How Long Will My Money Last?

Enter your savings and monthly spending to see exactly when your portfolio runs out — and the withdrawal amount that would last forever.

What This Retirement Withdrawal Calculator Does

This calculator answers the single most common question in retirement planning: "how long will my money last?" It simulates your portfolio month by month — each month the balance earns investment returns, then your withdrawal comes out, and the withdrawal itself grows with inflation so your purchasing power never erodes. The result is the age at which your savings actually hit zero, not the naive answer you'd get by dividing your balance by your annual spending.

That distinction matters in both directions. Investment growth stretches your money far beyond the simple division — $500,000 at $36,000/year is not "14 years" but closer to 20 with a 7% return. Inflation pulls the other way: spending that holds steady in real terms doubles in nominal dollars roughly every 24 years at 3% inflation. The simulation accounts for both forces at once.

The Three Possible Outcomes

1. Your money lasts forever. If your withdrawal rate is at or below your portfolio's real (after-inflation) return, growth replaces everything you spend. This is the math behind financial independence — see our guide to the 4% rule for where the famous threshold comes from.

2. Your money outlives you. Even an unsustainable withdrawal rate can be perfectly fine if the depletion date lands past your planning horizon. A 75-year-old spending down a portfolio that lasts to age 97 has little to worry about; a 50-year-old with the same numbers has a serious problem.

3. Your money runs out too soon. The fix is one of three levers: withdraw less (the sensitivity table above shows exactly what each $250/month buys you), retire with more (our how much do I need to retire guide covers targets), or earn some income in the gap years — the approach behind Barista FIRE.

How the Math Works

Each month the simulation applies your return and withdrawal in sequence:

balance = balance × (1 + monthly return) − withdrawal
withdrawal = withdrawal × (1 + monthly inflation)

There's also a closed-form intuition worth knowing: a portfolio survives indefinitely whenever the withdrawal rate stays below the real return. With a 7% nominal return and 3% inflation, the real return is about 3.9% — so a ¤1,000,000 portfolio supports roughly ¤3,236/month forever. Withdraw more than that and depletion becomes a question of when, not if.

Choosing Honest Assumptions

Return: 7% nominal is a reasonable baseline for a balanced stock-heavy portfolio; retirees holding significant bonds should use 5–6%. Resist the urge to plug in 10% — the calculator will tell you a comforting lie.

Inflation: 3% is the long-run U.S. average. Health-care-heavy budgets inflate faster; see our inflation and investing guide for why this input matters more than most people think.

Withdrawal: use your gross need — what you'll actually pull from the account including taxes on traditional 401(k)/IRA withdrawals, not just what you spend. Our Roth vs Traditional comparison explains how account type changes the tax bite.

The Big Limitation: Sequence of Returns Risk

This calculator assumes the same return every single month. Real markets deliver lumpy returns, and for a portfolio being drawn down, the order matters enormously: a 30% crash in year two forces you to sell shares cheap to fund withdrawals, and those shares never participate in the recovery. Two retirees with identical average returns can have wildly different outcomes depending on which decade was bad. Treat the result here as the center of a range — historically-minded planners pair it with a conservative withdrawal rate (3.25–3.5% for long retirements), a year or two of cash to avoid selling into crashes, and willingness to trim spending after bad market years. This tool is educational, not personalized financial advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will $500,000 last in retirement?

It depends almost entirely on your withdrawal rate. Withdrawing $3,000/month ($36,000/year, a 7.2% rate) with a 7% return and 3% inflation, $500,000 lasts roughly 20 years. Cut the withdrawal to $1,650/month (a 4% rate) and the portfolio typically outlives a 30-year retirement. Plug your exact numbers into the calculator above.

What is a safe withdrawal rate?

The classic answer from the Trinity Study is 4% of the starting balance, adjusted for inflation each year, which historically survived nearly every 30-year U.S. retirement. Early retirees with 40–60 year horizons often use 3.25–3.5% instead. The full story is in our 4% rule guide.

Does this calculator account for inflation?

Yes. Your monthly withdrawal automatically grows with the inflation rate you set, so the calculator models constant purchasing power — the $3,000 you withdraw in year 20 buys what $3,000 buys today. This is why money runs out faster than a simple division would suggest.

Does this calculator include taxes?

No. Enter your withdrawal as the gross amount you need to pull from the account. If you need $3,000/month to spend and expect a 15% effective tax rate on traditional 401(k) or IRA withdrawals, enter roughly $3,530. Roth withdrawals are generally tax-free, so spending and withdrawal match.

What is sequence of returns risk?

It's the danger that poor market returns early in retirement permanently cripple a portfolio, even if long-run average returns are fine. Selling shares during a crash to fund withdrawals locks in losses the portfolio never recovers from. This calculator uses a smooth average return, so treat its answer as a midpoint — keep a cash buffer or flexible spending plan for bad early years.