IRA Calculator
Project traditional IRA growth to retirement.
Details
Balance at retirement
$792,408
In 30 years, at age 65
Total contributions
$219,880
Investment growth
$572,528
2026 contribution limit: $7,500 ($8,600 if 50+), subject to income limits.
This projects what a traditional IRA is worth at retirement, and what the deduction is worth to you in the year you contribute.
It separates contributions from growth, and shows the tax deferred along the way.
What a traditional IRA is
A traditional IRA is a retirement account funded with pre-tax money. You may deduct the contribution from this year's taxable income, the account grows without being taxed along the way, and you pay ordinary income tax when you withdraw in retirement.
It is the mirror image of a [Roth IRA](/financial/roth-ira-calculator), which takes the tax now and leaves the withdrawals alone. Same accounts, opposite timing, and the right answer depends on whether your tax rate is higher now or later.
The rule people get wrong is the deduction. Whether you can deduct depends not only on income but on whether you or your spouse are covered by a workplace retirement plan. Without that coverage, most people can deduct the full amount regardless of income.
Nothing is taxed until it comes out, so the full balance compounds for thirty years. The trade is that withdrawals are then taxed as ordinary income, not at capital gains rates.
What to enter
- Annual contribution
- The IRS sets a yearly limit, shared across all your IRAs including any Roth. It is not a limit per account.
- Current age and retirement age
- The years of compounding available. This matters more than the contribution amount.
- Expected annual return
- 7% is a common long-run planning figure for a diversified portfolio. Lower it for a conservative view.
- Marginal tax rate
- Determines what the deduction is worth now. At 24%, a $7,000 deductible contribution saves $1,680 this year.
Traditional against Roth
- Tax treatment
- Traditional: deduct now, taxed on withdrawal. Roth: no deduction, withdrawals tax free.
- Income limits
- Traditional limits the deduction, and only if a workplace plan covers you. Roth limits the contribution itself.
- Required minimum distributions
- Traditional IRAs force withdrawals from a set age. Roth IRAs do not, for the original owner.
- Best for
- Traditional if your tax rate is higher now than it will be in retirement. Roth if it is lower now.
What this assumes
Returns are treated as steady. Real markets are not, and the sequence of returns matters near retirement.
Contribution limits, deduction phase-outs and the RMD age all change. Check current IRS figures before planning around a number.
How to calculate traditional IRA growth
Compound the balance and contributions forward, then look separately at what the deduction saves you this year.
- C
- Annual contribution
- r
- Annual return as a decimal
- n
- Years until retirement
Check whether you can deduct. If neither you nor your spouse is covered by a workplace plan, you can generally deduct in full whatever your income. If you are covered, a phase-out applies.
Set the contribution within the annual limit. It is a combined limit across traditional and Roth IRAs, so contributing to both does not double it.
Compound to retirement. Grow the existing balance and add each year's contribution compounding for the years left after it.
Work out this year's tax saving. Contribution times your marginal rate. That is real money back now, which is the traditional IRA's whole advantage over a Roth.
See a worked example: the deduction now against the tax later
- Contribution
- $7,000 a year for 30 years
- Return
- 7% a year
- Marginal rate
- 24% now
Balance at retirement: $661,226, from $210,000 of contributions.
This year's tax saving: $7,000 × 24% = $1,680, repeated each year you contribute and deduct.
But withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. At 22% in retirement, the eventual tax on the whole balance is substantial.
That is the trade in one line: certain savings now against uncertain tax later. A Roth makes the opposite bet.
$661,226 balance, $1,680 saved a year on the way
Frequently asked questions
If neither you nor your spouse is covered by a workplace retirement plan, you can generally deduct the full contribution at any income level.
If you are covered, the deduction phases out over an income range the IRS updates each year. Above the top of that range you can still contribute; you just cannot deduct it.
Traditional if your tax rate is higher now than you expect it to be in retirement. [Roth](/financial/roth-ira-calculator) if it is lower now.
In practice, younger earners early in a career often favour Roth, and higher earners near the end of a career often get more from the deduction. Holding both gives you flexibility over which to draw from later.
From a set age the IRS makes you withdraw a minimum amount from a traditional IRA each year, whether you need the money or not, and it is taxed as income.
The penalty for missing one is severe. Roth IRAs have no RMDs for the original owner, which is a genuine planning advantage.
Income tax on the amount plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty, which makes early access expensive.
Exceptions exist, including certain medical expenses, a first home purchase up to a lifetime cap, and higher education costs. They are narrow, so check the specific rule before relying on one.
Yes, but the annual limit is combined across both. Splitting $7,000 as $3,500 into each is allowed; putting $7,000 into each is not.
A 401(k) is separate and has its own much higher limit, so you can contribute to both an IRA and a workplace plan in the same year.
You can contribute for a tax year up until the tax filing deadline the following April, without extensions.
That is genuinely useful: it means you can decide in April, once you know your actual income, whether the deduction is worth taking for the year just finished.
Problems people actually run into
Contributing without checking whether you can deduct
Someone covered by a workplace plan and earning above the phase-out contributes to a traditional IRA expecting a deduction, and does not get one.
That leaves non-deductible basis in the account, which has to be tracked on Form 8606 for decades to avoid being taxed twice on the same money. Check eligibility first, and consider a Roth instead.
Forgetting that the whole balance is taxable
A $661,226 traditional IRA is not $661,226 of spending money. Every withdrawal is ordinary income, at whatever rates apply then.
It can also push you into a higher bracket in retirement, particularly once RMDs begin. Compare against a Roth on the after-tax figure, not the balance.
Results are estimates for general information only and are not professional financial, medical, or legal advice. Read our full disclaimer.
Sources
- Traditional IRAs · Internal Revenue Service
Last updated: September 4, 2026