7 Things to Know Before You Estimate Your Retirement Income

If you earn $100,000 today, how much income will you have after you retire?

Your current salary alone cannot answer that question.

Retirement income can come from several places: Social Security, a pension, withdrawals from retirement accounts, taxable investments and other income. What your savings can provide also depends on how much you have now, how much you keep saving, how long the money has to grow and how long you expect to draw from it.

This calculator starts with a different question from a retirement-needs calculator: If I keep going from here, roughly how much monthly retirement income am I on track to have?

Quick Answer

Retirement Income Calculator

Open the Retirement Income Calculator →

The calculator should answer:

“Based on what I have and what I am saving now, approximately how much monthly income could I have in retirement?”

Basic inputs

• Current age
• Planned retirement age
• Current annual income
• Current retirement savings
• Monthly or annual employee contributions
• Employer match or other employer contribution
• Personalized Social Security estimate
• Social Security claiming age
• Pension or other dependable retirement income
• Planning age

Advanced inputs

• Expected salary growth
• Expected investment return before retirement
• Expected return during retirement
• Inflation
• Estimated retirement taxes
• Other investable assets
• Other retirement income

The result should separate income sources instead of combining everything into one unexplained number.

Projected monthly income Example display

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Social Security $2,800 Pension $700 Portfolio-supported income $3,200 Estimated total $6,700

The calculator should also show the same result in today’s dollars when possible so users do not mistake a larger future nominal dollar amount for greater purchasing power.

1. Your Salary Is Not Your Retirement Income Formula

Salary matters because it affects what you can save and can affect Social Security-covered earnings. But there is no simple conversion from “I make $100,000” to “I will receive $X per month in retirement.”

For investment accounts, the more useful inputs are your current balance, contributions, employer contributions, time and assumed investment growth.

For Social Security, the Social Security Administration uses your work earnings record. SSA says retirement benefits are based on work earnings and provides personalized estimates through my Social Security. The agency also notes that only earnings up to the annual Social Security taxable maximum are counted; for 2026, that limit is $184,500.

That is why the calculator should ask users to enter their SSA estimate rather than manufacture a Social Security estimate from one year’s salary.

2. Your Current Balance and Savings Rate Do Much of the Heavy Lifting

Someone starting at age 45 with $500,000 invested is in a different position from someone of the same age and salary starting with $50,000.

Future contributions matter too.

The calculator should project the current balance forward and add future contributions over the years until retirement. Employer matching or nonelective contributions should be entered separately so users do not forget money their employer may add.

Contribution limits also change over time. For 2026, the IRS employee elective-deferral limit for most 401(k), 403(b) and governmental 457 plans is $24,500. The general catch-up limit for eligible participants age 50 and older is $8,000 in 2026, with a higher $11,250 catch-up limit for eligible participants ages 60 through 63. The 2026 IRA contribution limit is $7,500, with a $1,100 catch-up for eligible people age 50 or older.

These are current limits, not permanent calculator assumptions.

3. Social Security Is Personal --- Use Your Own Estimate

A generic retirement calculator can easily create false precision around Social Security.

SSA’s personalized estimate uses your earnings record and allows you to compare benefit estimates at different claiming ages. SSA also says retirement benefits are calculated using the highest 35 years of earnings.

If you stop working before you have 35 years of earnings, SSA can use zeros for missing years. Continuing to work can also replace lower-earning years with higher ones in the calculation.

For people born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. SSA says a worker claiming at 62 can receive 70% of the full-retirement-age benefit in that birth group, while delaying to 70 produces 124% of the full-retirement-age amount.

Those are benefit-adjustment rules, not a recommendation about when you personally should claim.

4. Retiring at 65 Does Not Mean Social Security Must Start at 65

This distinction is easy to miss.

You might leave work at 65 and claim Social Security at 67. In that case, the calculator needs to account for a period when you are retired but Social Security has not started.

Or you may continue working while receiving Social Security.

SSA specifically distinguishes the age you stop working from the age you begin retirement benefits. A calculator with only one “retirement age” field cannot model that distinction properly.

The interface should therefore have two separate controls:

Stop working at age: ___

Start Social Security at age: ___

If the second age is later, the result should clearly identify the bridge years rather than quietly assuming Social Security begins on retirement day.

5. “$6,000 a Month in Retirement” Needs Context

A future monthly dollar amount can sound reassuring while hiding two important questions.

First: What will those dollars buy?

If retirement is 20 years away, $6,000 in future dollars will not have the same purchasing power as $6,000 today. The calculator should therefore show either inflation-adjusted dollars or both nominal and today’s-dollar estimates, with the assumptions clearly labeled.

