Retirement Withdrawal Calculator
Model a retirement drawdown at a constant entered return: ending balance, year the money runs out, total withdrawn and a year-by-year table.
Interactive calculator · Method RETIREMENT-WITHDRAWAL-1.0 · Last reviewed: 2026-11-04
Calculate your scenario
Each year the planned withdrawal is the first-year withdrawal × (1 + inflation)^(year − 1), and the balance grows by the entered return: start-of-year timing uses B = (B − W) × (1 + r); end-of-year timing uses B = B × (1 + r) − W.
Your inputs
Default worked example. Edit the inputs to calculate your scenario.
Default worked example
Deterministic scenario: $1,000,000.00 earning a constant 5% a year, withdrawing $40,000.00 in year 1 rising 3% a year at the start of each year, ends year 30 at $343,114.58 after withdrawing $1,903,016.63.
How to use the calculator
Enter the starting balance, choose whether the first-year withdrawal is a dollar amount or a % of the starting balance, then enter your inflation and return assumptions, the years to model and when withdrawals are taken.
What the result means
Withdrawing $40,000 at the start of year 1 from $1,000,000, rising 3% a year, with a constant 5% return, leaves a positive balance after 30 years in this scenario; a lower entered return or higher withdrawal can deplete it sooner.
Formula and units
Each year the planned withdrawal is the first-year withdrawal × (1 + inflation)^(year − 1), and the balance grows by the entered return: start-of-year timing uses B = (B − W) × (1 + r); end-of-year timing uses B = B × (1 + r) − W. A withdrawal is capped at the remaining balance, and the year the balance reaches zero is the depletion year. In % mode the first-year withdrawal is the entered % of the starting balance. The first-year-dollars line divides the ending balance by (1 + inflation)^years.
Worked examples
$1M, $40,000 first year, 3% growth, 5% return, 30 years: Starting portfolio balance: 1000000 USD; First-year withdrawal (dollar mode): 40000 USD per year; First-year withdrawal (% mode): 4 % of starting balance; Annual withdrawal increase (entered inflation assumption): 3 % per year; Nominal annual return (entered assumption): 5 % per year; Years to model: 30 years; First-year withdrawal entered as: amount; Withdrawal timing: start.
Example result: Ending balance: $343,114.58; Portfolio lasts: Lasts beyond 30 years; Total withdrawn: $1,903,016.63; First-year withdrawal: $40,000.00 (4% of start); Ending balance in first-year dollars: $141,358.66.
$600,000, 5% first year, 4% return, 35 years: Starting portfolio balance: 600000 USD; First-year withdrawal (dollar mode): 40000 USD per year; First-year withdrawal (% mode): 5 % of starting balance; Annual withdrawal increase (entered inflation assumption): 3 % per year; Nominal annual return (entered assumption): 4 % per year; Years to model: 35 years; First-year withdrawal entered as: percent; Withdrawal timing: end.
Example result: Ending balance: $0.00; Portfolio lasts: Depleted in year 24 (23 full withdrawals); Total withdrawn: $979,246.43; First-year withdrawal: $30,000.00 (5% of start); Ending balance in first-year dollars: $0.00.
Limitations and common mistakes
Deterministic constant-return scenario only: real returns vary from year to year, and the order of good and bad years can change the outcome a lot. Return and inflation are entered assumptions, not forecasts. No taxes, fees, required distributions, pensions or Social Security are modeled, and the result is not a safe-withdrawal rate or a prediction of how long you will live or need income.
Treating one constant-return line as a plan. Try several lower returns and higher inflation rates to see how sensitive the depletion year is.
Sources and assumptions
Method RETIREMENT-WITHDRAWAL-1.0; last formula review 2026-11-04. Sources and their supported claims. Calculation methodology.