Copying a simple example from [here](https://money.stackexchange.com/a/26662/11768), showing 4 deposits and 3 withdrawals. *Planning to retire in 4 months and draw monthly income of £1000 (present value) for 3 months, adjusted for inflation. APR is 8% and inflation is 4%. What should the pot be?* ![enter image description here][1] Calculating the monthly rates, assuming effective annual rates. inf = 0.04; i = (1 + inf)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00327374 apr = 0.08; m = (1 + apr)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00643403 To illustrate the calculation, say we know at month 3 immediately after the final deposit, the pension pot `p` should be £3010.57 In month 4 it will have grown by `(1 + m)` and the inflation adjusted withdrawal will be `w (1 + i)^4`, where `w = £1000`. So the pension will decrease like so p = 3010.57 p = p (1 + m) - w (1 + i)^4 = 2016.78 p = p (1 + m) - w (1 + i)^5 = 1013.28 p = p (1 + m) - w (1 + i)^6 = 0 This can be calculated in one go using a formula o = 4 . . the month number n = 3 . . the number of months p = 3010.57 ((1 + i)^o (-(1 + i)^n + (1 + m)^n) w)/(i - m) + (1 + m)^n p = 0 and more usefully, it can be expressed as a formula for `p` p = ((1 + i)^o (1 + m)^-n ((1 + i)^n - (1 + m)^n) w)/(i - m) = 3010.57 So we need £3010.57 in month 3 for inflation adjusted withdrawals of £1000. Starting with deposit `d` and increasing it to compensate for inflation p = d p = p (1 + m) + d (1 + i)^1 = 2.00971 d p = p (1 + m) + d (1 + i)^2 = 3.0292 d p = p (1 + m) + d (1 + i)^3 = 4.05854 d This can also be calculated with a formula q = 3 . . the final month number p = (d ((1 + i)^(1 + q) - (1 + m)^(1 + q)))/(i - m) = 4.05854 d We know `p = 3010.57` ∴ d = 3010.57/4.05854 = 741.79 The above can be expressed as a formula for `d` d = ((i - m) p)/((1 + i)^(1 + q) - (1 + m)^(1 + q)) = 741.79 So the first deposit will be £741.79 The next month the deposit will be `£741.79 (1 + i) = £744.21` etc. The first withdrawal will be `£1000 (1 + i)^4 = £1013.16` etc. Putting the steps together. inf = 0.04; i = (1 + inf)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00327374 apr = 0.08; m = (1 + apr)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00643403 o = 4 . . the first withdrawal month number n = 3 . . the number of withdrawal months w = 1000 . the present value of the withdrawal amount p = ((1 + i)^o (1 + m)^-n ((1 + i)^n - (1 + m)^n) w)/(i - m) = 3010.57 q = 3 . . the final deposit month number d = ((i - m) p)/((1 + i)^(1 + q) - (1 + m)^(1 + q)) = 741.79 These same formulas can be used on a more realistically scaled calculation. For example, suppose someone at age 25 wants to withdraw $1000 per month present value from age 65 to 100. Inflation is 2% pa and interest is 3% pa (effective rates). (65 - 12) * 12 = 480 deposit months (100 - 25) * 12 = 900 months overall inf = 0.02; i = (1 + inf)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00165158 apr = 0.03; m = (1 + apr)^(1/12) - 1 = 0.00246627 o = 480 n = 420 w = 1000 p = ((1 + i)^o (1 + m)^-n ((1 + i)^n - (1 + m)^n) w)/(i - m) = 784011.41 q = 479 d = ((i - m) p)/((1 + i)^(1 + q) - (1 + m)^(1 + q)) = 606.00 [![enter image description here][2]][2] [![enter image description here][3]][3] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/aCjF6.png [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/epA3L.png [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/8j9gQ.png