Retirement Drawdown Calculator
See how long your retirement savings will actually last — with different spending in your active early years vs. later years, one-off expenses like travel and home repairs, and taxes on withdrawals. Free, independent, no signup, not tied to any product or advisor.
Starting Point
Retirement Stages
Most retirees don't spend the same amount every year — the "go-go" years right after retiring tend to be the most active and expensive (travel, hobbies), "slow-go" years ease off, and "no-go" years often see lower discretionary spending but higher healthcare costs. Set how many years belong to each stage below, then set each expense category's amount per stage in the table underneath.
Total horizon: 35 years
Expense Categories
Annual amount per category, in today's dollars, for each stage. Each category inflates at its own rate — healthcare typically runs hotter than general inflation, for example.
| Category | Inflation % | Go-Go $/yr | Slow-Go $/yr | No-Go $/yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
One-Off Expenses & Lump Sums
Big irregular items that don't fit into a recurring annual amount — a car replacement, an overseas trip, a home renovation, a big medical bill, or a lump-sum inflow like an inheritance, pension payout, or property sale. "Year" is years into retirement (1 = your first year).
| Description | Type | Year | Amount (today's $) | Inflate? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
out of your 35-year plan
Balance Over Time
Year-by-Year Detail
| Year | Stage | Recurring Expenses | One-Off Net | Gross Withdrawal (incl. tax) | End Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Go-Go | $77,450 | — | $91,118 | $954,326 |
| 2 | Go-Go | $79,985 | $-15,914 | $112,821 | $883,581 |
| 3 | Go-Go | $82,607 | — | $97,184 | $825,716 |
| 4 | Go-Go | $85,320 | — | $100,376 | $761,607 |
| 5 | Go-Go | $88,127 | $-40,575 | $151,414 | $640,703 |
| 6 | Go-Go | $91,032 | — | $107,097 | $560,287 |
| 7 | Go-Go | $94,039 | — | $110,634 | $472,135 |
| 8 | Go-Go | $97,151 | $-50,671 | $173,908 | $313,138 |
| 9 | Go-Go | $100,373 | — | $118,085 | $204,806 |
| 10 | Go-Go | $103,708 | — | $122,009 | $86,937 |
| 11 | Slow-Go | $94,990 | — | $111,752 | $0 |
How This Calculator Works
Each year, the calculator adds any lump-sum inflow scheduled for that year, then totals that year's recurring stage-based expenses (each category inflated individually from today, compounding one extra year at a time) plus any one-off expense scheduled for that year. Since you specified spending in real, after-tax terms, that total is grossed up by your effective tax rate to find the actual withdrawal needed from the account — e.g. at a 20% effective tax rate, covering $50,000 of real spending requires withdrawing $62,500. The withdrawal is subtracted first, then your investment return is applied to whatever balance remains for the year.
This is a single fixed-rate projection, not a Monte Carlo simulation — it doesn't model the risk that poor market returns early in retirement (sequence-of-returns risk) could deplete your funds faster than a smooth average return suggests. For a tool that lets you set a different return for each individual year, see the finance simulation calculator.
This tool is independent and free — it isn't connected to any financial product, advisor, or provider, and nothing here is personalized financial, tax, or retirement advice. It's a way to stress-test your own assumptions, not a substitute for professional planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does it ask for my own tax rate instead of calculating tax automatically?
Retirement account tax treatment varies enormously by country (and by account type within a country — traditional vs. Roth-style accounts, for instance), and tax law changes over time. Rather than silently assuming one country's rules and being wrong for everyone else, this calculator asks for your own estimated effective rate on withdrawals — you can get this from a tax return, a retirement account statement, or a quick estimate from your accountant.
What are "go-go," "slow-go," and "no-go" years?
It's a widely used retirement-planning framework: early retirement ("go-go") years tend to have the highest discretionary spending as people travel and pursue hobbies while healthy; "slow-go" years see that activity level and spending ease off; "no-go" years often bring lower discretionary spending but higher healthcare costs. Real spending patterns vary a lot by person — adjust the stage lengths and amounts to match your own expectations.
Does this account for Social Security, a pension, or other income?
Not as a separate recurring line by default, but you can approximate steady outside income by reducing your category spending amounts by that income, or model a pension lump sum or one-time payout using a "lump-sum inflow" one-off item.
Is this financial advice?
No. This is an educational modeling tool based entirely on the assumptions you enter. It isn't connected to any product, fund, or advisor, and it doesn't recommend any course of action — use it to explore scenarios, then talk to a qualified, fee-only professional before making retirement decisions.