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Retirement drawdown

The age your money runs out. Your balance, your spending, your return, and the exact year it fails so you can move it.

Make it your own

Start with an example, then change any value. Enter 0 for none; a blank field cannot be calculated. All money amounts are NZD.

Your entries stay in this calculator. They are not saved or sent anywhere.

Your estimate

Portfolio exhaustion under these assumptions

Depleted at age 87

The portfolio reaches zero during the age-87 year. Any spending it cannot fund, including later years, needs another source.

First-year portfolio withdrawal requested
$30,000.00
Unfunded spending in final modelled year
$40,399.00
Balance after age 95
$0.00
NZ Super and other income
Excluded
Illustrative amounts over time, in NZDStart at age 65: $600,000.00. End of age 87: $0.00. All chart values are available in the expandable text list below.$600K$0Start at age 65End of age 87
Illustrative amounts in NZD. Engine-provided chart points may be rounded to whole dollars; headline figures use the engine’s summary precision.
View all chart values
Start at age 65
$600,000.00
End of age 65
$587,100.00
End of age 66
$573,195.00
End of age 67
$558,242.00
End of age 68
$542,198.00
End of age 69
$525,017.00
End of age 70
$506,652.00
End of age 71
$487,053.00
End of age 72
$466,170.00
End of age 73
$443,951.00
End of age 74
$420,341.00
End of age 75
$395,284.00
End of age 76
$368,723.00
End of age 77
$340,596.00
End of age 78
$310,841.00
End of age 79
$279,394.00
End of age 80
$246,189.00
End of age 81
$211,155.00
End of age 82
$174,223.00
End of age 83
$135,316.00
End of age 84
$94,360.00
End of age 85
$51,276.00
End of age 86
$5,980.00
End of age 87
$0.00
What this estimate assumes
  • Drawdown begins now, not at a future retirement date. Each year’s withdrawal is taken at the start of the year; the remaining portfolio then earns the annual return.
  • The final age is inclusive: ages 65 through 95 represent 31 start-of-year withdrawals. Withdrawals rise with annual inflation from the second year.
  • NZ Super and other income are excluded. Enter only the spending your portfolio needs to fund, and a return already net of tax and fees.
  • Depletion is reported even if it falls within a year. Unfunded spending needs another source; constant returns do not capture sequence-of-returns risk or guarantee an income.

How to read this tool, in plain English

For information only, not financial advice. These simplified estimates do not consider your full circumstances. Assumed rates are not forecasts or guaranteed returns. Talk to a financial adviser before making financial decisions.

HOW TO READ THIS TOOL

The year the money runs out, before it does.

A clear answer

Either the balance left after the final age you model, or the age at which the portfolio reaches zero. Nothing in between.

Spending that keeps pace

Withdrawals are entered in today’s dollars and rise with the inflation rate you set, so the model spends more each year, as real life does.

See the balance fall

The chart tracks the portfolio at the end of each age, so you can see whether it is drifting down gently or heading for a wall.

How the model works

Drawdown starts now, at the age you enter, not at a future retirement date. Each year’s withdrawal comes out at the start of the year, and the remaining balance earns the return you assume. The final age is inclusive: ages 65 to 95 means thirty-one withdrawals.

What it leaves out

NZ Super and any other income are excluded, so enter only the spending your portfolio has to fund. The return is constant every year. A poor run of returns early in retirement can exhaust a portfolio much faster than a constant average suggests. That risk is real and this tool cannot show it.

The assumptions, in full

  • Drawdown begins now, not at a future retirement date. Each year’s withdrawal is taken at the start of the year; the remaining portfolio then earns the annual return.
  • The final age is inclusive: ages 65 through 95 represent 31 start-of-year withdrawals. Withdrawals rise with annual inflation from the second year.
  • NZ Super and other income are excluded. Enter only the spending your portfolio needs to fund, and a return already net of tax and fees.
  • Depletion is reported even if it falls within a year. Unfunded spending needs another source; constant returns do not capture sequence-of-returns risk or guarantee an income.

A FEW GOOD QUESTIONS

Before you
trust the number.

An estimate is only as good as the question behind it. These are the ones people ask most about this tool.

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Why doesn’t it include NZ Super?

To keep the question clean. Work out what NZ Super and any other income cover, subtract that from your spending, and enter the rest. If Super covers a large share of your costs, the portfolio only has to fund the gap, and the answer changes a great deal.

It says depleted at age 88. Is that a prediction?

No. It is the year the portfolio reaches zero if every assumption holds exactly. Real returns vary, spending changes and health costs arrive unevenly. Treat the age as a warning light, not a date.

What return should I use in retirement?

Usually lower than during working life, because many people move to a more conservative mix and the return is entered after tax and fees. The default is illustrative. Try a range and note how far the depletion age moves. That sensitivity is the point.

What if I want to start drawing down later?

Enter the balance you expect to have at that age and the age itself. This model does not project the balance forward for you; the investment growth tool can help with that step.

YOUR MONEY. YOUR CALL.

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