Second: How much of the income is dependable and how much comes from investments?

A result such as this is more informative than one total:

Estimated monthly retirement income: $6,700

• Social Security: $2,800
• Pension: $700
• Portfolio: $3,200

That tells the user what happens if the portfolio projection changes.

6. Medicare and Taxes Can Reduce What You Actually Have to Spend

Gross retirement income is not the same as spendable retirement income.

For 2026, Medicare lists the standard Part B premium at $202.90 per month, with higher premiums for some higher-income beneficiaries, and a $283 annual Part B deductible. Medicare costs change over time.

Original Medicare also leaves some services uncovered. Medicare specifically lists long-term care among services Original Medicare does not cover and says it does not pay for long-term custodial care.

Taxes can also affect the amount available to spend depending on the source of retirement income and the household’s circumstances.

For that reason, the calculator should label its headline result clearly as estimated gross retirement income unless it actually models taxes and health costs. A second field can let users estimate those expenses rather than presenting a misleading “take-home” number.

7. Income Only Becomes Meaningful When You Compare It With Spending

Suppose your result says:

Projected retirement income: $6,100/month

Is that good?

There is no answer until you know what you expect to spend.

If your projected retirement spending is $5,000 per month, the model tells one story. If it is $8,000, it tells another.

This is where the two KnowThisBefore calculators should connect:

Retirement Income Calculator: How much am I on track to have?

Retirement Needs Calculator: How much might I need?

Together they reveal the number that matters most:

Projected income − projected spending = estimated monthly surplus or shortfall

Before You Estimate Your Retirement Income Checklist

• Check your current 401(k), IRA and other investment balances.
• Add your actual employee contribution amount.
• Add employer matching or other employer contributions separately.
• Check the current IRS contribution limits if you plan to increase savings.
• Get your personalized Social Security estimate.
• Enter your planned work-retirement age separately from your Social Security claiming age.
• Add pension income only if you have a reasonable estimate of the benefit.
• Decide whether you want results in future dollars, today’s dollars or both.
• Include a realistic planning horizon rather than assuming a fixed number of retirement years.
• Remember Medicare premiums and other health costs.
• Compare projected monthly income with projected monthly retirement spending.
• Run a lower-return scenario before relying on the result.

FAQ

If I make $100,000 now, how much will I make in retirement?

Current salary alone cannot determine retirement income. Your current savings, future contributions, employer contributions, Social Security record, pension, retirement age, claiming age and investment assumptions all matter.

Can I estimate Social Security from my current salary?

A personalized SSA estimate is better. SSA’s estimate uses your earnings record and lets you compare different claiming ages.

Is retirement income the same as Social Security?

No. Retirement income may include Social Security, pensions, withdrawals from retirement accounts, taxable investments and other income.

Should employer 401(k) matching count?

Yes, if you reasonably expect to receive it and meet the plan’s requirements. Enter it separately from your own contribution so the projection is transparent.

Should the calculator show today’s dollars?

Ideally, yes. Showing an inflation-adjusted result helps users compare future retirement income with the purchasing power they understand today.

Is projected monthly retirement income guaranteed?

No. Investment returns, inflation, future contributions, employment, laws, taxes and personal circumstances can differ from assumptions. Treat the result as a planning estimate.

How do I know whether my projected retirement income is enough?

Compare it with a retirement-needs estimate based on your expected spending, health care, taxes, housing and other retirement expenses.

Want to know whether that projected income may cover your retirement spending? Use the Retirement Needs Calculator → and read Can I Afford to Retire?

The Bottom Line

The hook may be “I make $100,000 now --- what will I have in retirement?” But salary is only the beginning.

A useful retirement-income projection combines what you have already saved, what you will keep contributing, employer contributions, time, Social Security, pension income and transparent investment assumptions.

Then do the step many calculators leave out: compare that projected income with what you expect retirement to cost.

One calculator tells you what you may have. The other tells you what you may need. The gap between them is where the planning starts.

Sources

• Social Security Administration --- Get a benefits estimate
• Social Security Administration --- Benefit calculators
• Social Security Administration --- Retirement age and when you stop working
• Social Security Administration --- Starting retirement benefits early
• Social Security Administration --- Delayed retirement for people born in 1960 or later
• IRS --- 2026 retirement plan contribution limit adjustments
• IRS --- 401(k) and profit-sharing plan contribution limits
• IRS --- IRA contribution limits
• Medicare --- 2026 Medicare costs
• Medicare --- What’s not covered
• Medicare --- Long-term care coverage