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Printed August 25, 2026 · https://trycleartally.com/roth-ira-calculator
Estimates for educational purposes only — not financial advice. See https://trycleartally.com/disclaimer.
Roth IRA Calculator
2026 IRS limits: $7,500 at your age.
Tax-free balance at retirement
After 35 years of growth
Total contributions
New money you add
Investment growth
Starting balance
Growth over time
Assumes a constant return and that you contribute the same amount every year, spread evenly through the year. Real returns vary, and IRS limits normally rise over time — so a long projection is conservative on the contribution side. Income phase-outs that can limit or block direct Roth contributions aren't modelled. Estimate only, not investment or tax advice.
Roth IRA Projection
Tax-free balance at retirement
$1,165,677
Assumes a constant return and level contributions. Income phase-outs not modelled. Not investment or tax advice.
Calculated using the standard formulas described at https://trycleartally.com/methodology — for educational estimates only, not a quote or financial advice. Verify with your lender or financial institution before making decisions.
Project what your Roth IRA could be worth at retirement — and how much of that balance is your own contributions versus tax-free growth.
Reviewed by the ClearTally editorial team · Last updated July 17, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Part of the retirement calculators collection — 6 tools in the order most people need them.
Weighing a Roth against your workplace plan? The 401(k) calculator shows what an employer match adds, and the retirement calculator projects your savings overall.
How it works
A Roth IRA is funded with money you've already paid tax on, and in exchange qualified withdrawals in retirement come out tax-free. That makes the number this calculator shows unusual: it's what you'd actually keep. A traditional 401(k) or IRA balance of the same size still has income tax owed on it when you withdraw, so comparing the two at face value overstates the traditional account.
We compound your current balance plus each year's contribution at your expected return until your retirement age, using the same growth engine as our compound interest calculator. Contributions are capped at the IRS limit for your age — $7,500 for 2026, rising to $8,600 from age 50 with the catch-up — and that limit covers all your traditional and Roth IRAs combined, not each account. The projection holds the limit and your contribution flat; in reality the IRS raises limits over time, so a long projection errs on the conservative side.
Example:a 30-year-old with $10,000 already invested who adds $7,000 a year until 65 at a 7% average return lands near $1.17 million. Only $245,000 of that is money they put in — the other ~$911,000 is growth, and in a Roth it isn't taxed on qualified withdrawal. Time is doing about four times the work of the contributions.
Sources & further reading
FAQ
The IRS caps IRA contributions at $7,500 a year (2026 IRS limits), rising to $8,600 once you're 50 or older thanks to the catch-up. Two things trip people up: that limit is shared across all your traditional and Roth IRAs combined rather than applying per account, and you can't contribute more than your taxable compensation for the year. This calculator caps your entry automatically and tells you when it has.
It's when the tax is paid. A traditional account gives you a deduction now and taxes withdrawals later; a Roth gives no deduction now but qualified withdrawals are tax-free. The rough rule of thumb people use: a Roth tends to favour you if you expect a higher tax rate in retirement than today (often true earlier in a career), and a traditional account if you expect a lower one. Plenty of people hold both to hedge, since nobody knows future tax rates.
Withdrawals have to be 'qualified' to be fully tax-free, which broadly means you're at least 59½ and the account has been open long enough to satisfy the IRS's five-year rule. Contributions (as opposed to earnings) can generally be withdrawn at any time, since you already paid tax on that money — it's the earnings that carry the conditions. The exact rules and exceptions are in IRS Publication 590-B, linked below.
No — eligibility to contribute directly phases out above certain income levels depending on your filing status, and those thresholds change each year. This calculator doesn't model the phase-out, so if you're a high earner, check the current IRS thresholds before assuming you can contribute the full amount. It also assumes you contribute every year through retirement, which is a plan rather than a guarantee.
A diversified stock-heavy portfolio has historically averaged roughly 7%–10% a year before inflation over long periods, with big swings in any single year — 7% is a common, reasonably conservative planning figure. Because the projection compounds one constant rate, treat the result as a scenario rather than a forecast: run it at 5% and at 8% and think of the gap as your realistic range.