Freelancer Retirement Calculator

Because no one is doing it for you. There is no employer pension, no automatic payroll deduction, and no matching contribution quietly topping up your savings. Every dollar that compounds toward your retirement is one you chose to set aside — this tool shows what that choice is worth over time.

A common long-run assumption for a diversified stock-and-bond portfolio is somewhere around 6–7% before inflation. Markets do not deliver that smoothly year to year, so treat the projection as a trend line, not a promise. Lower the rate if you want a more conservative picture.

Inflation means a dollar in 30 years buys less than a dollar today. If you enter an inflation rate, the calculator also shows your future balance in today's spending power — usually a sobering but honest second number to plan around.

Yes, more than almost anything else. The dashed line in the chart shows how little of your final balance is money you actually contributed — the rest is compound growth, and growth needs time above all. A modest amount started now routinely beats a larger amount started a decade later.