How much do I need to retire? Start from the monthly budget
The amount you need to retire starts with what you plan to spend each month; the calculator turns that budget into a savings target that already pays the tax on withdrawals and the premiums before Medicare.
Savings you need to retire
$1,646,162
$60,000 a year to spend, $3,122 more withdrawn for tax.
| At 3.5 % | $1,871,599 |
| At 4 % | $1,646,162 |
| At 4.5 % | $1,470,823 |
| Health bridge to 65 included | $68,106 |
Worked out by Radif Partners · How we calculate · figures read on irs.gov and healthcare.gov · not personal financial advice
How much money you need to retire depends first on what you will spend. A monthly budget of $5,000, or $60,000 a year, needs $1,500,000 at a 4 % withdrawal rate, the familiar 25 times spending. Two costs come on top for most Americans. Federal income tax on withdrawals from a traditional 401(k) or IRA: with 70 % of savings pre-tax, a single filer withdraws about $3,122 more each year to pay it, which adds $78,057 to the target under 2026 brackets. And health premiums before Medicare at 65: at $8,400 a year after any credit, retiring at 55 adds $68,106 in today's money. The complete answer is $1,646,162. At $3,000 a month it is $992,568; at $10,000 a month, $3,388,596. A lower withdrawal rate of 3.5 % raises the $5,000 target to $1,871,599.
Start from the budget, not from a multiple of salary
Rules of thumb based on salary skip the step that matters: what you will actually spend. Two people on the same pay can need very different sums if one has a paid-off home and the other rents. The calculator asks for a monthly figure because that is how most households know their budget. Leave out what ends at retirement, such as commuting and retirement contributions, and keep what lasts, including property tax, insurance, and an allowance for repairs and cars. Health insurance goes in its own field, since it changes at 65.
Once the budget is set, the target follows from three parts: the budget times twelve divided by the withdrawal rate, the extra capital that pays federal tax on the withdrawals, and the present value of health premiums until Medicare.
Your monthly budget, retiring at 50
Savings you need to retire
$1,390,579
| At 3.5 % | $1,576,154 |
| At 4 % | $1,390,579 |
| At 4.5 % | $1,246,242 |
| Health bridge to 65 included | $91,549 |
The target for six monthly budgets
| Monthly budget | 25× spending | Federal tax part | Health until 65 | Total to save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | $900,000 | $24,462 | $68,106 | $992,568 |
| $4,000 | $1,200,000 | $50,546 | $68,106 | $1,318,652 |
| $5,000 | $1,500,000 | $78,057 | $68,106 | $1,646,162 |
| $6,000 | $1,800,000 | $105,568 | $68,106 | $1,973,673 |
| $8,000 | $2,400,000 | $203,644 | $68,106 | $2,671,750 |
| $10,000 | $3,000,000 | $320,490 | $68,106 | $3,388,596 |
The tax column does not grow in step with the budget. At $3,000 a month most of the pre-tax withdrawal falls under the $16,100 standard deduction and the 10 % bracket, so tax adds $24,462. At $10,000 a month withdrawals reach the 22 % and 24 % brackets and the tax part is $320,490. The health column, on the other hand, stays flat here because the premium was held constant; in practice the Marketplace credit shrinks as income rises, so higher budgets often pay more for the same plan.
Retiring at 45, 55 or 62
The age you stop changes the target through health costs alone in this calculator: each year before 65 is another year of premiums. For $5,000 a month, stopping at 45 takes $1,687,973, at 55 $1,646,162 and at 62 $1,602,076. The difference looks modest, and it is, for the target. The bigger effect of an early date is on access. Before 59½, a 401(k) or IRA withdrawal usually owes a 10 % additional tax, so a 45-year-old needs enough in reachable accounts to fund more than a decade, or an exception such as the rule of 55 or a 72(t) series. The early retirement calculator checks that year by year.
Same budget, different stop age
Savings you need to retire
$2,139,248
| At 3.5 % | $2,437,564 |
| At 4 % | $2,139,248 |
| At 4.5 % | $1,907,224 |
| Health bridge to 65 included | $51,036 |
Married couples and the account mix
A joint return roughly doubles the standard deduction and the width of the low brackets, so the same withdrawal is taxed less. For $5,000 a month and the same mix, a married couple needs $1,594,450 against $1,646,162 for a single filer, before any difference in health premiums for two people. The share of savings held in Roth and taxable accounts matters just as much: Roth withdrawals that follow the Roth rules are not taxed, and long-term gains in a taxable account fall in a 0 % band at moderate incomes. Move the pre-tax share in the calculator and the tax column moves accordingly.
From a target to a date
Knowing the target is half of the answer; the other half is how long it takes to get there. Someone with $300,000 already invested who adds $30,000 a year reaches the $1,646,162 needed for $5,000 a month in about 18.7 years at a 5 % return after inflation. Adding $45,000 a year instead brings it to 15.4 years. The retirement date calculator runs that projection with your own balance and saving.
A smaller budget works on both sides at once: it lowers the target and frees money to save. Cutting $500 a month from the budget removes $150,000 from the classic part of the target, before the tax effect.
What the number does not include
Social Security is left out of this calculator; treat any benefit as a margin. State income tax is not in this simplified version either; the FIRE number calculator has a field for it. The 4 % rate itself comes from research on 30-year retirements; someone stopping at 45 faces a longer horizon, and the 4 percent rule page shows how long each rate lasts with the engine. Large one-off costs, such as a new roof or help for a child, belong in a separate reserve rather than in the monthly budget. And every figure here is in today's dollars: the target rises with inflation until the day you stop, and the calculator assumes it is invested at a return above inflation after that.