Roth IRA Calculator

Starting at 30 with a 7% return, about $1,036,777, or $436,868 in today’s dollars. Only $262,500 of it is your own contributions, which you can withdraw at any time; the rest is tax-free growth after 59½ and five years.

$7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older, across all your IRAs, and no more than you earn. The amount shrinks when your modified adjusted gross income is between $153,000 and $168,000 (single or head of household) or $242,000 and $252,000 (married filing jointly), and is zero above the top of the range.

With the IRS worksheet in Publication 590-A: take how far your income is into the range, divide by the width of the range, multiply the limit by that share, and subtract it from the limit. Round up to the next $10, and if the result is between $0 and $200, you can contribute $200. A single filer aged 30 with MAGI of $160,000 can contribute $4,000. The calculator shows each step for your income.

Contributing $7,500 a year from 30 to 65 at a 7% return reaches about $1,036,777, about $436,868 in today’s dollars. Only $262,500 of that is your own money; the other $774,277 is tax-free growth, provided you wait until 59½ and the account is five years old.

Your contributions, yes, at any time and without tax or penalty, because you have already paid tax on them. Earnings taken out before 59½, or before the account is five years old, can be taxed and charged a 10% penalty unless an exception applies. The calculator shows how much of the balance is each.

For the same take-home cost, a Roth wins if your tax rate in retirement will be higher than now, and traditional wins if it will be lower. Contributing the maximum tilts it towards Roth, because $7,500 in a Roth is worth more than $7,500 in a traditional IRA that will be taxed later. At 22% now and 12% later, $3,000 a year from 30 to 65 leaves about $467,879 after tax in a traditional IRA against $414,711 in a Roth.

Yes. As a Roth IRA estimator it projects the balance from your yearly contribution and return; as an IRA calculator it compares the Roth with a deductible traditional IRA at the same cost. It is a Roth account calculator for the IRA, not a Roth 401(k); for that, use the 401(k) calculator. It also works as an IRA account calculator for a Roth IRA.

The projection shows estimated Roth IRA growth year by year at the return you enter. Long-run stock returns have averaged roughly 7% a year after inflation, but no average return is guaranteed, so try a lower rate too.