New Zealand·Calculators·Retirement income

Retirement drawdown calculator

How long a balance lasts when you draw on it, and whether it runs out before your chosen term ends.

Your numbers

Starting balance

$NZD

Draw in year one

$NZD / year

Annual return

% p.a.

Inflation

% p.a.

Years

years

Runs out after:

20.5 years

$3,000 a month to start with

Total withdrawn$897,178

Scheduled withdrawals$1,460,451

Shortfall$563,273

Ending balance$0

The starting balance, return, inflation, withdrawal and horizon are user inputs; the horizon is a planning period you choose, not a life expectancy, and no safe-withdrawal rate or market forecast is supplied. Every figure is nominal, and the entered annual return is converted to a monthly equivalent and applied before each end-of-month withdrawal. The first-year annual withdrawal is divided into twelve payments and changes once each year by the entered inflation rate. Withdrawals stop when the modelled balance reaches zero and any remaining scheduled amount is reported as a shortfall. Tax, fees, investment volatility, lump sum spending, contribution changes, NZ Super and other retirement income are excluded.

Source: your own figures · scenario, not a forecastThe arithmetic is the same in every country

Open the budget planner

Why the shortfall line matters

If the balance empties before the period ends, the calculator keeps showing what you wanted to withdraw and records the difference as a shortfall. That number is the part of your plan the balance could not fund.

A smooth average return is the biggest simplification here. Two portfolios with the same average can end very differently depending on when the bad years fall.