Investment calculator with withdrawals

Keep the balance and the spending record together

This tool answers a fixed-horizon question: what remains after a chosen number of years, and how much requested spending did the account actually fund? Enter deposits and withdrawals separately so a net cash-flow figure does not hide the amount taken out.

The two balance lines separate nominal dollars from purchasing power. A higher nominal balance can still buy less if inflation outpaces growth. Inflation is an assumption, not a live economic reading.

A simple example you can reproduce

These are hypothetical arithmetic examples. The ending balance equals starting balance plus deposits, minus withdrawals actually paid, plus the modeled investment gain or loss. It is not the same as the total cash you have taken from the account.

Monthly rates and payment timing

The input return is an effective annual rate. Its monthly equivalent is (1 + annual return)^1/12 − 1. With end-of-month cash flows, the existing balance grows first, then receives a deposit and pays the withdrawal. With beginning-of-month cash flows, the first deposit and withdrawal happen immediately, before the first month of growth.

There are exactly 12 cash-flow events per modeled year in either convention. A beginning-of-month scenario has its last event one month before the horizon and then earns its final month’s return. Neither convention is a claim about your institution’s processing schedule.

What the inflation checkbox changes

When checked, the requested withdrawal grows each month with inflation. The entered withdrawal is measured in starting purchasing power; an end-of-month first withdrawal includes the first month’s inflation. When unchecked, the same nominal dollar amount is requested each month. Deposits remain fixed nominal amounts in both modes.

The purchasing-power line always divides the balance by accumulated inflation, even when withdrawals stay fixed. It is a second view of the same account, not an additional source of money. Negative inflation assumptions reverse that purchasing-power adjustment.

A positive ending balance does not rule out a shortfall

A requested payment above the available balance is only partly funded. The tool records the first shortfall and totals the requested amounts it could not pay. It does not borrow or let the account become negative. Later deposits continue, so a scenario can have an earlier shortfall and a later positive balance.

For example, at zero return, $1,050 and no deposits can fund ten full $100 withdrawals and $50 of the eleventh. After one year, actual withdrawals total $1,050 and unfunded requests total $150. Those missing payments are not counted as investment losses.

Choose the question before choosing the tool

Use how long will my money last? to solve a depletion timeline with no deposits. Use the withdrawal calculator to solve a monthly amount for a target duration. This page instead fixes the cash flows and the horizon, and reports the account and payment record.

None of these constant-return tools models market volatility, tax, account eligibility or a guaranteed safe spending rate. Read the financial disclaimer before treating a projection as a plan.

Questions about this calculation