Retirement Income Gap Calculator for Colorado
Enter what you expect to spend each month in retirement and what will come in from Social Security, a pension and anything else. The difference is your monthly income gap, and multiplied over your planning years it shows how much savings would need to cover.
Estimates only. Estimates only. Figures on this page use published plan-year values and the details you enter. They are not a quote, an offer of coverage, or a determination of eligibility. Your final premium and any tax credit are confirmed at enrollment with the carrier or Connect for Health Colorado. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you type is sent to us or anyone else.
How the retirement income gap is measured
The calculator compares what you plan to spend each month with the income that arrives no matter what, then stretches the shortfall across your planning years.
Use spending, not income, as the starting point. Many households find their retirement budget is close to current take-home pay minus work costs and savings contributions, plus new costs such as premiums and travel.
- Monthly need: expected retirement spending, in today’s dollars.
- Guaranteed income: Social Security plus any pension plus other steady income such as rent.
- Monthly gap: need minus guaranteed income, or a surplus if income is higher.
- Total gap: monthly gap × 12 × years you plan for.
- No growth, inflation or tax is applied, so the total is a plain starting figure, not a projection.
Guaranteed income = Social Security + pension + otherMonthly gap = need minus guaranteed incomeTotal gap = monthly gap × 12 × years Worked example: a Brighton couple planning 25 years
Hypothetical couple, not clients. They expect to spend $6,200 a month. Their combined Social Security estimate is $3,900 and a rental brings $400, so guaranteed income is $4,300 and the monthly gap is $1,900.
Over 25 years that is $570,000 in today’s dollars, the amount savings, work or other income would have to supply.
Claiming age matters. For people born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67, and claiming at 62 cuts the benefit by about 30% for life (SSA). If the $3,900 assumed claiming at 67, claiming at 62 would make it about $2,730 and widen the monthly gap to $3,070.
The gap is a starting point for a conversation, not a verdict on whether they can retire.
Every figure here is in today’s dollars, so revisit the numbers each year as prices, benefits and plans change.
Waiting works the other way. Each year past full retirement age, up to 70, adds delayed retirement credits, so a later claim shrinks the gap for life, including for whichever spouse survives.
| Item | Claim at 67 | Claim at 62 |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | $3,900 | $2,730 |
| Monthly gap | $1,900 | $3,070 |
| Gap over 25 years | $570,000 | $921,000 |
Retirement income planning mistakes
- Leaving out health costs. The 2026 standard Part B premium alone is $202.90 a month per person (CMS), before drug coverage or a supplement. Retiring before 65 adds marketplace premiums.
- Using the gross benefit. On Medicare, Part B is usually deducted before your Social Security deposit arrives.
- Planning for two incomes forever. When one spouse dies, the household keeps only the larger of the two Social Security benefits.
- Ignoring inflation. A gap measured in today’s dollars grows every year prices rise.
- Treating any promise as a guarantee. Annuity guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing company.
- Drawing down savings with no plan for the order. Which accounts you tap first affects income taxes, IRMAA two years later and, before 65, the Connect for Health Colorado tax credit.
- Claiming the day you stop working. Your retirement date and your Social Security claiming date are separate decisions; savings or part-time work can bridge the years between them.
Colorado details that change retirement income
Many Colorado public employees belong to PERA, and Colorado PERA explains how Social Security interacts with a PERA benefit. The federal Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset (SSA).
Colorado tax: the Colorado Department of Revenue explains that people 65 or older can subtract all Social Security included in federal taxable income, and from tax year 2025 people 55 to 64 can too if adjusted gross income is no more than $75,000 single or $95,000 joint. Other pension and annuity income has a subtraction of up to $20,000, or $24,000 at 65 and older.
Before 65, health coverage in Colorado runs through Connect for Health Colorado, where income in retirement drives the tax credit; the pre-65 calculator models that bridge.
Costs differ a lot between the Front Range and rural Colorado counties, so a move in retirement can change the monthly need as much as any claiming decision.
If you want guaranteed income beyond Social Security and a pension, an annuity is one option among several. Annuities are insurance products overseen in Colorado by the Division of Insurance, and their guarantees depend on the issuing company.
Key terms: Retirement income gap
- Full retirement age
- The age at which you receive your unreduced Social Security benefit: 67 if born in 1960 or later.
- Delayed retirement credits
- Increases for waiting past full retirement age, up to age 70.
- Survivor benefit
- The payment a widow or widower can receive based on a late spouse’s record.
- Pension and annuity subtraction
- A Colorado deduction for qualifying retirement income on the state return.
- Income floor
- Guaranteed monthly income that covers essential expenses regardless of markets.
Bring these to a retirement planning review
- Your my Social Security statement with estimates at 62, full retirement age and 70.
- Pension estimates and survivor options.
- A monthly spending list by category.
- Retirement account balances and your health coverage plan before and after 65.
What this assumes
- Every figure is one you enter, in today’s dollars.
- No inflation, investment growth, taxes or cost-of-living increases are applied. It is a simple first look.
- Your Social Security estimate is in your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.
- Annuities are insurance products. Guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing company.
- This is a starting point for a no-cost retirement planning review, not tax, legal or investment advice.
Where the figures come from
- SSA: benefit reduction for early retirement Social Security Administration, 2026
- SSA: Social Security Fairness Act Social Security Administration, 2025
- Colorado DOR: Income Tax Topics, Social Security, Pensions and Annuities (January 2025) Colorado Department of Revenue, 2025
- CMS 2026 Medicare Part B premium, deductible and IRMAA amounts Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026
What a simple income gap leaves out
- Inflation, taxes and investment returns.
- Required minimum distributions and the order of withdrawals.
- Long-term care costs.
- Social Security claiming strategy for couples.
- Spousal benefit rules for a lower-earning spouse.
Book a no-cost retirement planning review. Bring your Social Security statement from your my Social Security account and any pension estimate, and we will look at income options together. This is not tax, legal or investment advice.
Final expense, annuity and supplemental products are subject to underwriting and carrier approval. Guarantees are based on the claims-paying ability of the issuing company. Nothing on this site is tax, legal or investment advice.
Common questions
What is a retirement income gap?
The difference between what you plan to spend each month and the income that will arrive regardless, such as Social Security and pensions. Savings, work or an annuity have to fill it.
Where do I find my Social Security estimate?
In your my Social Security account at ssa.gov, which shows estimates at different claiming ages.
Can an annuity close a retirement income gap?
An income annuity turns part of your savings into payments that can last for life. It is an insurance product; guarantees depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing company, and it is not right for everyone.
Take the stress out of Medicare.
Book a free, no-obligation review with Lisa in Brighton, by phone or by video. Bring your questions; leave with answers.
992 South Fourth Avenue, Brighton, CO 80601 · (303) 887-8584
Content reviewed by Lisa Asmussen, Medicare Broker and Licensed Insurance Agent at Headwaters Health and Wealth in Brighton, Colorado, certified to sell Medicare plans since 2018 (8 years). Last updated .