Planning Calculators
Retirement Planning
Many Web sites now offer free “retirement calculators” to assist you with retirement planning. By providing a few details about yourself and your finances, these calculators calculate how much you need to save to achieve your retirement objectives. Below are links to three such calculators. The calculators differ on certain assumptions they make, such as the rate of earnings on investments and life expectancy, and will yield somewhat different results. Nevertheless, they can offer valuable insight into the factors to consider in planning for retirement. Using a retirement calculator should not replace the advice of a qualified attorney or financial adviser.
Future Social Security Benefit
You can calculate your future Social Security benefits based on your current and projected earnings by using the online Initial Benefits Calculator of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Benefits Calculator can tell you exactly what the effects on your benefits will be of, for example, postponing your retirement or cutting back on your work hours. Using this calculator should not replace the advice of a professional retirement or financial planner.
Financial Calculators From the American Savings Education Council
More than 100 financial planning calculators are available at the American Savings Education Council’s Web site. The calculators can help with a wide array of financial planning issues, including retirement planning, credit cards, home mortgages, and budgeting. Visitors to the site can start with The Ballpark Estimate, which offers users a way to obtain a rough first estimate of what they will need for retirement. The site also offers more finely tuned retirement calculators, including “What will my expenses be after I retire?”, “How much effect can inflation have?” and “Which savings should be used first?” In addition to the retirement calculators, you’ll find calculators for Roth IRAs, Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Home Equity Loans, Insurance and more. The Council, a coalition of private- and public-sector organizations, works to raise public awareness about what is needed to ensure long-term personal financial independence.
The Ballpark Estimate Worksheet
Life Expectancy Calculators
How much you need for retirement depends a great deal on how long you expect to live. There are now many Web-based calculators that can give you an idea of your life expectancy based on your current age, gender, family health history, smoking and drinking habits, exercise patterns, stress level, and other important lifestyle choices.
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