Retirement Withdrawal Calculator
Calculate how much you can withdraw from your retirement portfolio each year and month using the 4% safe-withdrawal rule.
How to use this tool
- Enter the value of your retirement portfolio at the start of retirement.
- Choose a withdrawal rate (4% is standard; lower is safer for long retirements).
- Read your annual and monthly withdrawal amounts.
- Check the 'years at 0% growth' figure as a conservative floor.
The 4% rule is the best-known guideline for retirement spending. Enter your portfolio and rate to see your annual and monthly withdrawal — and a worst-case estimate of how long the money lasts.
Formula
Annual withdrawal = Portfolio value × (Withdrawal rate ÷ 100).
Monthly withdrawal = Annual withdrawal ÷ 12.
Years at 0% growth = Portfolio ÷ Annual withdrawal = 100 ÷ Withdrawal rate. This is a worst-case floor; with positive real returns the portfolio is designed to last far longer (the 4% rule targets 30+ years).
How it works
The 4% rule comes from the Trinity Study and William Bengen's research on historical U.S. market returns. It found that withdrawing 4% of an initial balanced portfolio in the first year, then adjusting that dollar amount for inflation each subsequent year, survived almost every 30-year retirement window in the historical record.
This calculator shows the first-year withdrawal those rules imply, broken down to a monthly figure for budgeting, plus a simple 'years at zero growth' floor — how long the money would last if it earned nothing at all. That floor is intentionally pessimistic; the point of the 4% rule is that real-world returns extend the portfolio well beyond it.
Use a lower rate (3–3.5%) for very long or early retirements, where sequence-of-returns risk is higher, and a higher rate only if you have flexible spending or other income. Reviewed by the AbraCalc Retirement Desk against the published 4%-rule methodology.
Worked example
$1,000,000 portfolio at the 4% rule
- Annual withdrawal = $1,000,000 × 0.04 = $40,000.
- Monthly withdrawal = $40,000 ÷ 12 = $3,333.33.
- Years at 0% growth = $1,000,000 ÷ $40,000 = 25 (this is also 100 ÷ 4).
Annual withdrawal: $40,000 — about $3,333.33 per month, lasting 25 years even with no growth.
Annual withdrawal by portfolio size and withdrawal rate
| Rate | $250,000 | $500,000 | $750,000 | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3% | $7,500 | $15,000 | $22,500 | $30,000 |
| 3.5% | $8,750 | $17,500 | $26,250 | $35,000 |
| 4% | $10,000 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 |
| 4.5% | $11,250 | $22,500 | $33,750 | $45,000 |
| 5% | $12,500 | $25,000 | $37,500 | $50,000 |
Key terms
- Safe withdrawal rate
- The percentage of your initial portfolio you can withdraw each year (inflation-adjusted) with a high probability of not running out over a long retirement.
- 4% rule
- A withdrawal-rate guideline: take 4% of your starting portfolio in year one, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation annually.
- Sequence-of-returns risk
- The danger that poor market returns early in retirement permanently shrink a portfolio that withdrawals are draining at the same time.
- Inflation adjustment
- Increasing each year's withdrawal to keep pace with rising prices so your real spending power stays constant.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the 4% rule?
- The 4% rule says you can withdraw 4% of your initial retirement portfolio in the first year, then adjust that dollar amount for inflation each year, with a high chance the money lasts 30+ years.
- Is 4% still safe today?
- It remains a reasonable planning baseline, but some researchers suggest 3–3.5% for early retirees or periods of high valuations. Flexible spending and other income sources can support a higher rate.
- Why does the calculator show 'years at 0% growth'?
- It's a worst-case floor showing how long the pot lasts if it earns nothing. In reality positive returns are expected to extend it well beyond this number — that is the whole basis of the 4% rule.
- Should I withdraw monthly or annually?
- Either works. Many retirees set up automatic monthly transfers for budgeting; the monthly figure here is simply the annual amount divided by 12.