the paycheck

Type in one paycheck and it works out how many years until you can stop.

The Quick check is the first screen. Take-home pay, savings rate and the years to your number, and all three update as you type.

You asked for the link. It is below: the slides from the post, the move if there is one, and the planner the chart came from.

Slide 1 of 5: Type in one paycheck and it works out how many years until you can stop.

Slide 2 of 5: It starts with your paycheck, line by line.

Slide 3 of 5: It turns your spending into a number to aim for.

Slide 4 of 5: Save a bit more and it shows you how many years that buys.

Slide 5 of 5: Save this for the next time you wonder whether you are saving enough.

Where to go next

Retire Plan

Type in one paycheck and it runs your plan through every year of market history since 1871, with the taxes worked out. About three minutes, in the browser.

Open it

Sources: IRS 2026 brackets and limits, SSA 2026 wage base, Tax Foundation 2026 state rates. Example plan: age 40, $90,000 salary, Colorado.; Engine output for the example plan (age 40, $90,000 salary, Colorado). The rate is a choice, not a rule; 4% comes from Bengen 1994 and the Trinity study.; Real return is growth after inflation; an assumption, not a forecast. The same 4% withdrawal rate on every line..

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