The best way to ensure you have enough money to retire when and how you want is to save as much as possible. You also need to make wise investments and take advantage of tax-advantaged savings plans like 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). However, you can’t control how long you will live or what your investment returns will be. But you can control how much you save and when you start saving. LEARN MORE ex-ponent.com

To help you plan your finances, the AARP Retirement calculator lets you enter information about yourself and your goals to get a rough estimate of how much you might have by the time you’re ready to retire. The calculation uses the power of compound interest to figure out how much you might need to save to reach your goals.

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You can adjust many of the calculator’s default assumptions to suit your needs and personalize your estimates. Some important factors to consider include:

Annual pretax household income. This includes salary, business earnings and any other regular sources of revenue. Current retirement savings. This includes 401(k) balances, IRAs and other tax-deferred savings accounts. How much you plan to increase your annual contribution each year. This can be a percentage or a flat amount.

Inflation rate. This is an important factor to consider because prices for goods and services tend to rise over time. The calculator uses expected inflation rates based on historical data to help you adjust for potential price increases when planning your expenses in retirement.