Retirement Withdrawal Calculator Spreadsheet

About this template

This retirement withdrawal calculator is for people planning or living in retirement who want to see how their own numbers play out. Type your savings, age, planned spending and Social Security or pension, and the file runs it one row a year to the age the money lasts to. It is not a forecast: every rate is an assumption you choose.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

Pick any age in your plan and the cards and the year statement follow.

• Savings at the start of the year picked, on your assumptions
• Savings at the end of each age, with the year picked lit
• Where spending comes from: Social Security and pensions against what is withdrawn
• What If: the age the money lasts to with spending higher or lower and growth faster or slower
• Spending, income, withdrawal and growth for one year
• The share of savings taken out at each age
• Your real balances against what the plan said, year by year

Year by year

Each row shows savings at the start, spending, Social Security, what you withdraw, growth and what is left. Social Security is added from the age it starts, spending rises each year by the rate you set, and the file shows the age the money lasts to and what is left at your plan age. The withdrawal rate is shown every year.

What If

The same withdrawal plan is run at five spending levels and five growth rates, 25 combinations in all, each showing the age the money lasts to and what is left at your plan age. Change the growth and see how much the answer moves.

Actual against plan

Once you are drawing down, the Actual tab works as a drawdown tracker: log your real balance each January and what you took out, and see whether you are ahead or behind the plan.

Your numbers only

Every rate is yours to type, so the retirement income picture reflects your assumptions only. It is a planning and retirement budget tool, not financial advice or a prediction of returns.

Six connected tabs

Start Here, Setup, Year by Year, What If, Actual and Dashboard.

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark edition. Every tab is restyled, not only the dashboard, and both run on the same formulas, so you simply pick the look you prefer. Each edition comes filled with a worked example and as a blank copy, in Excel and in Google Sheets.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version is a real workbook you take a copy of, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros, no add-ins and no subscription

What you download

• Light edition: the Excel workbook filled with a worked example (a couple three years into retirement), and a blank one
• Dark edition: the same two files in the dark design
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (light and dark, filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. They are for personal and business use on your own devices, so please do not share or resell them. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use it in Google Sheets?

Yes. The download includes Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows or Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to copy the Google Sheets versions with a free Google account.

Does it predict how my investments will do?

No. It is not a forecast. The growth rate and the yearly rise in spending are both rates you type, and the file shows what follows from those assumptions.

Can I include Social Security or a pension?

Yes. Social Security is added from the age it starts, and the dashboard sets Social Security and pensions against what is withdrawn.

Can I compare different spending levels?

Yes. The What If tab runs the same plan at five spending levels and five growth rates, 25 combinations, showing the age the money lasts to.

What is the difference between the light and dark editions?

Only the look. Every tab is restyled with the same formulas, and both editions come with every download.