Retirement Calculator - Will Your Savings Be Enough?
Compare the pot you are on track to build against the pot you actually need — and see exactly how much extra monthly saving would close the gap.
How long the pot needs to last.
Most people can raise savings as their salary grows.
In today's money — inflation is applied for you.
How your savings build up
| Age | Contributed so far | Growth | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 36,000 | 7,990 | 123,990 |
| 34 | 73,080 | 19,671 | 172,751 |
| 35 | 111,272 | 35,441 | 226,714 |
| 36 | 150,611 | 55,733 | 286,344 |
| 37 | 191,129 | 81,019 | 352,148 |
| 38 | 232,863 | 111,812 | 424,675 |
| 39 | 275,849 | 148,671 | 504,520 |
| 40 | 320,124 | 192,206 | 592,330 |
| 41 | 365,728 | 243,079 | 688,807 |
| 42 | 412,700 | 302,011 | 794,711 |
| 43 | 461,081 | 369,786 | 910,866 |
| 44 | 510,913 | 447,256 | 1,038,169 |
| 45 | 562,240 | 535,348 | 1,177,588 |
| 46 | 615,108 | 635,069 | 1,330,177 |
| 47 | 669,561 | 747,515 | 1,497,075 |
| 48 | 725,648 | 873,874 | 1,679,522 |
| 49 | 783,417 | 1,015,440 | 1,878,857 |
| 50 | 842,920 | 1,173,615 | 2,096,534 |
| 51 | 904,207 | 1,349,924 | 2,334,131 |
| 52 | 967,333 | 1,546,022 | 2,593,356 |
| 53 | 1,032,353 | 1,763,708 | 2,876,061 |
| 54 | 1,099,324 | 2,004,930 | 3,184,254 |
| 55 | 1,168,304 | 2,271,808 | 3,520,112 |
| 56 | 1,239,353 | 2,566,640 | 3,885,992 |
| 57 | 1,312,534 | 2,891,919 | 4,284,452 |
| 58 | 1,387,910 | 3,250,352 | 4,718,262 |
| 59 | 1,465,547 | 3,644,877 | 5,190,423 |
| 60 | 1,545,513 | 4,078,678 | 5,704,191 |
This projection is only as good as its assumptions. It ignores state or employer pensions (such as GOSI benefits and end-of-service gratuity), taxes, healthcare costs and market volatility. Treat it as a planning guide, not financial advice.
What is a Retirement Calculator?
A retirement calculator runs two projections and compares them. The first is your accumulation: what your current savings plus future contributions will grow into by the time you stop working. The second is your requirement: how large a pot you need in order to draw your target income for the whole of retirement without running out. The difference between the two is the number that matters — and the only one you can actually do something about.
Why the Calculator Asks for Income in Today's Money
Nobody has a reliable intuition for what a monthly income will need to be in 2055. But everyone knows what they could live on today. So you enter today's figure, and the calculator inflates it to your retirement date for you. It then discounts the required pot using your post-retirement return net of inflation, which means your withdrawals keep their purchasing power for the whole of retirement rather than shrinking every year.
- Projected pot at retirement, built month by month
- Required pot for your target income and life expectancy
- Surplus or shortfall stated plainly
- The extra monthly saving needed to close a shortfall
- Annual contribution step-up to model salary growth
- Separate pre- and post-retirement return assumptions
- Year-by-year projection table by age
The Four Levers You Can Pull
Save More
The most direct lever. Try the step-up field rather than one big jump.
Retire Later
Two extra years both grow the pot and shorten the drawdown.
Target Less Income
Many costs — commuting, mortgage, children — end at retirement.
Accept More Risk
A higher return assumption also means a wider range of outcomes.
Count Your Pension
Subtract expected GOSI or state pension from your target income.
Cut Fees
Fees compound against you for exactly as long as returns compound for you.
How to Use the Calculator
- Enter your current age, planned retirement age and life expectancy.
- Enter what you have saved so far and what you save each month.
- Add an annual increase if you expect to raise contributions over time.
- Enter the monthly income you want, in today's money.
- Set your pre-retirement return, post-retirement return and inflation assumptions.
- Read your projected pot, your required pot, and the gap between them.
How Much Do You Actually Need to Retire?
The familiar shortcut is the 4% rule: a pot roughly 25 times your first year's spending has historically had a good chance of lasting 30 years with inflation-linked withdrawals. It is a useful sanity check, but it bakes in assumptions about market history, a 30-year horizon and a particular asset mix.
This calculator models the withdrawals directly instead, using your own life expectancy and return assumptions, which is more flexible — you can plan for 40 years of retirement, or for a lower-return environment, and see the answer change accordingly.
Retirement Planning in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
- GOSI pensions: Saudi nationals contributing to the social insurance system build a pension entitlement based on contribution years and salary. Estimate that income and subtract it from your target so you are only sizing the gap.
- End-of-service gratuity: expatriate employees are entitled to a gratuity on leaving service. It is a genuine part of your retirement capital — add it to current savings when it is reasonably certain.
- No income tax: the absence of personal income tax makes it easier to save a high share of income, but it also means there is no tax-advantaged pension wrapper doing the discipline for you.
- Repatriation:if you plan to retire in another country, project in that country's currency and use its inflation rate — currency moves over 20 years can dwarf investment returns.
The Limits of Any Retirement Projection
A single projection gives one path; reality gives one of many. Sequence-of-returns risk means a market fall in your first years of retirement damages a pot far more than the same fall later, which averages cannot capture. Healthcare costs tend to rise faster than general inflation, and life expectancy is a distribution, not a date. Plan for longevity, revisit the numbers annually, and treat the output as a direction rather than a forecast.
Who This Calculator Is For
- Anyone who wants to know whether they are on track
- Mid-career savers deciding how much to increase contributions
- Expats planning to retire in a different country
- People considering early retirement
- Those nearing retirement testing withdrawal sustainability
- Advisers illustrating shortfalls to clients
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How much do I need to retire?
It depends on the income you want, how long retirement lasts, and the return you earn on the pot. This calculator sizes the pot from your target monthly income, inflating it to your retirement date and discounting at your post-retirement real return.
Why does the calculator ask for income in today's money?
Because that is the only figure you can judge intuitively. The tool inflates it to your retirement date for you, so you don't have to guess what SAR 10,000 will be worth in 25 years.
What is a real return?
It is the return after inflation. Using a real return during the withdrawal phase means your income keeps its purchasing power for the whole of retirement rather than shrinking each year.
What is the 4% rule?
A rule of thumb suggesting you can withdraw about 4% of your pot in the first year of retirement, rising with inflation, with a reasonable chance of it lasting 30 years. This calculator models withdrawals directly instead, which is more flexible.
What is the annual increase in contribution for?
It models raising your savings as your salary grows. Increasing contributions by 3% a year can add a very large amount to the final pot compared with keeping them flat.
Does it include GOSI or state pensions?
No. Any state pension, employer pension or end-of-service gratuity is additional, so your true shortfall may be smaller than the figure shown. Subtract expected pension income from your target monthly income to account for it.
What return should I assume before and after retirement?
Most planners assume a higher return while working (more growth assets) and a lower one in retirement (more stability). The default 8% and 5% are illustrative, not predictions.
What if the calculator shows a shortfall?
You have four levers: save more each month, retire later, target a lower income, or accept more investment risk. The tool shows exactly how much extra monthly saving would close the gap.
How long should I assume retirement lasts?
Plan for longevity rather than average life expectancy. Many planners use age 85–95 so the pot does not run out if you live longer than expected.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is a planning tool for general information. Consult a licensed financial adviser before making retirement decisions.