Retirement & independence · Any currency
Retirement Savings Calculator
Compare your current saving pace with a retirement target, and estimate the monthly saving needed to close the gap.
Your illustration
The target, monthly savings and all displayed balances are in today's money. Contributions are assumed to rise with inflation to keep their buying power constant.
- Projected at retirement
- CAD 331,396
- Gap to target
- CAD 668,604
- Monthly saving needed
- CAD 1,877.11
All amounts are in today's money. Contributions must rise with inflation; taxes and pensions are not modeled.
View year-by-year table
| Year | Balance in today's money | Retirement target |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | CAD 50,000 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 1 | CAD 57,016 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 2 | CAD 64,168 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 3 | CAD 71,457 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 4 | CAD 78,886 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 5 | CAD 86,459 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 6 | CAD 94,178 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 7 | CAD 102,045 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 8 | CAD 110,065 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 9 | CAD 118,238 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 10 | CAD 126,569 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 11 | CAD 135,061 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 12 | CAD 143,716 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 13 | CAD 152,538 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 14 | CAD 161,530 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 15 | CAD 170,695 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 16 | CAD 180,037 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 17 | CAD 189,559 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 18 | CAD 199,264 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 19 | CAD 209,156 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 20 | CAD 219,239 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 21 | CAD 229,516 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 22 | CAD 239,991 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 23 | CAD 250,668 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 24 | CAD 261,551 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 25 | CAD 272,644 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 26 | CAD 283,950 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 27 | CAD 295,474 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 28 | CAD 307,220 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 29 | CAD 319,192 | CAD 1,000,000 |
| 30 | CAD 331,396 | CAD 1,000,000 |
Educational estimates, not financial advice. Actual returns and inflation vary. Taxes, government benefits, currency movements and market volatility are not modeled. No result guarantees retirement income.
How this calculator works
The time to retirement is the difference between the two ages. Growth uses the after-fee, inflation-adjusted return. We compare the projected real balance with your target and solve for the monthly contribution needed to reach it.
Real annual return = (1 + gross return)(1 - fee) / (1 + inflation) - 1. Use the monthly equivalent in the savings-goal formula.
Rates in formulas are decimals. P is starting savings, C is the monthly contribution, n is the number of months, and m is the effective monthly return. Net annual growth is (1 + gross return) × (1 - annual fee) - 1. The equivalent monthly rate is (1 + annual rate)^(1/12) - 1. Real returns also divide the annual growth factor by (1 + inflation).
Example: With 50,000 saved, 30 years until retirement, a 1,000,000 target in today's money and zero real growth, the required monthly contribution is about 2,638.89 in today's money.
Change the examples to reflect your situation and test less favorable assumptions. These simplified formulas exclude country-specific taxes and benefits. Constant investment returns do not capture market volatility or the order in which gains and losses occur.
Common questions
Does this include pensions or government benefits?
No. This tool models savings only, without country-specific taxes or benefits. Canadian residents can use the full Canadian planner for a more detailed household projection.
What happens when I am already at retirement age?
Your projected savings are your current savings. A remaining target gap cannot be closed through future monthly contributions over a zero-year saving period.
Background & references
These references explain the underlying concepts. The formulas and timing described above define this tool; no country-specific rules are imported from the references.
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