At Freedom Day
Portfolio value
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You put in
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Market grew it
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Dividends reinvested
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Growth over time
Your contributions
Growth
Cash dividends (assumed spent)
Freedom number
Pick a real fund, skim a slice of every paycheck, and watch compounding do the heavy lifting. Your goal: build a pile big enough to live off 4% a year.
How it works: read the FAQ →How this works. Each row withdraws your yearly spending () in the first year of retirement, assuming it's your only income. It uses 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction. State taxes aren't included.
Individual (brokerage): only the growth part of what you sell is taxed, at long-term capital gains rates (0%, 15% or 20%). Dividends are also taxed each year while you're investing, which isn't shown. Traditional 401(k)/IRA: every dollar out is taxed as income, plus a 10% penalty before 59½. You did get a tax break on the way in. Ways around the penalty include the 401(k) "rule of 55" and 72(t) payments. Roth: you pay tax before money goes in. After 59½ withdrawals are tax-free; before that, your own contributions come out tax- and penalty-free. IUL: money is usually taken out as withdrawals and policy loans, which aren't taxed while the policy stays in force. Contribution limits for 401(k)s and IRAs aren't modeled.
About the numbers. Fund returns are approximate 10-year annualized figures (roughly mid-2016 to mid-2026), rounded, with total return assuming dividends reinvested and price return excluding them. They are sample data for this prototype; the live site would refresh them from a market-data provider. Past returns do not predict future ones, and real results swing year to year rather than growing smoothly.
Questions about how this works? Read the FAQ. This is a learning tool, not financial advice. The growth chart does not include taxes or inflation.