John Hancock Funds recently launched a new retirement portfolio calculator on its Web site, www.jhfunds.com. Visitors to the Web site will locate the calculator by clicking on the retirement planning tab at the top of the home page, choosing tools and calculators, and then selecting "preparing for retirement."

The goal of the retirement calculator is to show the results of a model portfolio built with the same asset allocation as the John Hancock Lifecycle Retirement Portfolio.

The calculator represents the probability such a portfolio would last throughout an individual's retirement given different retirement lengths and annual withdrawal rates. By adjusting the sliders to view different annual withdrawal rates and distribution periods, investors will see a projected probability of success, defined as a percentage chance of retirement portfolio survival. The chance of portfolio survival was projected using Monte Carlo simulation, which is useful for modeling outcomes with significant uncertainty and variety of inputs.