Retire with Social Security + Pension

How to use this calculator

1. Enter your planned retirement age and monthly pension amount (if any).
2. Enter your expected monthly Social Security benefit at that retirement age.
3. Enter your retirement savings balance and a withdrawal rate (for example, 3.5–4%).
4. We calculate annual pension, annual Social Security, annual withdrawal from savings, and total annual income.
5. Review the combined income and adjust pension, Social Security, or withdrawal rate assumptions as needed.

Inputs explained

Retirement age

The age at which you plan to stop full-time work. Use a consistent age for pension and Social Security inputs, even if benefits actually start earlier or later.

Pension (monthly)

Monthly pension benefit you expect to receive at retirement. If you have multiple pensions, you can combine them into one monthly figure.

Social Security (monthly)

Estimated monthly Social Security benefit at your chosen retirement age. Use SSA statements or calculators to get a reasonable estimate.

Retirement savings balance

Total amount you expect to have saved in retirement accounts and other investment accounts that you plan to draw from in retirement.

Annual withdrawal rate (%)

Rule-of-thumb percentage of your savings you plan to withdraw in the first year of retirement (e.g., 4% in a classic “4% rule” style plan).

When to use it

• Quickly estimating retirement income when you have a mix of pension, Social Security, and savings instead of relying on a single source.
• Testing different retirement ages to see how changes in pension and Social Security amounts affect total income.
• Comparing the impact of higher or lower withdrawal rates on your total retirement income.
• Using as a starting point for budgeting in retirement before building a more detailed, tax-aware plan.
• Helping partners or clients visualize how guaranteed income (pension/SS) and portfolio withdrawals combine to fund retirement.

Tips & cautions

• Use conservative withdrawal rates (for example, 3–4%) if you want to reduce the risk of depleting savings too quickly.
• If your pension or Social Security start at different ages than your retirement age, run separate scenarios or adjust the inputs to model different phases.
• Remember that these are pre-tax amounts—after-tax take-home income will be lower depending on your tax situation.
• Revisit this calculation periodically as your savings, pension estimates, and Social Security projections change.
• Combine this with a retirement budget to see whether your total annual income estimate comfortably covers expected expenses.
• Does not model taxes, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), or changes in benefits over time; all amounts are nominal and pre-tax.
• Assumes pension, Social Security, and withdrawals all begin at the same retirement age; staggered start ages require separate scenarios.
• Does not consider inflation, portfolio volatility, or how withdrawal amounts might be adjusted in later years.
• Treats withdrawal rate as a simple first-year rule; it does not model dynamic withdrawal strategies or required minimum distributions.

Deep dive

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