Calculator Tools

Roth IRA Calculator

Project Roth IRA growth to retirement with contribution, return, inflation, and a Traditional IRA pre-tax equivalent. Year-by-year breakdown in your browser.

Your Roth IRA inputs

Everything stays in your browser. No balance or contribution figure is sent to a server.

Currency

Current age

Retirement age

Roth IRA earnings are tax-free at withdrawal once you reach age 59 1/2 and the account has been open at least 5 years.

Starting Roth IRA balance

Annual contribution

The 2026 Roth IRA limit is $7,500 per year, plus an extra $1,100 catch-up if you are age 50 or older. Income phase-outs may reduce or eliminate the limit at higher MAGI; this calculator does not enforce phase-outs.

Annual contribution

Contribution mode

Assumptions

Use historical defaults or tune to your own outlook. Returns and inflation compound monthly and annually, respectively.

Expected annual return (%)

7% nominal is a common conservative long-term equity assumption.

Inflation (% per year)

Used to show the final balance in today's purchasing power.

Marginal tax rate at retirement (%)

Used only to estimate the pre-tax balance a Traditional account would need to match this Roth's after-tax spending power.

Projection

35 years of tax-free compounding from age 30 to 65.

Tax-free balance at age 65

$1,240,721

In future dollars at retirement. In today's purchasing power that is roughly $522,804.

Your contributions

$262,500

Cost basis. Roth contributions can be withdrawn tax and penalty free at any age.

Tax-free growth

$968,221

Investment growth at 7.0% per year. Withdrawn tax-free after age 59 1/2 and the 5-year rule.

Pre-tax equivalent

$1,590,667

Traditional IRA or 401(k) balance needed to net the same after-tax spending power at a 22.0% marginal rate.

Starting (0.8%)Your contributions (21.2%)Tax-free growth (78.0%)

Roth vs. Traditional tax savings

$349,947

At a 22.0% marginal rate in retirement, a Traditional IRA or 401(k) would need to hold $1,590,667 to give you the same $1,240,721 of after-tax spending. The extra $349,947 is the value of tax-free Roth growth (assuming your retirement tax rate is at least as high as your current rate).

Year-by-year breakdown

Showing every 5th year plus the first and last. Toggle to see all years.

Year	Age	Contribution	Growth	Ending balance
1	31	$7,500	$968	$18,468
5	35	$7,500	$3,696	$58,922
10	40	$7,500	$8,371	$128,275
15	45	$7,500	$14,999	$226,591
20	50	$7,500	$24,395	$365,967
25	55	$7,500	$37,716	$563,549
30	60	$7,500	$56,599	$843,647
35	65	$7,500	$83,368	$1,240,721

Common scenarios

Tap any scenario to load it into the calculator and tweak from there.

IRS Roth IRA contribution limits

Reference only. These are the annual contribution limits across all your IRAs combined (Roth and Traditional share one limit). MAGI-based phase-outs may reduce the limit at higher incomes.

Tax year	Under 50	Catch-up (50+)	Total at 50+
2024	$7,000	$1,000	$8,000
2025	$7,000	$1,000	$8,000
2026	$7,500	$1,100	$8,600

How the math works

Monthly compounding. The balance grows by r/12 each month, then that month's share of the annual contribution is added. Twelve months equals one simulated year.
Today's dollars. The real balance divides the nominal balance by (1 + inflation) raised to the years elapsed. This shows what the future balance would actually buy in today's prices.
Pre-tax equivalent. Final Roth balance divided by (1 minus your marginal rate at retirement). This is the Traditional balance you would need to deliver the same after-tax spending power, illustrating the value of tax-free Roth growth.
Limit mode.When "IRS limit each year" is selected, the simulation contributes the current annual limit and adds the catch-up amount automatically once the simulated age reaches 50.

Tips and limits

Roth IRA earnings are tax-free at withdrawal once you are at least 59 1/2 and the account has been open at least 5 years. Contributions themselves can come out any time, tax and penalty free.
The Roth IRA and Traditional IRA share one combined annual limit. You cannot contribute the full amount to each.
Roth IRA eligibility phases out at higher MAGI. High earners often use a backdoor Roth (a nondeductible Traditional contribution followed by a Roth conversion). This calculator does not enforce MAGI phase-outs.
The pre-tax equivalent comparison assumes your retirement marginal rate matches the rate you enter. If your future tax rate ends up lower than your current rate, a Traditional account may win for the same dollars in.
This tool projects account growth, not after-tax retirement spending or required minimum distributions. Roth IRAs do not have RMDs during the original owner's life.

How to use

Enter your current age, your target retirement age, and your current Roth IRA balance.
Set your annual contribution as a flat dollar figure, or choose "IRS limit each year" to contribute the current cap with the age 50+ catch-up added automatically.
Pick an expected annual return, an optional inflation rate for the today's-dollars view, and a marginal tax rate you expect at retirement (used only for the Traditional IRA comparison).
Read the tax-free balance at retirement, the split between contributions and growth, and the pre-tax equivalent a Traditional account would need to match the same after-tax spending.
Scan the year-by-year breakdown (expand to every year for full detail), load a preset scenario, or use Copy summary to grab the full projection for sharing or notes.

About this tool

Roth IRA Calculator projects the value of a Roth IRA from your current age to your target retirement age and shows how much of the final balance came from contributions versus tax-free investment growth. The simulation compounds monthly at your expected annual return, adds your contribution in twelve equal monthly chunks, and lets you switch between a flat annual contribution and an "IRS limit each year" mode that automatically applies the age 50+ catch-up. An optional inflation rate translates the future balance into today's dollars so the number you read actually reflects the spending power you will have at retirement. Because a Roth IRA is funded with after-tax dollars and earnings are tax-free after age 59 1/2 (and the 5-year rule), the calculator also estimates the pre-tax balance a Traditional IRA or 401(k) would need to deliver the same after-tax spending at your retirement marginal rate, with a side-by-side "Roth vs. Traditional tax savings" figure that captures the value of tax-free growth. A year-by-year table lists contribution, growth, and ending balance for every year, with a compact view that highlights every five years and the final year for long projections. A composition bar splits the final balance into starting balance, your contributions, and tax-free growth so you can see how much of the total came from compounding rather than from paychecks. IRS contribution limits for 2024, 2025, and 2026 are listed for reference (Roth and Traditional IRAs share one combined annual limit), and the calculator warns when your typed contribution exceeds the current limit so you can tell at a glance whether you are modeling a real or an excess scenario. Currency selection covers USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, INR, and TRY for display formatting through Intl.NumberFormat with no FX conversion. Useful for first-time Roth IRA savers comparing levels of contribution, mid-career savers stress-testing return and inflation assumptions, late starters running catch-up scenarios, and high earners modeling backdoor Roth contributions. Every figure you type stays in your browser; nothing is sent to a server. This calculator does not enforce MAGI-based phase-outs, taxes, fees, or early-withdrawal penalties; it models account growth and the headline Roth vs. Traditional comparison.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.

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