Calculate Roth IRA growth projections with annual contribution limits, catch-up amounts, and tax-free withdrawal modeling.
This calculator projects how a Roth IRA grows into retirement. You enter your age, current balance, annual contribution, expected return, and retirement age; it compounds the account year by year and shows the tax-free balance waiting for you, automatically stepping contributions up to the catch-up amount once you pass 50. A second phase models withdrawals, showing how many years the balance supports the annual income you choose. The surprise most people meet: the projected balance is nominal dollars, not today's purchasing power, and the tax-free promise applies only to qualified withdrawals, five years after your first contribution and at age 59 and a half.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Current age 35, Roth balance $0, contribute $7,000 at the end of each year (the standard under-50 limit), 7% annual return, retire at 65.
Expected output
Projected balance at 65: $661,226, of which $210,000 is contributions and $451,226 is growth. The withdrawal phase then shows that taking $40,000 per year from that balance, still earning 7%, leaves about $1,255,000 after 30 years of retirement.
Thirty end-of-year deposits of $7,000 at 7% follow the annuity formula PMT x ((1+r)^n - 1)/r, which gives $661,226. Because it is a Roth, the full balance, contributions plus growth, is treated as tax-free money to withdraw.
Compounds your starting balance plus each annual contribution at the growth rate you choose, year by year, until the retirement age you set. Once your age reaches 50, the annual contribution automatically steps up to include the catch-up amount. Contributions are entered as after-tax dollars, so the final balance is treated as fully tax-free money, with no tax withheld on the way out.
After retirement age, the tool applies the same return to the balance and subtracts the annual withdrawal you specify, showing how long the money lasts and what remains at the end of your chosen horizon. Because the account is a Roth, each withdrawal is modeled tax-free, which is accurate only once the five-year rule and age 59 and a half are satisfied. The sustainable amount is up to your inputs, not the tax code.
Yes. Under the IRS ordering rules, contributions are withdrawn first, and they can come out any time, tax- and penalty-free, even in year one. Only earnings are restricted. The calculator's withdrawal phase models qualified withdrawals, so it will not show the tax and 10% penalty that withdrawing earnings early would trigger.
Because traditional contributions enter pre-tax: $7,000 in a traditional IRA costs less out of pocket than $7,000 in a Roth. Comparing the two balances directly is meaningless. Apply your expected retirement tax rate to the traditional withdrawals and compare after-tax amounts. The Roth wins when your tax rate in retirement is higher than your rate today, and it also has no required minimum distributions.
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