The “4% rule” is the most commonly cited guideline for retirement withdrawals, suggesting you can withdraw 4% of your portfolio in your first year of retirement, adjusting for inflation each year after, without running out of money over a typical 30-year retirement. Our safe withdrawal rate calculator lets you test this and other withdrawal rates against your specific portfolio size to see what annual income they’d actually produce.
The right withdrawal rate for you depends on factors the 4% rule doesn’t fully capture — how long your retirement needs to last, your investment mix, and how much flexibility you have to reduce spending during a market downturn. A more conservative rate provides more security but requires a larger portfolio to hit the same income target.
Our retirement withdrawal calculator takes this a step further by modeling your withdrawals against a specific time horizon, and our 401(k) contribution guide can help you build a larger portfolio in the years before you retire.