Roth IRA Calculator: Your Tax-Free Balance at Retirement

Name: Roth IRA Calculator: Your Tax-Free Balance at Retirement
Author: Acun Özdilek

This Roth IRA calculator projects your tax-free balance at retirement, holding each year’s contribution to what the IRS allows at your age and income.

Example numbers

The answerfrom an example

At 65 your Roth IRA could hold $1,240,721, all of it tax-free. $968,221 of that is growth no tax will ever touch.

Worked on Age 30, $10,000 saved, $7,500 a year, $90,000 income, single, 7% return. Change anything below to use yours.

Balance at 65: $1,240,721
Tax-free growth: $968,221
Tax it avoids: $145,233

The figures behind it

Balance at 65: $1,240,721; All of it can come out tax-free after 59½, once the account is five years old.
Tax-free growth: $968,221; The part a taxable account would have taxed.
Tax it avoids: $145,233; The same growth taxed at the capital gains rate you entered.
You can contribute this year: $7,500; At your age and income.

Your balance at retirement$1,240,721

21%

78%

Balance today$10,000
Your contributions$262,500
Tax-free growth$968,221

Your balance each year, and where it came from

Years from today

Balance todayYour contributionsTax-free growth

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Payment scheduleShow

Age	Allowed	You put in	Growth to date	Year-end balance
30	$7,500	$7,500	$968	$18,468
31	$7,500	$7,500	$2,549	$27,549
32	$7,500	$7,500	$4,786	$37,286
33	$7,500	$7,500	$7,726	$47,726
34	$7,500	$7,500	$11,422	$58,922
35	$7,500	$7,500	$15,927	$70,927
36	$7,500	$7,500	$21,299	$83,799
37	$7,500	$7,500	$27,603	$97,603
38	$7,500	$7,500	$34,904	$112,404
39	$7,500	$7,500	$43,275	$128,275
40	$7,500	$7,500	$52,793	$145,293
41	$7,500	$7,500	$63,542	$163,542
42	$7,500	$7,500	$75,609	$183,109
43	$7,500	$7,500	$89,092	$204,092
44	$7,500	$7,500	$104,091	$226,591
45	$7,500	$7,500	$120,716	$250,716
46	$7,500	$7,500	$139,086	$276,586
47	$7,500	$7,500	$159,326	$304,326
48	$7,500	$7,500	$181,571	$334,071
49	$7,500	$7,500	$205,967	$365,967
50	$8,600	$7,500	$232,668	$400,168
51	$8,600	$7,500	$261,841	$436,841
52	$8,600	$7,500	$293,666	$476,166
53	$8,600	$7,500	$328,333	$518,333
54	$8,600	$7,500	$366,049	$563,549
55	$8,600	$7,500	$407,033	$612,033
56	$8,600	$7,500	$451,523	$664,023
57	$8,600	$7,500	$499,770	$719,770
58	$8,600	$7,500	$552,048	$779,548
59	$8,600	$7,500	$608,647	$843,647
60	$8,600	$7,500	$669,879	$912,379
61	$8,600	$7,500	$736,081	$986,081
62	$8,600	$7,500	$807,610	$1,065,110
63	$8,600	$7,500	$884,852	$1,149,852
64	$8,600	$7,500	$968,221	$1,240,721

What this result assumes

Limits, the age-50 catch-up and the income phase-out are the 2026 figures, held for every year; your income is held at today’s figure too, so the two stay consistent.
Inside the phase-out the IRS worksheet reduces the limit in proportion, rounds it up to the next $10 and allows at least $200.
Contributions are spread evenly through each year and the return is constant with no volatility.
Qualified withdrawals — after 59½, with the account open five years — are tax-free. Contributions, but not growth, can come out earlier without tax or penalty.

It applies the 2026 limit of $7,500, the catch-up from 50 and the income phase-out, and puts a figure on the tax the growth will never pay.

Methodology

Reviewed October 1, 2026 by Acun Özdilek

What you are allowed to put in

Each year’s contribution is the amount you enter, held to what the IRS allows. For 2026 that is $7,500, or $8,600 once you are 50 with the catch-up. Above a certain income the allowance shrinks: between $153,000 and $168,000 of modified AGI for a single filer, and between $242,000 and $252,000 for a married couple filing jointly, it falls in proportion to how far through the range you are, and above the top it is zero.

Inside that range the IRS worksheet in Publication 590-A rounds the reduced figure up to the next $10 and never allows less than $200 while anything is allowed. The calculator follows the worksheet, and the test suite checks it at both edges of the range and in between.

Why the growth line matters

A Roth is funded with money that has already been taxed, so nothing comes off on the way out: qualified withdrawals, after age 59½ with the account open five years, are tax-free in full. The large figure on the page is therefore spendable as it stands, which is not true of a traditional 401(k) or IRA balance.

The growth is the part the Roth protects. In a regular brokerage account the same gain would be taxed, typically at a 15% capital gains rate, and dividends along the way would be taxed each year as well. The "tax it avoids" figure values only the first of those, so it is the conservative version of the benefit.

Roth or traditional

The choice is mostly about when you would rather pay tax. A Roth taxes the money now, at your current rate; a traditional account defers it to retirement, at whatever your rate is then. If you expect to be in a lower bracket later, traditional usually wins; if higher, or if you value tax-free money you can draw without raising your taxable income, Roth does. The traditional IRA calculator works out how much of a traditional IRA contribution you can deduct and the tax it saves.

Many savers do both: enough in a 401(k) to collect the full employer match, then a Roth IRA, then back to the 401(k). The take-home pay calculator shows your current marginal rate, which is the rate a Roth contribution is effectively paid at, and the retirement calculator projects what all of it together will pay.

Assumptions

The 2026 contribution limit, catch-up and income phase-out ranges are held for every year.
Your income is held at today’s figure, so the phase-out applies the same way each year.
Married filing separately is not modelled; its phase-out range is $0 to $10,000.
Contributions are spread evenly through the year and the return is constant, with no volatility.
Withdrawals are assumed to be qualified: after 59½ and at least five years after the first contribution.
The tax avoided is the capital gains tax on the growth only; tax on dividends in a taxable account is not counted.
A backdoor Roth conversion is not modelled.

Sources

Common questions

How much can I put in a Roth IRA in 2026?

$7,500, or $8,600 if you are 50 or older. The limit is shared across all your IRAs, traditional and Roth together, and you need at least that much earned income. Above $153,000 of modified AGI single, or $242,000 married filing jointly, the amount you can contribute starts to shrink.

How much will a Roth IRA be worth at retirement?

On this page’s example — $10,000 today, $7,500 a year from 30 to 65 at a 7% return — about $1.24 million, all of it tax-free. Of that, about $968,000 is growth. Starting ten years later at the same rate cuts the result to under half, which is the main argument for starting early.

What if my income is too high for a Roth IRA?

Between $153,000 and $168,000 single, or $242,000 and $252,000 married, you can contribute a reduced amount, which the calculator works out. Above the range you cannot contribute directly, but many people make a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution and convert it, the so-called backdoor Roth. A Roth 401(k), if your employer offers one, has no income limit.

Is a Roth IRA better than a 401(k)?

They do different jobs. A 401(k) with a match should come first up to the match, because the match is an instant return no IRA can offer. After that, a Roth IRA gives tax-free withdrawals and more investment choice. The 401(k) calculator shows what the match is worth on your salary.

All retirement →

Result