Planning & projections
A retirement planner that shows the gap, and the assumptions behind it
A retirement planner calculator for advisory and CPA firms: prospects enter ages, savings, contributions, returns and income needs, and see the projected nest egg, the required one and the monthly saving that closes the gap.
Included in Network. 14-day trial, cancel any time.
How do you know if you're on track for retirement?
Project current savings and contributions to retirement at an assumed return, then compare that figure with the nest egg needed to fund the income you want for the years you expect to be retired, adjusted for inflation. The difference is the surplus or shortfall, and dividing it over the years left shows the extra monthly saving needed.
January, when people make plans and check statements
Year-end statements arrive, a birthday ends in zero or five, or a colleague retires. People in their 40s and 50s search to find out whether they're on track, and most have never run a projection. They are motivated but anxious; a calculator that explains its assumptions earns more trust than one that just returns a verdict.
What the client types into a search box
“am I on track to retire at 65”
How a client works through it
Enter ages and savings
Current age, planned retirement age, current savings and monthly contributions.
Set the assumptions
Return before and during retirement and inflation, all editable.
Describe the retirement
Annual income needed in today's dollars and years in retirement.
Read the gap
Projected savings, required nest egg, surplus or shortfall and extra monthly saving needed.
What lands in your inbox
When a client asks your firm to review the result, the request arrives as a contact record with their inputs and results attached, by email and, on paid plans, by webhook to your CRM.
Received
Current age, retirement age, savings and contributions show the prospect's stage and assets. A large shortfall with ten or more years to go is a planning engagement; a shortfall close to retirement is a harder, more urgent conversation. A large surplus often means a prospect who needs decumulation and tax planning rather than savings advice.
How should a prospect read the shortfall?
Projected Savings at Retirement is where the current path leads. Required Nest Egg is what the income goal needs, given returns during retirement and inflation. Surplus / Shortfall is the difference, and Extra Monthly Saving Needed turns a shortfall into a monthly action.
Annual Income at Retirement shows the income goal inflated to the retirement year, which is why it looks so much larger than the figure entered. That is worth explaining: it's the same purchasing power, expressed in future dollars.
Results shown: Projected Savings at Retirement · Required Nest Egg · Surplus / Shortfall · Annual Income at Retirement · Years to Retirement · Extra Monthly Saving Needed.
Why inflation makes the goal look large
A client wants $60,000 a year in today's dollars and retires in 30 years. At 3% inflation, $60,000 grows to about $145,600 in year-30 dollars, because $60,000 × 1.03^30 ≈ $145,636. The calculator shows that figure as Annual Income at Retirement; it buys the same as $60,000 does today.
Why do advisers lead with a retirement planner?
Because it is the most natural first conversation in financial planning, and the request it produces is unusually complete: ages, savings, contribution rate, expected income need and the shortfall. An adviser can prepare a meaningful first meeting from it.
CPA firms use it differently, to support conversations about retirement plan contributions for business owners and to frame Roth versus traditional decisions with a long-term view.
Follow-ups this request opens
- Build a full financial plan with tax-aware projections
- Review contribution levels and employer match
- Plan Social Security claiming as part of retirement income
- Model withdrawal order and taxes in retirement
What this calculator leaves out
- Uses constant returns and inflation, not market sequences or Monte Carlo simulation.
- Ignores taxes before and during retirement.
- Social Security and pensions are not entered separately; clients should reduce the income need by them.
- Longevity is fixed at the years entered.
Platform disclaimer shown under the calculator: Estimates only. Projections use constant returns and inflation, with retirement income withdrawn at the start of each year and rising with inflation; real markets, taxes, Social Security and longevity vary widely. Consult a financial professional.
Compliance note for firms
A retirement projection can be hypothetical performance under the SEC Marketing Rule when an adviser presents it. A client-run tool is treated differently if the adviser explains the methodology, key assumptions and limitations and that results vary with each use. Keep those explanations on the page, and review defaults with your CCO.
Not legal advice. See our disclaimer and the guide to compliance for client calculators.
Terms your client sees in the calculator
These definitions appear in the calculator's collapsible Definitions block, so clients don't have to call to ask what a label means.
- Required nest egg
- The savings needed on your retirement date to fund your inflation-adjusted income for all your years in retirement, given the return you expect during retirement. The planner compares it with your projected savings to show a surplus or shortfall. A longer retirement, a higher income need or a lower return all raise the required amount.
- Surplus / shortfall
- Projected savings at retirement minus the required nest egg. A positive figure means the plan funds the income need under these assumptions; a negative one is the gap still to cover. The extra-monthly-saving result shows how much more you would need to contribute each month, starting now, to close that gap by your retirement age.
- Inflation
- The general rise in prices over time. The planner inflates your income need from today’s dollars to your retirement date and keeps raising withdrawals each year in retirement. At 3% inflation, $60,000 today becomes about $145,600 in 30 years, which is why the income-at-retirement result can look much larger than the figure you entered.
- Today’s dollars
- An amount expressed in current purchasing power, before inflation is applied. Entering your income need in today’s dollars lets you think in familiar prices; the planner then converts it to future dollars at your inflation rate. Comparing a future balance with today’s prices without that adjustment would overstate how far the money will go.
- Return before retirement
- The average annual return assumed while you are still working and saving, applied to your current savings and to each monthly contribution. It is usually set higher than the return during retirement, because a long horizon allows more stock exposure. Small differences compound: over 30 years, one percentage point can change a lump sum’s final value by roughly a third.
- Return during retirement
- The average annual return assumed on the balance after you stop working. It is typically more conservative than the pre-retirement return, reflecting a shift toward bonds and cash to limit losses while you withdraw. A lower figure raises the required nest egg, because the savings themselves must supply more of the income.
In our glossary: Hypothetical performance · Real return
Retirement Planner calculator: questions from firms and clients
What return should clients assume?
The calculator lets them choose. Many firms set conservative defaults that match their own planning assumptions and explain them in the subtitle.
Does it include Social Security?
Not as a separate input. Clients should reduce the income they need by their expected benefit, which they can estimate with the Social Security benefit calculator.
Does it account for taxes?
No. Figures are pre-tax. Tax-aware withdrawal planning is a reason to work with a firm.
Is this Monte Carlo?
No, it uses constant returns. That makes it easy to explain and disclose, but it doesn't show the range of outcomes.
Why does the income at retirement look so high?
It is the income goal adjusted for inflation to the retirement year: the same purchasing power in future dollars.
How is this different from the shortfall calculator?
This planner works from an income need. The shortfall calculator works from a savings goal the client already has in mind.
Can couples use it?
Yes, with combined figures, or with the two-spouse planner for separate accounts.
Which plan includes it?
Network, with the other retirement calculators. See pricing.
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Clients who ask this usually ask next
Retirement Shortfall
how much more do I need to save each month to retire
How Long Will Retirement Savings Last?
will I run out of money in retirement
Social Security Benefit
should I take social security at 62 or wait
All “Planning & projections” calculators · Everything in Retirement
Next entry
Answer the January question before the client calls
Embed the Retirement Planner calculator on your firm's site in an afternoon and receive requests with the numbers already filled in.
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