What does one more year actually buy you?

The 'one more year' syndrome is a common FIRE trap: you hit your number, but working 'just one more year' for extra cushion becomes a permanent delay. This calculator quantifies exactly what one more year adds so the decision is based on numbers, not vague cushion-seeking.

At a 1,000,000 portfolio with 50,000 annual contribution and 7% returns, one more year adds 120,000 to the balance and 4,800 to safe annual income (at 4% withdrawal). That's the real marginal value of continuing. If the question is 'is 4,800 extra a year worth another year of work?', the decision becomes concrete.

The tool doesn't tell you whether to continue working - it tells you what you're trading. For some people, 4-5 more years of 5,000-10,000 annual income increments is worth it. For others, reaching 95-100% of FI target is enough and the marginal extra isn't worth the lost time.

Quick example

With current portfolio value of 1,000,000 and annual contribution of 50,000 (plus annual investment return of 7% and annual retirement expenses of 40,000), the result is 120,000.00. Change any figure and watch the output shift — it's often more useful to see the pattern than to memorise the formula.

Which inputs matter most

You enter Current Portfolio Value, Annual Contribution, Annual Investment Return, Annual Retirement Expenses, and Safe Withdrawal Rate. Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

What's happening under the hood

Next year balance = current × (1 + return) + contribution. Increment = next year balance - current. Safe income increment = increment × safe withdrawal rate. The formula is listed in full below. If the number looks off, you can retrace the calculation by hand — that's the point of showing the working.

Using this to think, not predict

Financial plans are wrong by month six — new information arrives and reshapes the picture. The point of running projections isn't to be right in ten years; it's to be less wrong in the decision you're making this week.

What this doesn't capture

Real plans get re-run against new information every year or two. The result here is a reasonable direction, not a destination. Treat it as a starting point for thinking, not a commitment to a specific future.