Retirement Calculator with Pension: Model Income Timing

Example: retiring before pension payments begin

This example uses a 45-year-old retiring at 62, with $350,000 invested, $20,000 added each year, $60,000 of annual retirement spending, and a $24,000 annual pension beginning at 67. At a 2% real return and 4% withdrawal rate, the five-year bridge matters: the projected portfolio is about $890,000, while the estimated target is about $1.10 million. The difference is roughly $208,000 under these assumptions.

Why pension start age changes the retirement target

A pension can reduce the amount your investments need to cover, but only for the years when payments are available. If you retire at 62 and a pension begins at 67, your plan has two phases: a bridge funded from savings, followed by a lower annual spending gap once pension income starts. Treating the benefit as if it starts on your retirement date can understate the amount needed for those first years.

This tool lets you enter one annual pension or reliable retirement benefit and a start age. If you expect several sources, combine their conservative annual estimates only when they begin at the same age. When dates differ, run separate scenarios or use the earliest benefit date only for the part that is actually available then.

How this calculator estimates the pension bridge

First, the calculator grows your current portfolio and planned annual contributions to your retirement age using the real-return assumption. It then estimates a bridge reserve by discounting planned annual spending over the years before pension income starts. After the pension begins, the remaining annual gap is divided by your selected withdrawal rate to estimate the ongoing portfolio target.

The total target at retirement is the bridge reserve plus the discounted post-pension target. If the pension begins before or at your planned retirement age, there is no bridge period; the calculation uses retirement spending minus pension income, with the result floored at zero. Change one assumption at a time to see which input moves the target most.

Use an estimate you can verify

The calculator does not look up Social Security, a public pension, an employer plan, or an annuity. Enter the annual amount you expect to receive based on an official estimate or plan statement. Use a conservative amount if the benefit could change, and enter it in today’s purchasing power so it can be compared with today’s spending.

Keep spending, pension income, portfolio values, and contributions on the same pre-tax or after-tax basis. The tool does not calculate income tax, healthcare premiums, cost-of-living adjustments, survivor benefits, pension security, or country-specific eligibility rules. Those details can materially change what reaches your budget.

Compare more than one retirement scenario

A single result can hide how sensitive a plan is to timing. Compare a lower pension estimate, a later start age, higher spending, and a lower real return. A useful stress case is not a prediction; it is a way to see how much room your plan has if an assumption is less favorable than expected.

Revisit the calculation after a change in your work date, savings rate, household spending, benefit estimate, or account balance. For a broader FIRE timeline, use the main FIRE calculator. For account-type detail, use Advanced FIRE. This page focuses on pension timing and the assets needed around that transition.