Combine your pension, Social Security, and portfolio drawdown into a single monthly retirement paycheck. Includes ordinary-income tax drag on the trad/pre-tax portion and Roth/tax-free treatment on the rest.
"How much will I actually get each month?" is the question that nobody really answers. Your CalPERS or UCRP statement tells you a gross pension number. Social Security tells you a different number at your full retirement age. Your 403(b)/457(b)/Roth IRA balance is a lump sum, not a stream. Putting them all together — accounting for the ordinary-income tax drag on the pre-tax portion, the tax-free Roth withdrawals, the LTCG rate on taxable brokerage, and the year-by-year timing of when each piece kicks in — is where most people stop.
This calculator combines them. You enter your pension (any of the supported systems — CalPERS, UCRP, CalSTRS, FERS, military, Texas TRS, etc.), your expected Social Security at your full retirement age (FRA), and your portfolio balance with a current trad/Roth/taxable split. The tool returns:
It also accounts for Social Security taxation (up to 85% of SS is taxable in the provisional-income formula), the IRMAA premium tiers for Medicare, and the conditional warnings for Married Filing Separately filers who lived with their spouse (where the SS taxability rules change dramatically).
This is a "you live in California, here's the approximate California state tax too" tool, so the after-tax number is realistic for most readers. If you're moving out of state at retirement, the comparison-of-states tool models the difference.
Step 1 — Enter your pension(s). Choose your system (CalPERS, UCRP, CalSTRS, FERS, etc.). The calculator pulls in the right pension-taxability rules: pension is fully taxable as ordinary income federally; California taxes pension as ordinary income too unless you've established residence in a no-income-tax state.
Step 2 — Add Social Security. Enter your expected monthly benefit at your Full Retirement Age (FRA). The tool can also model claiming at 62 (75% of FRA) or 70 (124% of FRA). If you're a CalSTRS teacher or another non-SS-covered worker, set this to zero; the Social Security Fairness Act of late 2024 changed the WEP/GPO rules.
Step 3 — Add your portfolio. Enter the balance and the trad/Roth/taxable split. The tool draws on the right buckets in the right order (taxable first, then trad, then Roth) and applies the right tax rate to each. Default safe withdrawal rate is 4%; you can adjust.
The output is your monthly take-home, plus a streaming staircase showing how it changes over the next 30 years as each income piece begins or ends.
Enter your pension (CalPERS/UCRP/CalSTRS/FERS), Social Security at FRA, and portfolio balance. The tool returns the after-tax monthly check, stream-by-stream, with a year-by-year staircase as each piece starts.
Open the paycheck calculator →Up to 85% of SS is federally taxable, computed via the 'provisional income' formula. For 2026, single filers: SS taxable starts at $25,000 provisional income (50% taxable) and reaches 85% at $34,000. MFJ: 50% at $32,000 and 85% at $44,000. The MFS-lived-together rule: if you file MFS and lived with your spouse at any time during the year, up to 85% of SS is taxable regardless of income — the $25k/$34k thresholds don't apply. California does NOT tax Social Security; the federal portion is the only concern.
Federally, the entire pension is taxable as ordinary income (with rare exceptions for after-tax employee contributions, which create a small basis). California taxes pension as ordinary income at the state level. If you've moved to Nevada, Texas, Florida, or other no-income-tax states, your pension escapes state tax entirely (UCRP and CalPERS pensions don't have a California 'source state' tax claim, unlike some private pensions). The calculator includes a state-residence selector.
62 = 75% of full benefit (permanent reduction). 67 (Full Retirement Age for those born 1960+) = 100%. 70 = 124% (8% per year delayed retirement credit). Break-even is roughly age 80 for the 62-vs-67 decision, and 82 for the 67-vs-70 decision. If you expect to live to 85+, claim later. If you have health concerns or need the cash flow, claim earlier. Married couples should usually have the higher earner delay as long as possible — that benefit is what the survivor will live on.
The classic answer is 4% of the initial portfolio, inflation-adjusted, for a 30-year retirement. This came from the Trinity Study and assumes a 60/40 stock-bond portfolio. Recent guidance has softened to 3.5–4% for longer retirements (FIRE-style 40+ years), and richer 5%+ rates if you have a hefty pension floor (the pension reduces sequence-of-returns risk on the portfolio). The calculator lets you adjust this between 2% and 6%.
Most retirees enroll in Medicare Part B at 65 (~$185/month for the standard 2026 premium). If your modified AGI exceeds the IRMAA threshold ($106k single / $212k MFJ for 2026), your Part B premium increases via the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA), in 5 tiers. The calculator factors in expected IRMAA tier based on your projected AGI in retirement and includes the Part B premium in monthly expenses.