Just one more year is one of the most expensive sentences in personal finance. See what each extra year of work actually adds to retirement income.
Portfolio you have now and the savings you would still add each extra working year.
What you would add to the portfolio each extra year you work. Constant savings assumed across the window.
Real return on the portfolio and the safe withdrawal rate when you draw.
Expected return after inflation. Five per cent is a sensible long-run default for a globally diversified equity-heavy portfolio.
Share of the portfolio withdrawn each year in retirement. Four per cent is the textbook default. Three to three-and-a-half per cent suits longer retirements.
Sustainable annual spending uplift, today's money, from working one additional year.
Illustrative figures only. Real returns vary; the late-career window is particularly exposed to sequence-of-returns risk. For your specific situation, consult a qualified adviser.
Worth shows the lifetime trade-off behind every working year. The income it adds, the years of life it costs, the next move that makes the decision easier. Join the waitlist.
Because compounding accelerates. Year one's contributions get an extra year of growth versus stopping today. Year two's contributions get the previous year's compounded growth plus another year of returns. The pattern is exponential, not linear, especially in the last three to five years before retirement.
Real. The expected return is after inflation, so the spending uplift is today's purchasing power. The future numbers buy the same groceries and bills as they exist today.
If you taper savings (typical when downshifting), the bump per extra year shrinks. The calculator assumes constant annual savings during the extra years. To model declining contributions, run the calc twice (once with full savings, once with zero) and your real outcome will sit between them.
That is the decision the calculator surfaces. If the uplift buys a real margin of safety, peace of mind, or a specific future goal, yes. If you already have enough and you are working out of inertia or fear, the answer is often no. The point is to make the trade visible, not to push you in either direction.