Unlike when you were working, you won’t have the security of a company pension or social-security checks to help cover living expenses in retirement. You’ll have to be self-sufficient, and that requires a sizable nest egg.

Exponent Investment Management is designed to show you how much you need to save in order to retire when and how you want. It also estimates the potential growth of your savings and contributions over the time frame you’ve selected. It uses market return data provided by Merrill to help illustrate how your indicated investments and contributions might grow over the period you select.

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Everyone’s situation is different, and the specific amounts of income you’ll need in retirement will depend on many factors like your lifestyle preferences, when you plan to retire, how long you expect to live and whether you can reduce your lifestyle costs by moving somewhere cheaper or taking on less debt once you stop working. However, there are a number of things you can do to prepare. Retirement calculators can provide you with a sense of control, helping you set goals and stay on track. They can also allow you to experiment with different inputs like retirement age or saving rates to see how they may affect your results, enabling you to make better decisions about when and how much to save.

Your annual household income, which includes your pre-tax income and any employer matching contributions to your 401(k), 403(b) or IRA plans. Your target retirement age, which is the age you plan to start receiving social-security benefits or when you wish to stop working.