Days until retirement calculator
Days until you retire, and the working days behind them.
A calendar count is the easy bit. This takes off the days you are not rostered, the public holidays in every year to your date, and your leave, using the same maths as the app. No sign-up. Nothing leaves your browser.
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workdays left
- Retiring on—
- Calendar days from today—
- Days not rostered (—)− —
- Public holidays on rostered days− —
- Leave, estimated from your yearly figure− —
- Days you have to go in—
- Hours left at work—
How it is worked out
Why "days until retirement" is the wrong number, and what to count instead.
Type a date into a normal countdown and it gives you every day between now and then. That is a true figure, and a useless one, because a Saturday costs you nothing. If you work Monday to Friday, roughly two days in seven were never yours to give up. Take off bank holidays and the leave you have booked and the number you are left with is smaller and, for most people, more motivating: it is the number of times you have to get up and go in.
The four subtractions
| Step | What comes off | How this calculator does it |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar days | Nothing yet | Every day from today to your date, inclusive of the last one. |
| Days not rostered | Weekends, or the off days of a rota | Your chosen days of the week, or a repeating cycle counted forward from today. |
| Public holidays | Bank or federal holidays that land on a rostered day | Generated for every year to your date by rule, so Easter, substitute days and observed days fall where they really fall. |
| Booked leave | Your annual leave or vacation | A yearly figure, spread over the years left. The app takes off the actual dates instead. |
Hours left at work
Workdays multiplied by the hours in your working day. It is a rough figure, and it is the one people quote at leaving dos.
Shift work
Four on four off is an eight-day cycle with four days worked. A nine-day fortnight is fourteen days with nine worked. A 9/80 is the same shape. Pick the pattern above and the calculator counts the cycle forward from today. The app lets you set the day your cycle actually started, and takes any pattern from 2 to 28 days. There is more on shift patterns here.
Keep this number on your phone
The app runs this same sum every second, with your booked leave on the actual days, your public holidays for your region, and hours, minutes and seconds under the number. The day count is free forever. Get it for iPhone or Android.
Questions
About the sum.
How do you work out working days until retirement?
Start with every day between today and the retirement date. Take off the days you are not rostered: weekends for a Monday to Friday week, or the off days of a repeating rota. Take off the public holidays for your country in each year up to the date, on the days they actually fall. Then take off booked leave. What remains is the number of days you have to go in.
How many working days are there in a year?
For a Monday to Friday week in the UK, about 253 weekdays less 8 bank holidays gives roughly 245 working days before leave, and around 220 after 25 days of annual leave. In the US, about 250 weekdays less 11 federal holidays is roughly 239, and around 224 with 15 days of vacation. The exact figure changes with the year and where the holidays land, which is why this counts the real dates rather than multiplying an average.
Does it include the last day?
Yes. If you retire on a Friday, that Friday counts as a workday. Set the date to the day after your last shift if you would rather it did not.
Is anything saved or sent anywhere?
Your inputs are kept in your own browser so the page remembers them, and nothing is sent to us. "Copy a link" puts your settings in the address so you can share the countdown with someone else.
The app