Aisha K.
Mar 12, 2026
Clean layout and the results update instantly. Exactly what I needed for a quick planning check.
Life & Future
How Long Will My Money Last?
Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero.
The pile and the burn
Years until the account is empty
14.6 yr
Spend rises with inflation each year. A bad first decade would shorten this. A part-time income would lengthen it.
- That’s per month today
- $2,667
- 4% of the pile (classic draw)
- $15,200/yr
- Year the sketch runs out
- 2041
- Rough dollars spent before empty
- $467,817
Plain-English guide
Terms & how it works
Confused by a field? Read the short definitions here while you use the tool.
How Long Will My Money Last?
The “How Long Will My Money Last?” value used in this tool’s formula. Adjust it to see results update live.
- inputs
Your numbers
You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero.
How this calculator works
You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero. Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year. Example: $380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
Example: $380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
When to use this How Long Will My Money Last?
Common use cases
- You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero.
- Sanity-check with this case: $380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
- The relationship is: Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
Localized examples
- Life & Future: the example on this page uses the same formula as the widget.
What you get
- Workspace controls for this exact question
- Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
- Example on the page: $380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
How to Calculate How Long Will My Money Last? Step-by-Step
- 1You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero.
- 2Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
- 3Worked case: $380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
- 4Read it once, then decide what a Saturday or a deposit is worth. The number will not decide for you.
Governing formula
Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.
$380,000, spending $32,000, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → roughly 14–16 years, not “forever.”
Example: set How Long Will My Money Last? = 0, then read the result.
Variable definitions
- inputs
Your numbers
You already have a pile of cash or investments and a yearly spend. This walks that balance forward, growing it at your assumed return and raising spend with inflation, until the account hits zero.
- The count (Each year: balance = balance × (1 + return) − that year’s spend. Spend rises with inflation. Count years until the balance cannot cover the next year.) is calendar arithmetic. Health, luck, and whether you keep the habit are not fields.
- Nothing here is uploaded for the calculation itself.
Practical guide
Using the How Long Will My Money Last? well
Who this is for
People with a lump sum and a yearly burn rate who need years until the account hits zero—not a savings goal.
Worked example
$380,000, $32,000/year, 5% return, 2.5% inflation → a finite run of years; raise spend and the clock shortens fast.
This is a burn clock
Balance grows by the return, then the year’s spend comes out, then spend is inflated. It is a planning sketch. A part-time income or a cheaper year lengthens it.
Common pitfalls
- Forgetting that spend rises with inflation each year
- Treating the year count as guaranteed in a crash
Deeper read: open the full guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The 4% rule asks how big the pile should be. This asks how long a pile you already have survives your actual spending.
Related calculators
Life & Future
- When Can I Retire?Plug in your age, savings, monthly investing, and the income you actually want later. The date that comes back is the first year the 4% rule (or your own withdrawal rate) covers that income—not a promise from a brochure.
- How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?Start from the yearly spend you could live on, pick a withdrawal rate, and get the pile you need on day one of retirement. No age, no salary story—just the target.
- How Many Days Have I Been Alive?Birthday to today, in days. No astrology, no “life path number.” Leap days are included because they happened.
- How Many Weekends Do I Have Left Until 80?A rough count of Saturdays-and-Sundays between now and your 80th birthday. It is meant to make a weekend feel spendable, not to predict your health.
- What Would I Be Worth If I Invested $100 Every Month?$100 is small enough that people dismiss it. Twenty or thirty years later it is not small. This is the same compounding math as the $1,000 page with a humbler default.
- How Long Until I Save My First $100K?The first hundred thousand is mostly deposits. After that, growth does more of the lifting. This solves for the month you cross $100,000.
Next in Life questions
Keep going with related planners
These tools share the same journey — use them together for better decisions.
- When Can I Retire?Plug in your age, savings, monthly investing, and the income you actually want later. The date that comes back is the first year the 4% rule (or your own withdrawal rate) covers that income—not a promise from a brochure.
- How Much Money Do I Need to Retire?Start from the yearly spend you could live on, pick a withdrawal rate, and get the pile you need on day one of retirement. No age, no salary story—just the target.
- How Many Days Have I Been Alive?Birthday to today, in days. No astrology, no “life path number.” Leap days are included because they happened.
- How Many Weekends Do I Have Left Until 80?A rough count of Saturdays-and-Sundays between now and your 80th birthday. It is meant to make a weekend feel spendable, not to predict your health.
- What Would I Be Worth If I Invested $100 Every Month?$100 is small enough that people dismiss it. Twenty or thirty years later it is not small. This is the same compounding math as the $1,000 page with a humbler default.
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4.8
out of 5.0
4 reviews
Daniel R.
Feb 28, 2026
Very usable on mobile. Would love a save/export option later, but the math feels solid.
Priya S.
Feb 3, 2026
The FAQ section answered my questions before I even had to search. Smooth dark mode too.
Marcus L.
Jan 19, 2026
Simple inputs, clear outputs. This replaced three bookmarks I used to juggle.
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