Safe withdrawal rate calculator

Convert a portfolio into a first-year retirement income, or an income target into the portfolio it requires — and see what fees take off the top.

The calculator

Portfolio value ($)

Withdrawal rate (%)

Income you want instead ($/yr)

Total annual fees (%)

First-year income$40,000$3,333 a month, before tax

After fees$40,000No fees entered

Portfolio needed$1,250,000For $50,000 a year at 4.0%

Multiple of spending25.0×Portfolio as a multiple of annual withdrawals

At 4.0%, a $1,000,000 portfolio supports a first-year withdrawal of $40,000. Going the other way, $50,000 a year requires $1,250,000.

Run 1,000 market paths

Success rate53%1000 seeded paths

10th percentile ending$0

Median ending$83,330

90th percentile ending$3,174,969

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What the rate means

4% is 4% of the starting balance in year one, then that dollar amount plus inflation — not 4% of the current balance. After a 30% fall, the same withdrawal is 5.7% of what is left. See safe withdrawal rate.

Limits

Figures are pre-tax. Fees come straight off the rate: 4% with a 1% fee behaves like 3%. A single rate also hides sequence risk and whether spending can flex. We tested that in a 5,000-run study. Set year one from valuations with the CAPE-based withdrawal calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What is a safe withdrawal rate?

The percentage of a portfolio’s starting value you withdraw in the first year of retirement, then adjust for inflation each year, without exhausting the portfolio over your horizon.

Is 4% still a safe withdrawal rate?

It depends on horizon, allocation and fees. Our simulation of 5,000 retirements found a flexible 4% policy survived every run while a rigid 4% failed in 1.1% of them — and fees push the sustainable rate down roughly by the size of the fee.

Does this calculator account for taxes?

No. It works in pre-tax terms, so treat the income figure as gross.

Is this a drawdown percentage calculator?

No. Drawdown in trading is a peak-to-trough loss. This page is a retirement withdrawal rate: a first-year cheque from a portfolio, then inflation.

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