Pension vs. Lump Sum Payout Calculator
Your results
Return needed to match the pension
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Better at your expected return
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Pension value at your return
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Pension pays more in total from
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Total pension payments
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Total in today's dollars
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The required return is the yearly return the lump sum would have to earn, from the day you receive it, to pay the same income for as long as the pension would. Taxes are not included: a lump sum rolled into an IRA and a pension are both taxed as income when you draw on them.
Pension and lump sum, year by year
Pension paid each year, what it is worth in today's dollars, and what would be left of the lump sum if you invested it and paid yourself the same income.
| Your age | Pension paid | In today's dollars | Total received | Lump sum balance |
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Results are estimates for educational purposes and are not financial, tax or legal advice.
Work out the yearly return a lump sum would need to earn to match a monthly pension, the age at which the pension has paid out more, and how inflation changes the value of the payments. The rmd calculator online is free to use with no sign-up, and works on desktop and mobile.