Retirement: How Long Will My Money Last Calculator

This calculator works out how many years your retirement savings will last in New Zealand, based on the size of your pot, the amount you draw each year, and the return the money still invested keeps earning. It answers the question that worries most retirees more than any other: will my savings see me through? The arithmetic is more forgiving than a simple division suggests, because the balance you have not yet spent keeps growing, so a pot does not just run down at the rate you withdraw, it is partly topped up by returns each year. The crucial relationship is between your withdrawal and your return: if you draw no more than the pot earns, the balance never falls and the money lasts indefinitely, but draw more than the return and the capital slowly erodes until it is gone. You enter your savings pot, the amount you draw each year, and the expected return on the remaining balance, and the calculator tells you how many years the money will last, or confirms it could last indefinitely. Use it to test whether your planned spending is sustainable and to see how trimming your drawdown or lifting your return extends the life of your savings. Remember NZ Super provides income on top that this does not include, and inflation will lift your needs over time. General information, not advice.

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If you draw no more than the return, the money lasts indefinitely. Excludes NZ Super, which adds income on top, and inflation, which lifts your needs. General information only.