How the retirement age calculator works
The date is downstream of the rate
Walk the balance forward until it crosses the target and read the calendar. The sensitivity rows are the point: at typical numbers, +10% on contributions pulls retirement 1–3 years earlier, and −10% pushes it similarly. Few other decisions in finance move your actual life by years.
Choosing the target honestly
The target should come from the savings-needed calculator (income gap × 12 ÷ withdrawal rate), not from a round million. Targets priced at 25× spending differ wildly from 20× — and the retirement-age estimate inherits every assumption you feed it.
The two-way door
A rising market makes the date look closer; a falling one, further. Neither is information about your savings rate. Review annually, adjust on life changes (house, kids, income jumps), and let the automation carry the interim — the date is a compass reading, not a weekly weigh-in.