Small Steps Retirement Calculator
See how a small, recurring contribution — like $50 a week — could grow by retirement. This is an educational projection, not a promised outcome: investment returns vary, and fees or taxes can reduce actual results.
Enter 0 if you're starting fresh — most small-contribution plans do.
The amount you'll contribute each weekly period.
Treated as an effective annual rate. Not guaranteed — returns vary and can be negative.
% your contribution grows each year — e.g. matching a typical raise. Leave at 0 for a flat amount.
Whether each contribution has a full period to grow before the next one.
How this calculator works
This calculator projects a recurring contribution (weekly, biweekly, monthly, or annual) invested at an assumed annual return, using RetireCalc.Engine's SmallStepsSavingsEstimator — the same server-side engine every SmartRetireCalc calculator uses, never a duplicated client-side formula.
Rate convention
The expected annual return you enter is treated as an effective annual rate. The calculator converts it to an exact per-period compounding rate — (1 + annualRate)^(1/periodsPerYear) − 1 — so a 7% return compounds to exactly 7% every 12 months no matter which contribution frequency you pick. Changing only the frequency never changes your effective annual growth rate.
Contribution timing
“Start of each period” (the default) means each contribution has a full period to grow before the next one is added — typical for an automatic payroll or bank transfer. “End of each period” delays that growth by one period. Over many years the difference is small but not zero.
Annual contribution increase and inflation
An optional annual contribution increase compounds once per completed year — for example, a 3% increase raises year 2's contribution to 103% of year 1's, and year 3's to 103% of year 2's. The optional inflation adjustment discounts your projected balance back to today's purchasing power using the inflation rate you enter — it does not change the nominal dollar amounts shown elsewhere on the page.
What this calculator assumes and doesn't model
- A single, constant annual return assumption — real markets don't move in a straight line.
- No investment fees, expense ratios, or taxes are subtracted from the projected growth.
- No specific investment, fund, or account provider is recommended — this is a general compounding illustration.
- It does not check your income against Roth IRA phase-out limits or your available IRA contribution room beyond the notice shown when your equivalent annual contribution exceeds the combined limit.
For background on compound growth generally, see the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Compound Interest Calculator (Investor.gov) — used here only as general background, not as the source of this calculator's own projections.