentage of the starting portfolio rather than a fixed dollar figure. The same math scales down to about $80,000 a year (roughly $6,667 a month) on a $2 million portfolio, or $60,000 a year (about $5,000 a month) on $1.5 million. Enter your own balance in the calculator above to see the exact number of years your portfolio is projected to last at your expected return.

At a 4% initial withdrawal rate, a $500,000 portfolio supports about $20,000 a year, or roughly $1,667 a month, with the same 30-year sustainability the 4% rule targets for any starting balance. Retiring at 62 means planning for a longer stretch than that 30-year design point. Medicare eligibility doesn't start until 65, and full Social Security retirement age falls later still. A lower rate around 3 to 3.5%, or a plan to add part-time income in the early years, is worth modeling instead. Enter $500,000 in the calculator above with your own withdrawal amount to see the exact years it lasts at your expected return.

A 7% withdrawal rule isn't a recognized retirement-planning standard the way William Bengen's 4% rule is. It describes withdrawing 7% of a portfolio's starting value each year, well above the roughly 4% rate Bengen's original research found sustainable over a 30-year retirement. This calculator's own worked example shows a 6% withdrawal rate on $1,000,000 depleting the portfolio in roughly 24 years, so a 7% rate draws down faster than that, not slower. Enter your own balance and a 7%-equivalent monthly withdrawal in the calculator above to see how many years it actually lasts at your expected return, rather than assuming the rate is safe.

Using the 4% rule's math, $3,000 a month is $36,000 a year, which a 4% withdrawal rate supports on a $900,000 balance ($36,000 ÷ 0.04). A more conservative 3.5% rate, appropriate for a longer retirement horizon, would need closer to $1,029,000 to produce the same $3,000 a month. Enter $900,000 (or your own target balance) in the calculator above to confirm how long it lasts at your expected return, and factor in Social Security or other income, which lowers how much your 401(k) alone needs to cover.

It remains a useful starting point, but many researchers suggest adjusting it based on your circumstances. For a 30-year retirement with a balanced portfolio, 4% has held up historically. For a 40-year retirement or a period of low expected returns, 3–3.5% is more conservative. Flexible spending — reducing withdrawals in bad market years — can make a higher rate viable.

For a 40-year retirement horizon (retiring in your 50s), researchers such as Wade Pfau suggest a safe withdrawal rate closer to 3.3–3.5%. A 30-year horizon supports the traditional 4%. The longer the horizon, the more compound inflation and sequence-of-returns risk matter, both of which push the safe rate down.

Yes, significantly. Social Security income reduces how much you need to draw from your portfolio each month, which extends its longevity. For example, $2,000 per month in Social Security means you need $2,000 less per month from your investments — the equivalent of having an additional $600,000 in a portfolio earning 4%. Always model Social Security separately when planning retirement withdrawals.

Yes — "drawdown" is another common term for the same thing this calculator does: modeling how a portfolio balance shrinks (or grows) as you take regular withdrawals from it. Whether you search for "withdrawal calculator" or "drawdown calculator," you're looking for the same projection — enter your balance, your withdrawal amount, and an expected return, and see how many years the money lasts.

It shows both, since they describe the same result here. "Drawdown" in retirement planning means spending down a portfolio through scheduled withdrawals. The calculator above solves for exactly that: the number of years until your balance hits zero. Watch for a different use of the same word. Investing also calls a portfolio's largest percentage drop from a peak to a trough during a market decline its "maximum drawdown." That figure comes from historical return data, not a withdrawal schedule, and this calculator doesn't report it. If that's the number you were looking for, check the maximum drawdown of the specific fund or index you hold instead.

"Income withdrawal calculator" is another common name for this same tool, usually used by people planning retirement paycheck income rather than a one-time payout. The math is identical either way: enter your balance, your planned withdrawal amount, and an expected return, and the projection shows how many years that income holds up — the same numbers work whether you think of the output as "years remaining" or as a monthly retirement paycheck.

A common approach is to withdraw from taxable brokerage accounts first, then traditional (tax-deferred) accounts, and save Roth accounts for last. This order lets tax-free Roth growth continue the longest and can help control which tax bracket your withdrawals land in each year. Required minimum distributions can force an earlier withdrawal from traditional accounts regardless of this order, so check those rules before finalizing your sequence.

Running out means your withdrawals outpaced your portfolio's growth for too long, and you're left relying on other income like Social Security. Catching the problem early gives you options: cut the monthly withdrawal, delay retirement a few years, or add part-time income to reduce how much you draw. Run a few withdrawal amounts through the calculator above to find one that keeps a cushion instead of draining to zero.

No. The balance and withdrawal figures shown are gross, before any income tax you owe on traditional IRA or 401(k) withdrawals. Build in a buffer for your tax bracket, or reduce your monthly withdrawal amount by your estimated tax rate, so the after-tax cash you actually keep matches your budget.

That's the reverse question this calculator answers by testing withdrawal amounts against your years remaining. For a direct answer, use the how much can I withdraw calculator, which solves for the maximum flat monthly amount your balance supports over a set number of years, instead of testing one withdrawal amount at a time.

No, this calculator does not enforce RMD minimums on its own. It only projects the exact monthly withdrawal you type in, so if the IRS requires a larger Required Minimum Distribution once you turn 73, that mandatory amount won't show up here unless you manually raise your entered withdrawal to match it. Check your real RMD floor with the RMD calculator before using this projection to plan post-73 income.

Yes, enter your net expected return after subtracting fund expense ratios and any advisor fees, since the calculator has no separate field for costs. A 1% annual fee compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade retirement, quietly shrinking your ending balance and how long the money lasts even though it never appears as its own line in the projection.

It depends on your mortgage rate versus your expected investment return, not a universal rule. A low fixed mortgage rate from prior years often loses to staying invested at this calculator's assumed return, while a higher-rate mortgage paid off before retirement lowers your monthly expenses and therefore how much you need to withdraw here each month. Our pay off debt or invest guide walks through the rate comparison in detail before you decide.