Roth IRA Calculator

Roth IRA contributions are made with money you've already paid tax on, but in exchange, all future growth and qualified withdrawals in retirement are completely tax-free. A regular taxable investment or savings account, by contrast, typically owes tax on investment gains along the way, which quietly reduces the amount left to keep compounding.

This calculator projects your Roth IRA balance month by month, and runs a side-by-side simulation of an equivalent taxable account making identical contributions and earning the identical return, but paying tax annually on its gains at the rate you enter. The difference between the two, the 'tax-free advantage', shows concretely what that tax-free treatment is worth in dollar terms by the time you retire.

This calculator doesn't enforce the IRS annual Roth IRA contribution limit, which changes periodically and depends on your income and filing status, so make sure your entered annual contribution reflects your actual allowed limit. It also assumes the taxable comparison account is taxed annually on gains realized that year, a simplification of how many taxable accounts (like a brokerage account you don't actively sell in) actually work in practice.