Retirement planning guides

Understand the questions behind your retirement estimate

Retirement planning often begins with three connected questions: how much you may need, when your savings may support retirement, and how long those savings may last. These guides explain the assumptions behind each estimate and show how to test different scenarios with the calculator.

Start with your retirement question

InflationHow long will my retirement savings last with inflation?See how rising prices affect future spending, real returns, contributions, and the savings target.Retirement timingWhen can I retire?Understand how savings, monthly contributions, planned spending, inflation, and returns affect an estimated retirement age.Savings targetHow much do I need to save for retirement?Learn how retirement spending, inflation, retirement length, current savings, and contributions combine into a target.Planning timelineWhen should you start preparing for retirement?See what to establish or review by decade and how catch-up contributions may expand saving capacity after age 50.Retirement budgetHow to estimate annual retirement spendingEstimate retirement expenses from current spending, including healthcare before and after Medicare, taxes, and irregular costs.Investment returnsHow to make retirement return assumptionsChoose reasonable return assumptions for saving and retirement, account for inflation, and compare lower-return scenarios.Retirement incomeHow to account for Social Security, pensions, and other incomeCalculate the amount personal savings must support after accounting for recurring retirement income.Dollar valuesCurrent dollars vs. future dollars in retirement planningUnderstand why a retirement estimate can look different in today's purchasing power and in future dollars.Market timing riskInvestment Returns Risk During RetirementSee why early losses can affect withdrawals even when two portfolios experience the same average returns.Retirement withdrawalsRetirement withdrawal strategiesCompare fixed, percentage-based, guardrail, and bucket approaches for turning retirement savings into spending.Retirement accounts401(k) vs. IRA: How retirement accounts compareCompare 401(k) plans and IRAs by ownership, contributions, employer matching, investments, taxes, and withdrawals.Social SecuritySocial Security retirement benefits: ages, estimates, and planningUnderstand how earnings history and claiming age affect Social Security retirement benefits and how to include an estimate in a retirement plan.Planning by ageRetirement planning by age: a guide for your 20s through 60sReview practical retirement-planning priorities for your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s without treating age-based benchmarks as universal rules.

How to use these guides

Choose one question

Begin with the decision that matters most today. The three estimates share inputs, so answering one question can make the others easier to understand.

Review the assumptions

Pay attention to spending, inflation, returns, retirement timing, and years in retirement. Small changes can produce meaningfully different projections.

Compare scenarios

Use the calculator to compare a base case with a more conservative case. Revisit the estimate when your savings, spending plan, or timeline changes.

Use the guides with the calculator

These guides provide educational context, not personalized financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. The calculator uses the assumptions you enter and does not predict market returns, benefit payments, taxes, or individual retirement outcomes.

Open the retirement calculator