For letter carriers & USPS employees

Route2Retirement

Answer a few questions about your job, your savings, and your Social Security. We'll show you every combination of retirement age and Social Security age β€” and which ones your money can handle.

πŸ”’ Everything stays on your phone or computer. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. How your entries are stored

1About you

Your basic USPS work history. Your High-3 salary is on your latest annuity estimate from LiteBlue or HR.

years
If you bought back military time, move the year back by those years (4 years of service credit = enter a year 4 earlier).
$
$
What actually lands in your bank account after taxes, TSP, health insurance, and the rest. We only use it to double-check that your other numbers hang together.
$
The average of your highest-paid 3 years in a row β€” usually your last 3. Not sure? Use your current pay; it's close.

2Your savings

Your TSP balance is at tsp.gov or on your quarterly statement.

$
%
USPS adds up to 5% more on top when you put in at least 5%.
Leave blank if you're already contributing. Non-career employees (CCA, RCA, PSE) usually can't join until conversion β€” enter your best guess for that year.
$
0 if you don't have one yet. (A traditional IRA goes with your TSP balance instead β€” it's taxed the same way.)
$
The 2026 IRS limit is $7,500 a year ($8,600 at 50+). Our recommendation: set it up as an automatic monthly transfer and forget it β€” it builds the way TSP does, without thinking about it. Not in TSP yet? Start here. Nearing retirement? Still worth it: you've already paid tax on what you put in, and everything it earns comes out tax-free later.
Earnings come out tax-free only 5 years after your first contribution (and after 59Β½), so the plan won't touch your Roth before then. Blank = starting this year.
$
Bank savings, CDs, brokerage accounts β€” everything that isn't TSP or a Roth IRA. 0 is fine. Growth on this money counts as taxable interest when the tax estimate is on.
$
Besides the Roth IRA amount above. Look at last year's bank or brokerage statements β€” what really went in, not what you hope to. We assume the same each year until you retire; after that, the plan works out on its own whether money is left over.

πŸ“ˆ Yes, growth is counted: we assume TSP earns 7%/yr while you work and 4%/yr once retired, and other savings earn 4%/yr. Change these in the advanced settings.

3Your Social Security

Log in at ssa.gov/myaccount and open your Statement. It lists your estimated monthly benefit at different ages.

$
Age 67 is "full retirement age" for anyone born in 1960 or later.
$
Leave blank and we'll estimate it (about 70% of the age-67 amount).
$
Leave blank and we'll estimate it (about 124% of the age-67 amount).

4Your spending

Nobody spends evenly through retirement β€” the early "go-go" years (travel, projects, grandkids) usually cost more than the quieter years later, when most of us stay closer to home and live more simply. Enter what a typical month looks like in each stretch, in today's dollars β€” the math converts everything to future dollars for you. Only the first box is required; leave any box blank to keep the same amount as the stretch before. Don't count loan payments β€” those go in step 5 so they can stop when a loan is paid off.

$
Everything you spend in a typical month today, not counting loan payments (those go in step 5) or money you put into savings. Leave it blank and we'll estimate it from your take-home pay.

$
From the day you retire until 70 β€” usually your most active, most expensive years. (While you're still working, we assume your paycheck covers the bills.)
$
$
Most people naturally slow down and spend less here.
$

5What you owe

Loans you're still paying on. We add the payments to your spending until each one is paid off, and subtract what's owed when we show your net worth. Leave rows blank if they don't apply.

Amount still owed Monthly payment Paid off in (year) Home
$
$
Cars
$
$
Other debt
$
$

Credit cards, personal loans, family loans, a second car β€” anything with a monthly payment. Leave the year blank and we'll estimate it from the balance and payment.

6Big future purchases

Cars wear out, kitchens age, cruises call, kids get help. Plan the big one-time costs here so the numbers stay honest. Enter today's prices β€” the math adjusts them for inflation to the year you pick. "Cash" means it's paid from savings that year; "borrow" spreads monthly loan payments over the term instead.

What About how much (today) In year How you'd pay
$
$
$
$

Leave rows blank if they don't apply. Borrowing uses the interest rate in the advanced settings (7% unless you change it). Try a purchase in different years or cash vs. borrowing and watch how the plan reacts β€” that's what this section is for.

7Extra income

Side work, self-employment, rental income β€” money the two of you expect to keep earning in retirement. Skip it if there's none.

$
Before taxes. Yours, your spouse's, or both together.
$
Military retired pay, a pension from a job before the Post Office, a union pension. Before taxes. Leave 0 if none.
$
Money you expect to receive once β€” an inheritance, a property sale, a settlement. It gets added to your savings in the year you pick. Leave 0 if none.

8Spouse or partner

Advanced settings β€” fine if you never touch these
% / yr
% / yr
% / yr
Required TSP withdrawals from age 73 happen either way. The plan below tells you how the other order would have turned out.
% / yr
% / yr
% / yr
% / yr
years
101 is a very safe planning target β€” better to plan long than run short.
% / yr
Used when a big purchase in step 6 is set to "borrow."
$
Leave blank to auto-estimate: age-62 benefit Γ— years of service Γ· 40.

Quick check before you run it

Here's what you've told us so far. Give it a once-over β€” if something looks off, fix it above.

Pick your combination

Each box tries one plan: retire at the age on the left, start Social Security at the age on top. The number is how long your money lasts. Tap any box to see its details below.

βœ“ Lasts to 95+ Runs out at 90+ Runs out in your 80s Runs out before 80 β€” Not eligible / not advised

How this plan plays out

Your savings over time
TSP + other savings at the end of each year. Hover or tap for details.
Where each retirement year's money comes from
Bars are income; the dark line is your spending (rising with inflation).
Year-by-year numbers (table)

Starts this year and runs to the end of the plan. Rows before you retire show your paycheck covering the bills, with what goes into (or comes out of) savings. Balances are what's left at the end of each year, in future dollars.

What this plan assumes

    Privacy & terms

    What's stored, and where. To save you retyping, the numbers you enter are kept in this browser's own storage on this device β€” not on any server, and never sent anywhere. Nothing you type includes your name, Social Security number, or account numbers. On a shared or borrowed device, turn saving off or clear your entries when you're done.

    Terms, in plain English. Route2Retirement is a free educational tool made by and for postal workers. It gives rough estimates from the numbers you enter and standard assumptions; it is not financial, tax, or legal advice, and it can be wrong. Nothing here is a promise about what you'll receive from FERS, TSP, or Social Security β€” confirm those with HR/OPM, tsp.gov, and ssa.gov, and talk to a qualified planner before deciding. It's provided as-is, without warranty; you use it at your own risk. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Postal Service, OPM, or the Social Security Administration.