You're 50-something. You have a 401(k), maybe a house, maybe some Bitcoin. The question isn't whether you've done things right. It's whether what you've done is enough — once you carry it through inflation, healthcare, longevity, and the next thirty years.
Take 90 seconds to read this. It'll save you from clicking around blind, and you'll know whether this site is going to be useful to you before you commit any real time.
Different incomes, different states, different decisions made twenty years ago. You'll probably see yourself in one of them — that's the point. Pick the one closest to you and the math becomes personal.
What they have now, what they'll need, where the gap is, and whether Bitcoin actually closes it — or whether they're already fine without it. Honest math, no thumbs-up scoring.
The calculator below works on any household. Use it if you're curious, worried, or just want to play with the inputs. Your inputs stay on your laptop — nothing leaves your browser.
The model behind every Bitcoin price assumption on this site. If you've never seen it, it's worth the read. If you have, the methodology page explains exactly which version we use and why.
Three futures: a base case, a middle case, and a stagflation case. Pick the one that matches what you actually believe is coming and the math adjusts.
None of this is financial advice. None of it is for sale. No email capture, no upsell, no course at the end. I built this because I'm a 50-year-old dad who ran the numbers and didn't like what I saw, and I figured another dad might want to save himself the time of building it from scratch. That's the whole thing.
They use 2% inflation, because that's what the long-run average says and it makes the chart go green. They plan to age 85, because that's the average life expectancy and it makes the chart go green. They show a confidence score and a thumbs-up, and you close the tab feeling slightly better than you did before you opened it.
I built this one differently. It starts with the lifestyle you actually live, in today's dollars, and carries it forward through inflation that compounds for decades. It plans to 100, because the average is not the plan — the long tail is the plan. It shows you the gap honestly, before any Bitcoin enters the picture.
Then it asks the second question. Does Bitcoin change the answer? It tests five allocations the way an advisor would talk about it — 0%, 3%, 5%, 10%, and 20% — so you can see whether a small allocation actually moves the plan, or just lets you feel like you did something.
Some people need recognition before they trust a calculator. Some people find stories patronizing and just want the math. Both are valid.
Read one case file. See what inflation does to it. See what their traditional plan covers, and whether Bitcoin meaningfully changes that. Then use it as a shortcut into the calculator — the household's numbers become your starting point.
Choose a household →You already know what you want to test. Open the calculator, enter your real numbers, and get the same local-first answer: inflation curve, retirement gap, and Bitcoin allocation side by side.
See the walk-through →Each card is a household with a real financial question. Click one to see the setup, the surprise number, and what Bitcoin does — or doesn't do — for them. The walk-through below updates with the household you pick.
Same household, six steps. Pick the inflation scenario you find most plausible. Move the Bitcoin slider. Watch the plan break or hold. Then take this setup as your starting point and swap in your own numbers.
Today's numbers. Today's lifestyle. Today's Bitcoin position. This is the starting point — before inflation does its work and before retirement makes anything theoretical.
Inflation is the variable every retirement calculator quietly assumes. Pick the future you find most plausible — and read why, in plain English, before you commit.
Today's spending, carried forward at the inflation rate you picked, to the year he retires. This is the number most calculators don't show you.
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Drawdown is deterministic. Tax-aware withdrawal order. Social Security at full retirement age. Pension (where applicable) with its real COLA. Healthcare bridge to Medicare. This is what runs out, and when.
Five allocations, the way an advisor would actually talk about them. Slide left for zero, slide right for conviction. The numbers below recompute in real time.
One honest sentence about what just happened. Not a prediction. Not a recommendation. An interpretation of the math you just watched.
Want to push on this? Ask a follow-up question — for example, "what if he retires at 62 instead?" or "what does the bear case do to this?"
Open the full calculator with this household's setup pre-loaded. Change the age, the assets, the income, the spending — whatever needs to be different — and watch the same math recompute on your life.
Same household, same inflation, same retirement age. Only the Bitcoin allocation changes. When you're ready, the full calculator lets you swap these numbers for yours.
| Allocation | Plan covers to | Surplus / shortfall | BTC required | Monthly stack |
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You don't have to take my word for anything. Every output above is generated by a deterministic engine you can inspect. Change an assumption and the entire plan recomputes — in your browser, with no data leaving your laptop.
Lifestyle inflated year by year through three named scenarios — Bull, Base, Bear. Each scenario is defended in plain English. None is a prediction. All of them are planning models you can stress-test.
Not the 4% rule. Actual deterministic withdrawal: tax-aware order, healthcare bridge to Medicare, long-term care window in your 80s, pension where applicable. The chart that runs out is the one we stop pretending won't run out.
7% real return on Bitcoin through retirement, as the default. Below historical, above bonds. The default is conservative on purpose.