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Retirement Trade-Off Explorer

Explore how three big levers—retiring later, saving more, or spending less (or adding part-time income)— change whether you look on track for your retirement income goal.

How this tool works

Start with a simple baseline: your age, current savings, annual contributions, expected return, and the income you’d like in retirement (along with Social Security or pension income). We estimate the portfolio you might need using a withdrawal-rate rule of thumb (like 4%) and compare it to what you’re projected to have by your target retirement age.

Then we show side‑by‑side how three levers can close any gap: retiring later, saving more each year, and spending less / adding part‑time income. Each scenario shows the projected annual income shortfall (or surplus) relative to your target.

Your baseline plan

Baseline age when you stop contributing and start withdrawals.
401(k), IRA, and other long-term investments earmarked for retirement.
Total you add each year, including employer match.
Long‑term average; many use 5–7% after inflation.

Your retirement income goal

Before or after tax—pick one and stay consistent.
Social Security, pensions, annuities, rental income you expect to continue.
4% is a common rule of thumb; lower is more conservative.

Trade‑off settings

Baseline X vs X + this many years.
E.g. X + 5 years.
How much more you might invest each year.
For example, 10% or 15% less than your current target.
Optional extra income during early retirement years.

🔒 Save and compare retirement trade-offs

Upgrade to Premium to save multiple trade-off scenarios, export PDFs and CSVs, get AI-generated plain-language explanations of your specific results, and compare them across calculators.

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