Retirement Builders

US retirement guides

How the main US retirement programs and accounts work, explained in plain English.

If you followed a link to one of our older US articles: we retired those articles and are rewriting each topic so that every figure links its official source and the date we checked it. US rules change every year: contribution limits, Social Security cost-of-living adjustments and Medicare costs are set by official agencies.

For the yearly official figures, see US retirement numbers. For guides that apply in any country, see all guides.

401(k), IRA and other accounts

Now: the 2026 IRS contribution limits, and 2027 once announced: US retirement numbers 2027.

Government employees, teachers, veterans and military

Social Security and full retirement age

Now: the 2027 COLA and earnings limits: US retirement numbers 2027.

Use now: Can I retire at X? (enter your benefit as other yearly income, in today's money).

Medicare and taxes

Americans living abroad

Calculators you can use now

How much do I need?

Your savings target from yearly spending, other yearly income and a withdrawal rate, in today's money. Any currency.

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How long will my money last?

How many years your savings could pay your yearly spending as it rises with inflation, with a year-by-year table.

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Can I retire at X?

Compare your projected savings at the age you choose with the nest egg you would need, and see the earliest age it could work.

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Withdrawal scenarios

Compare fixed, lower-rate, dynamic and guardrail withdrawals under the same steady, bad-first and good-first return paths.

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Education only, not personal, tax or legal advice: disclaimer.

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