Retirement Calculators and Resources

 "If you don’t have access to a financial advisor who can tell you what you need to do to best set yourself up for success when you retire, consider getting started by looking at retirement calculators. These resources can use your income and some mathematical formulas to help you determine how much you should be saving and what age you should expect to retire at and offer tips and tricks to help you create a good nest egg and get the most out of your income."

Here are just a few examples from this website https://indyfin.com/retirement-calculators-resources/ which has dozens of useful calculators:

Retirement Benefits Estimator
This calculator from the Social Security Administration calculates the benefit amount you can expect for your actual Social Security earnings. While this can give you an idea of what to expect, remember that these are just estimates, not hard numbers.

Retirement Calculator
A retirement calculator can help you plan the financial aspects of leaving the workforce in order to get a more comprehensive idea of what’s needed to retire comfortably.

Retirement Nest Egg Calculator
AARP has created a nest egg calculator to help you determine how much money you need to put away each month in order to comfortably retire at 67.

Thanks to Eli, Olivia and the All Saints family for pointing out this useful resource

 

Calculators to help you decide when to claim Social Security retirement benefits

 "One of the most important retirement decisions you will make is when to apply for Social Security. Several retirement calculators have been developed to help you determine the optimal retirement age to start Social Security payments." (Thanks to Emily Brandon writing for US News and World Report).

Here are 10 Social Security calculators worth trying:

• Retirement Estimator.
• My Social Security Retirement Calculator.
• Online Benefits Calculator.
• Planning for Retirement.
• Target Your Retirement.
• Social Security Benefits Calculator.
• Social Security Retirement Calculator.
• Social Security Calculator.
• Retirement Age Calculator.
• Life Expectancy Calculator.

"These calculators can help you begin thinking about what you can do to maximize the amount you will receive from Social Security in retirement." 

Take note! "When out to maximize the benefits that both spouses collect, that's different than maximizing when each person claims their own benefit," says Wei-Yin Hu, vice president of financial research at Financial Engines. "It turns out to be quite important to look at both spouses in a household together, because there are some interesting interactions about when the two should claim benefits in terms of both spousal benefits and survivors benefits playing a role in the picture."

Read the full article for more information about these calculators: https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/social-security/articles/social-security-calculators-that-can-help-you-decide-when-to-claim

Don't Delay Investing for Retirement!

It's so easy to justify procrastinating retirement savings... once I pay off the mortgage, when I finish helping my kids pay for post-secondary education, when I get a raise...
"Most retirement calculators are optimistic to a fault. They assume our incomes will rise throughout our working lives, or at least stay roughly the same.
In reality, our incomes are likely to peak years — and sometimes decades — before we retire. Consider this:
— People’s biggest wage increases tend to happen in their 20s and 30s, with more modest increases in midlife followed by declines, according to a 2016 analysis of Social Security earnings records underwritten by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
— Most people’s incomes peak by age 45, the researchers found, although the top 20% of earners peaked in their 50s.
More than half of those who enter their 50s with a stable job are laid off or otherwise forced out the door, and the vast majority don’t recover financially, according to analysis by ProPublica and the Urban Institute." Liz Weston writing for the AP News.
So... what to do:
Save early and avoid "lifestyle creep"
Remind yourself about the time value of money and compound interest which illustrate how much more valuable is a dollar invested a decade ago compared to a dollar invested today.
Get the details at: https://www.apnews.com/3ae0c46014564b82bbdd55f4d7facd4b

Quick and easy retirement calculator

Writing for The Squared Away Blog, one of my favorites, author Kim Blanton describes a new online tool from Vanguard to help near retirees and retirees figure out how long their savings will last. She explains the tool and reviews some of the limitations of online calculators. Read her blog:
https://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/how-long-will-retirement-savings-last/
Keep in mind that the tool is designed to estimate how long personal savings will last and does not take into consideration any pensions or Social Security income. So when they ask how much do you spend each year, take these other sources of income into consideration.
Another factor is estimating how long you might live. The biggest risk for most retirees is living too long, the "longevity risk." Unless you have reason to expect a shorter than average life span, figure on living to 90 or 100. Yes, really!
remember, none of this is set in stone and during retirement, you need to make annual adjustments to spending depending on investment returns and other factors. 
Go directly to the calculator:
https://retirementplans.vanguard.com/VGApp/pe/pubeducation/calculators/RetirementNestEggCalc.jsf

Useful Calculators

Check out this website that provides a variety of online calculators, such as financial and investments, mortgage and tax, salary and savings calculators. They provide great help in making important financial decisions. http://goodcalculators.com

3 Retirement Calculators

The Squared Away Blog from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College recommends 3 free retirement calculators. Check out the blog and their recommendations at: http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/retirement-calculators-3-good-options/

Workers need to save less for retirement than industry suggests

Many of the articles and calculators about how much to save for retirement leave workers depressed, discouraged, and dumbfounded by the amount they are 'supposed' to invest for retirement. A recent article in Forbes by Andrew Biggs suggests otherwise and provides a handy calculator to help you decide if your investments are on track.

"Industry statistics that call for people to save anywhere from eight to 20 times their final salaries are grossly over estimating what people will need, writes Andrew Biggs. According to a calculator he developed, most people need to replace 70% of their final year's salary." Check out the calculator at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2016/07/21/how-much-retirement/#61370d1827be

Is $1 Million Enough to Retire?

How much do you need to be able to afford to retire?
Lots of people suggest the nice round number of $1 million. There are so many variables that enter into the estimate of how much you might need, beginning with your projected longevity. Use 3 online longevity calculators to get a ball park estimate. How much will you be eligible from Social Security and are you willing to wait until your true "full retirement age" of 70 before you claim benefits? Will you be eligible to collect a pension? If so, will it be inflation adjusted? What are your retirement plans: world cruises and plenty of travel or puttering in your garden and volunteering locally?
A Motley Fool article by Maurie Backman addresses some of these factors to help you decide. Of course, a consultation with a financial professional who is a fee-only fiduciary (look that up on this blog) can help you decide on a reasonable goal and, more important, how to reach that goal. But check out: http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/27/is-1-million-enough-to-retire-on.aspx
For those of you who despair of ever having "enough" read Ralph Warner's book: Get a Life: You don't need a million to retire well.

Focus on retirement INCOME rather than the "number"

Rather than fixating on a specific $ goal (aka the "number"), investors nearing retirement (ages 55-64) should focus on the amount of income their investments will be able to generate in retirement based on current inflation, rates, of return . Check out Blackrock's CoRI™ calculator http://www.blackrock.com/cori/cori. It's a simple to use tool that shows how much annual income your investments can generate. While it is limited to the assumption that one retires at age 65 and lives an average lifespan (and most readers of this blog are likely to live longer than average), it is a useful tool. Check it out. 

Out with Binge eating; In with Binge saving!

Also called "power saving," "Barbara Friedberg offers five ideas for people who want to boost their retirement saving, including 'binge saving,' which boils down to saving a high percentage of disposable income. It will be hard, but 'you may find the reward of seeing your account grow quite motivating,' she writes." "Get your head out of the sand and face reality."
"Warning: This article is only for those committed to making a retirement savings change!"
Details at: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor/2014/08/19/the-tiny-house-movement-and-binge-saving-the-new-retirement