Periodic Withdrawals Calculator — embeddable calculator

Periodic withdrawals

Decumulation from a balance you already hold. Each period: withdraw, then grow the remaining balance.

Balance and return

Starting balance

Expected annual return

Treated as an effective annual rate. The period rate is its exact root, so the periods compound back to this figure — it is not simply divided.

Withdrawals

Withdrawal each month

Withdrawal frequency

Withdrawal timing

Beginning: withdraw, then the remainder grows. End: the balance grows, then you withdraw. The difference is small each period and material over a lifetime.

Annual withdrawal increase

Applied at the start of each subsequent withdrawal year. Use it to model inflation-linked spending or any other planned rise — it is your assumption, not a published index.

Purchasing power and sensitivity

Inflation assumption

Used only to restate figures in today's money. It never changes the withdrawal — that is the annual increase above.

Return spread

Withdrawal increase spread

The balance lasts

29 years 5 months

$750,000 paying $3,000 monthly, rising 2.50% a year, runs out during year 30 — withdrawal 353 of the schedule.

Initial withdrawal$3,000$36,000 in year one

Year-one withdrawal rate4.80%Annualised year-one withdrawal ÷ starting balance

Final modeled withdrawal$2,203.06Partial — the schedule called for $6,139

Total withdrawn$1,533,587353 withdrawals

Growth while drawing down$783,587

Ending balance$0Exhausted

Depletion. The balance reaches zero at withdrawal 353, during year 30. The last payment is partial: $2,203.06 instead of the scheduled $6,139.

Where the money you withdrew came from

Starting balance drawn down: $750,000 (48.9%)
Growth earned while drawing down: $783,587 (51.1%)

A constant return is an arithmetic assumption, not a forecast. A portfolio that averages 5.00% with volatility can fail a plan that a smooth 5.00% survives, because withdrawals taken during a fall permanently remove capital that never recovers. Sequence-of-returns risk is not modelled here.

How long the balance lasts under different assumptions (return ±2 points, increase ±2.5 points)
Annual increase ↓ / Return →	3% return	5% return	7% return
0% increase	32 years 4 months	Over 100 years	Over 100 years
Selected increase (2.5%)	22 years 3 months	29 years 5 months	54 years 6 months
5% increase	17 years 11 months	21 years 4 months	27 years 3 months

Each cell is how long the balance lasts at that pair of assumptions. "Over 100 years" means the deterministic model does not exhaust it inside the calculation horizon.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

Year-by-year drawdown
Year	Scheduled monthly withdrawal	Starting balance	Withdrawn	Growth	Ending balance	Ending balance (real)
1	$3,000	$750,000	$36,000	$36,532	$750,532	$732,227
2	$3,075	$750,532	$36,900	$36,535	$750,167	$714,020
3	$3,152	$750,167	$37,823	$36,492	$748,836	$695,369
4	$3,231	$748,836	$38,768	$36,400	$746,468	$676,263
5	$3,311	$746,468	$39,737	$36,255	$742,986	$656,691
6	$3,394	$742,986	$40,731	$36,054	$738,309	$636,642
7	$3,479	$738,309	$41,749	$35,793	$732,354	$616,104
8	$3,566	$732,354	$42,793	$35,467	$725,028	$595,064
9	$3,655	$725,028	$43,863	$35,072	$716,238	$573,512
10	$3,747	$716,238	$44,959	$34,603	$705,882	$551,434
11	$3,840	$705,882	$46,083	$34,055	$693,855	$528,818
12	$3,936	$693,855	$47,235	$33,423	$680,042	$505,650
13	$4,035	$680,042	$48,416	$32,701	$664,327	$481,916
14	$4,136	$664,327	$49,626	$31,882	$646,583	$457,604
15	$4,239	$646,583	$50,867	$30,962	$626,678	$432,699
16	$4,345	$626,678	$52,139	$29,932	$604,471	$407,187
17	$4,454	$604,471	$53,442	$28,787	$579,816	$381,052
18	$4,565	$579,816	$54,778	$27,518	$552,556	$354,280
19	$4,679	$552,556	$56,148	$26,118	$522,527	$326,855
20	$4,796	$522,527	$57,551	$24,579	$489,555	$298,761
21	$4,916	$489,555	$58,990	$22,892	$453,456	$269,982
22	$5,039	$453,456	$60,465	$21,047	$414,039	$240,501
23	$5,165	$414,039	$61,977	$19,036	$371,098	$210,300
24	$5,294	$371,098	$63,526	$16,847	$324,420	$179,364
25	$5,426	$324,420	$65,114	$14,471	$273,776	$147,672
26	$5,562	$273,776	$66,742	$11,895	$218,929	$115,208
27	$5,701	$218,929	$68,411	$9,107	$159,626	$81,952
28	$5,843	$159,626	$70,121	$6,096	$95,601	$47,885
29	$5,989	$95,601	$71,874	$2,848	$26,575	$12,986
30	$6,139	$26,575	$26,760	$185	$0	$0

The schedule stops at depletion or at the end of the run, whichever comes first. Every headline figure above is a total of these rows.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.

Withdrawal-by-withdrawal schedule (353 periods)

First 12 and last 12 withdrawals (329 rows between them not shown)
#	Year	Starting balance	Growth	Withdrawal	Ending balance
1	1	$750,000	$3,043	$3,000.00	$750,043
2	1	$750,043	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,087
3	1	$750,087	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,131
4	1	$750,131	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,175
5	1	$750,175	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,219
6	1	$750,219	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,263
7	1	$750,263	$3,044	$3,000.00	$750,307
8	1	$750,307	$3,045	$3,000.00	$750,352
9	1	$750,352	$3,045	$3,000.00	$750,397
10	1	$750,397	$3,045	$3,000.00	$750,442
11	1	$750,442	$3,045	$3,000.00	$750,487
12	1	$750,487	$3,045	$3,000.00	$750,532
342	29	$67,249	$250	$5,989.49	$61,509
343	29	$61,509	$226	$5,989.49	$55,746
344	29	$55,746	$203	$5,989.49	$49,959
345	29	$49,959	$179	$5,989.49	$44,149
346	29	$44,149	$155	$5,989.49	$38,315
347	29	$38,315	$132	$5,989.49	$32,457
348	29	$32,457	$108	$5,989.49	$26,575
349	30	$26,575	$83	$6,139.22	$20,519
350	30	$20,519	$59	$6,139.22	$14,439
351	30	$14,439	$34	$6,139.22	$8,333
352	30	$8,333	$9	$6,139.22	$2,203
353	30	$2,203	$0	$2,203.06 (partial)	$0

Beginning-of-period timing: the withdrawal is taken first, then the remaining balance grows.

Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen to see every column.