Retirement income · Purchasing power
Retirement Inflation & Cash Flow Calculator
The number on the check is only half the story.
See what inflation could do to your retirement income, your portfolio, and the number of years your savings can support your withdrawals.
Your assumptions. Two views of your money.
Put purchasing power into the picture.
Future dollars show the amount. Today’s dollars show what that amount could buy. “Today” is the start of retirement in this illustration.
See the difference
A growing balance can still buy less.
Enter your portfolio, income, growth, inflation, and time horizon to see an annual illustration.
The projected dollar amounts at each point in time.
The same money adjusted for the inflation rate you enter.
The chart and table will also show when withdrawals can no longer be fully funded.
Portfolio supports
—Ending portfolio, today’s dollars
—What inflation changes
Portfolio balance
Hypothetical illustration based on your entries. Constant annual growth cannot show sequence-of-returns risk. This is not a forecast, probability of success, or promise of future income.
Every year, in both kinds of dollars
Your annual cash flow
Income is withdrawn at the beginning of each year. Portfolio balances are measured at year-end. Dollar amounts are rounded for display; calculations use unrounded values. Scroll sideways on smaller screens.
| Year | Opening portfolio | Income requested | Income funded | Funded income in today’s dollars | Income shortfall | Year-end portfolio | Year-end portfolio in today’s dollars |
|---|
Reading the results
Income has an amount—and a purchasing power.
Inflation reduces what a dollar can buy. If you keep withdrawing the same dollar amount, its purchasing power declines when inflation is positive. Increasing withdrawals with inflation aims to preserve that purchasing power, but it asks more of the portfolio.
The calculator shows those tradeoffs using the assumptions you choose. A larger future balance does not necessarily mean greater purchasing power. Compare the future-dollar line with the today’s-dollar line, then look at how much income is actually funded each year.
The distinction between dollar amounts and constant-dollar purchasing power is explained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Before using these numbers
How this illustration works
Timing, calculations, and what “lasts” means
The illustration begins at the start of retirement. Year 1 income is withdrawn immediately, before investment growth. Inflation adjustments begin with Year 2. The growth and inflation rates you enter stay constant for the entire horizon.
- Indexed income: first-year income × (1 + inflation rate)year − 1.
- Fixed income: the same requested dollar amount each year.
- Income funded: the lesser of requested income and the opening portfolio balance.
- Year-end portfolio: (opening portfolio − income funded) × (1 + growth rate).
- Income in today’s dollars: funded income ÷ (1 + inflation rate)year − 1.
- Year-end portfolio in today’s dollars: year-end balance ÷ (1 + inflation rate)year.
“Full years” counts consecutive annual withdrawals funded in full. The first shortfall identifies the first withdrawal that cannot be fully funded. The model does not estimate a month or an exact day of depletion. If funds remain at the end of the selected horizon, it makes no claim about how long they last after that. Balances below half a cent are treated as zero.
Year 0 in the portfolio chart is the initial portfolio, before withdrawals. Year 1 income has today’s purchasing power; Year 1 ending assets reflect one year of inflation. Any hypothetical growth is calculated after the withdrawal. No new contributions or borrowing replenish a depleted portfolio.
Assumptions and limitations
All financial assumptions are entered by you. The growth rate is a nominal annual rate before inflation. Fees are not deducted separately; enter a rate after fees if you want that assumption reflected. Outputs are before taxes and are not spendable after-tax income.
This tool does not model taxes, required minimum distributions (RMDs), separate advisory or investment fees, variable returns, sequence-of-returns risk, variable inflation, long-term care, Medicare income-related adjustments (IRMAA), Social Security claiming or payments, pensions, contributions, or other household income. Personal inflation may differ from a broad consumer-price measure.
A constant growth rate is a simplifying assumption. Actual returns vary, and withdrawals during early losses can materially change outcomes. Learn about sequence-of-returns risk. Higher or lower rates can produce substantially different results. The input ranges are calculation limits, not recommended assumptions.
Results are hypothetical, vary with each use and over time, and do not represent actual investment performance or a guarantee of future results. Bailey Financial Services will provide supporting calculations and records promptly upon request.
Sources and privacy
Educational sources reviewed September 6, 2026:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Purchasing power and constant dollars
- Charles Schwab: What Is Sequence-of-Returns Risk?
The calculator performs arithmetic locally in your browser. Its code does not submit, save, or place your entries in a link. A CSV download is generated only when you request it. Ordinary site and browser behavior is covered by the site’s privacy policy.
From illustration to a conversation
Make the numbers part of a retirement plan.
I help retirees and people approaching retirement connect income needs, purchasing power, and investment decisions. We can discuss what your assumptions leave out and whether ongoing investment management with Bailey Financial Services is a fit.