Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not intended as financial, investment, or tax advice. Results are estimates only and do not guarantee future outcomes. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Amber Otting operates as a Dave Ramsey Preferred Coach — a financial coaching role — not as a registered investment advisor. For personalized investment or tax guidance, please contact Blueprint Investments and Tax Planning. Full Disclaimer below.
Retirement Projection Calculator
Disclaimer: This calculator, built using AI tools, is for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not intended as financial, investment, or tax advice. Results are estimates only and do not guarantee future outcomes. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Amber Otting operates as a Dave Ramsey Preferred Coach — a financial coaching role — not as a registered investment advisor. For personalized investment or tax guidance, please contact Blueprint Investments and Tax Planning. Full disclaimer at the bottom of this page.
How this calculator works
Dave Ramsey recommends investing 15% of your gross household income in Baby Step 4. This calculator projects what your retirement accounts could grow to, estimates your tax situation in retirement, and helps you determine how much monthly income you’ll actually need — factoring in whether your home is paid off, whether you’re debt-free, and what Social Security may provide. The monthly income figure calculated below is calculated using the 4% Safe Withdrawal Rule, then divided by 12 to get the monthly amount.
Step 1 — Your current situation
Traditional pre-tax balance
After-tax balance — grows & withdraws tax-free
Used to calculate 15% Baby Step 4 target
Step 2 — Contributions
Dave recommends 15% of gross income. Your 15% target: —/month. Adjust below to see different scenarios.
Free money — always capture the full match first!
Bonus, inheritance, tax refund, or lump sum
Step 3 — Expected annual return
The S&P 500 has averaged 10.4% annually over the last 30 years (Fidelity, 2025). Dave Ramsey uses 11-12% in his examples based on long-term diversified mutual fund performance. Select a rate or enter your own.
Step 4 — Retirement income needs
Your required retirement income is likely lower than your working income — especially if you follow the Baby Steps. Answer these questions to estimate your monthly income need.
Check ssa.gov for your estimate
This is what you want to live on each month in retirement, from all sources combined
What should your retirement account target be?
The “X times your income by age” benchmarks (like 1× by 30 and 10× by 67) are designed to help you build enough retirement savings to sustainably replace your income over time. This does assume that your income grows over time as well to keep up with inflation. These guidelines are generally based on a ~4% annual withdrawal rate.
In contrast, Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions often teach that the market has historically returned around 10–12%, leading to discussions about higher potential withdrawal rates. However, most financial professionals still recommend a more conservative 4–5% withdrawal strategy to help ensure your savings last throughout retirement, especially in varying market conditions.
Why the 4% rule? It’s the widely accepted “safe withdrawal rate” — research (originally the Trinity Study) suggests that withdrawing 4% of your portfolio annually gives you a very high probability of not outliving your money over a 30-year retirement. It’s not a Ramsey-specific rule, but it’s the standard benchmark used in retirement planning tools.
Example: If your projected portfolio at retirement is $1,240,000:
- $1,240,000 × 0.04 = $49,600/year
- $49,600 ÷ 12 = $4,133/month
- Traditional 401Ks will be taxed as ordinary income during retirement (after 59.5 years old, required RMD at 73)
- ROTHs will not be taxed upon retirement withdrawal.
- Plus any Social Security you entered = total monthly income shown
Resources
- Fidelity Investments. Retirement Savings Benchmarks by Age.
https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/how-much-do-i-need-to-retire - Charles Schwab. Retirement Savings Guidelines and Benchmarks.
https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/retirement-savings-by-age - Trinity Study (Cooley, Hubbard, & Walz). Sustainable Withdrawal Rates from Retirement Portfolios.
- Ramsey Solutions. Investing and Retirement Guidance.
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement
The calculators provided on this website are for educational and illustrative purposes only. They are not intended to constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice, and should not be relied upon as the basis for any financial decision. Results are estimates based on user-entered assumptions and hypothetical scenarios — they do not reflect actual investment performance, predict future results, or guarantee any specific outcome.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. These tools do not account for all variables that may affect your financial situation, including but not limited to inflation, taxes, fees, changes in income, or market volatility.
These calculators were built using AI-assisted tools for educational purposes only. They have not been reviewed or approved by FINRA, the SEC, or any regulatory body. Amber Otting operates as a Dave Ramsey Preferred Coach — a financial coaching role — and not as a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or licensed tax professional.
For personalized financial planning, investment advice, or tax guidance, please consult a qualified financial professional. Resources available to you:
Blueprint Investments and Tax Planning — Licensed investment advisory services
Schedule a free coaching consultation — Financial coaching with Amber Otting, a Dave Ramsey RPC Coaching Page