Planning tools
Retirement, in numbers.
Explore the relationship between retirement capital, gross income and the saving needed to close a funding gap. These are illustrations using your selected assumptions.
The examples start with fictional amounts. All income figures are before personal tax. A withdrawal-rate illustration does not establish that income will be sustainable.
How much capital might I need?
Convert a monthly gross income target into a capital amount at an illustrative annual withdrawal rate.
Enter the monthly amount you would withdraw before personal tax.
Illustrative capital requirement
Select your assumptions, then calculate.
What income might my capital provide?
See the annual and monthly gross withdrawal implied by the selected rate.
Enter the capital available for this withdrawal illustration.
Illustrative gross income
Select your assumptions, then calculate.
Am I saving enough towards the target?
Compare the projected capital with a target based on a 4% withdrawal assumption, using today’s money throughout.
In today’s purchasing power.
Use a decimal point for cents. Commas or spaces may separate thousands.
Month-end contributions, in today’s money. The model keeps their purchasing power constant.
Your retirement funding illustration
Select your assumptions, then calculate.
Methods and limits
What the figures mean.
Capital needed is monthly gross income multiplied by 12, divided by the selected withdrawal rate. Income available reverses that relationship. The 3%, 3.5%, 4% and 4.5% settings are planning illustrations, not promises of sustainable income.
A capital illustration
A gross withdrawal of R20,000 a month is R240,000 a year. Dividing that amount by an illustrative 4% annual withdrawal rate gives R6 million. Reversing the same calculation, R6 million × 4% ÷ 12 gives R20,000 a month before personal tax. This is arithmetic using an assumed rate, not a finding that the income will last. Returns, fees, inflation, taxes and the length of retirement still need to be assessed.
The funding illustration converts the selected annual real growth rate to an effective monthly rate and assumes contributions at the end of each month. It projects existing capital and new saving to retirement, then compares the result with a capital target based on a 4% withdrawal assumption.
Monthly saving required is the total contribution needed. It is not additional saving on top of the amount already entered. The model assumes future contributions keep pace with inflation; it does not make a nominal salary or contribution forecast.
Actual outcomes depend on investment returns, their sequence, fees, taxes, inflation, lifespan and the investments or annuity selected. These tools do not model those risks individually and do not provide personalised advice.
Read the retirement capital explanationBring the numbers back to your plan.
A Financial Clarity Review considers your existing arrangements and the questions that need closer investigation.
Explore the Financial Clarity Review