How Long Would My Savings Last?
If the income stopped on Friday, how long would what you have saved really carry you? Put in your real numbers and see the month the money runs out, what would be left along the way, and how far a small change moves the date.
This is plain arithmetic, not financial advice. Each month it takes the gap between what goes out and what comes in from your savings, then adds any growth. Costs rise once a year and income stays flat. Real life will not be this tidy. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere or stored.
Common Questions About How Long Savings Last
How long will my savings last if I stop working?
The short version is your savings divided by the monthly gap. The gap is what goes out each month minus whatever still comes in, such as a partner’s pay, a pension or benefits. Someone with $30,000 who spends $3,000 a month and has nothing coming in has ten months. If $1,000 a month keeps arriving, the gap drops to $2,000 and the same money lasts fifteen months. That is why the gap often matters more than the pot: a change to either side of it can move the date further than a modest bump in savings would. For short stretches of a year or two, this simple sum is close to the truth, because interest and price rises barely have time to show. Over longer stretches they start to matter, so a plain division becomes a rough first estimate instead of a real answer.
How long will $500,000 last in retirement?
It depends far more on spending and other income than on the $500,000 itself. At $3,000 a month with nothing else coming in and no growth, it lasts just under fourteen years. If $1,800 a month arrives from Social Security or a pension, the gap falls to $1,200 and the same money lasts nearly thirty-five years. Growth and inflation pull in opposite directions. With 4% yearly growth and costs rising 3% a year, the first case stretches to about fifteen years, while the second comes in at about twenty-eight, shorter than the flat estimate, because rising costs eat into a fixed income. A long-running planning guideline known as the 4% rule suggests a first-year withdrawal of about 4% of the pot, adjusted for inflation after that, which would be around $1,667 a month here. It comes from studies of past markets, so it is a reference point and not a guarantee.
How many months of savings should I have if I lose my job?
The most common guideline is three to six months of essential costs, meaning what you would still have to pay after cutting everything you could. People with a single income, irregular pay or others depending on them often aim higher, because a gap in work is harder to absorb. How long a job search lasts varies widely with the field, the seniority of the role and the state of the economy, so it helps to see your own figure instead of relying on an average. It is also worth working out your runway twice, once with normal spending and once with only the essentials, since the difference between those two numbers is the extra time you could buy in a real emergency. If you are still building that cushion, our emergency fund calculator works out a target for your household and how long it would take to reach it.
Do interest and inflation really change how long my money lasts?
Yes, and the longer the stretch, the more they matter. Take $100,000 with $2,000 a month going out and nothing coming in. With no growth and steady prices, it lasts fifty months, or a little over four years. Add 4% yearly growth and it reaches about fifty-four months. Leave growth out and let costs rise 3% a year, and it falls to about forty-seven. With both, it lands near fifty-one, close to where it started, because the two forces roughly cancel. Over four years neither one changes the picture much. Over twenty or thirty years they can change it completely, because each compounds on itself. Growth is also never guaranteed, and investments can fall in the same years you need to draw on them. Running your numbers with a low rate and a higher one gives you a range, which is usually a safer thing to plan around than one neat date.
What is the easiest way to work out how long my money will last?
Start with three numbers: what you have saved, what goes out each month, and what would still come in. Use real figures from your last two or three bank statements instead of a guess, because most people underestimate their spending, and irregular costs such as car repairs or annual insurance are easy to forget. Only count money you could actually reach. A house or a car usually is not, and retirement accounts may carry tax or early-withdrawal costs, so those balances can be worth less than they look. After that, decide whether you want the normal-month answer or the bare-bones one, and try both. To skip the arithmetic, put your numbers into the calculator above. It shows how long your savings would last, roughly what month they would run out, what would be left along the way, and how far a small change would move the date.