Roth IRA Calculator

The calculator grows your current balance at the expected annual return divided by 12, compounded monthly. It adds your monthly contribution at the start of each month, so every contribution earns at least one month of growth. Future value is the sum of the two; total invested is your current balance plus all the monthly contributions.

With the defaults ($10,000 balance, $500 a month, 7%, 30 years) the projection is $694,708.72 on $190,000 put in.

Three things it does not do: it doesn't check your contribution against the IRS limit, it applies the same return every month with no bad years, and it shows the result in future dollars. Keep those in mind before you treat the number as a plan.

For tax year 2026, the IRS limit is $7,500 a year across all your IRAs, traditional and Roth combined. If you are 50 or older, the catch-up adds $1,100, for $8,600 in total. As monthly amounts:

• Under 50: $7,500 ÷ 12 = $625 a month
• 50 or older: $8,600 ÷ 12 = $716.67 a month

The calculator will happily accept $800 a month, which is $9,600 a year and over the limit, so use these figures as your ceiling.

Income can lower the ceiling too. For 2026, the amount you may contribute directly phases out with modified adjusted gross income between $153,000 and $168,000 for single and head-of-household filers, $242,000 and $252,000 for married couples filing jointly, and $0 and $10,000 for married filing separately if you lived with your spouse. Inside the range your allowed contribution is reduced; above it, you can't contribute directly.

The calculator uses one contribution for the whole period, but the limit rises at 50. Split the projection at that birthday. Say you are 40 with $25,000 in your Roth IRA and assume a 6% return:

1. Age 40 to 50: $25,000 balance, $625 a month, 10 years. Result: $148,421.63.
2. Age 50 to 65: enter $148,422 as the current balance, $716.67 a month, 15 years. Result: $573,704.63.

Contributing $625 a month for all 25 years instead gives $546,911.08, so the catch-up adds about $26,800 at 65.

One catch in the second run: "Total invested" now shows $277,422.60, because the calculator counts the $148,422 balance, including its growth, as money invested. Your own contributions are $25,000 + $75,000 + $129,000.60 = $229,000.60.

The projected balance is in the dollars of the year you retire. To see it in today's money, enter it in the inflation calculator and read the purchasing-power figure. At an assumed 3% inflation over 25 years, $573,705 buys about what $274,004.70 buys today.

The page treats the balance as tax-free, and that holds only for qualified withdrawals. A withdrawal is qualified only after the five-year period that starts with the first tax year you contributed to any Roth IRA, and only if you are 59½ or older. Disability, death or a first-home purchase (up to a $10,000 lifetime limit) can stand in for the age test, but not for the five years.