How Much Money Do I Need to Live the Life I Want?
Do you know what it takes to work towards a secure retirement?
Luckily, there are several excellent calculators already in existence that will help you figure out what you need to save to achieve your goals!
Some of the best retirement planning tools require that you pay a fee or become a client of the sponsoring organization. There may not be one perfect retirement calculator; each has different assumptions for life expectancy rates, expenses you’ll have in retirement, etc. The best thing to do is try a few of them, taking each with a grain of salt and checking the calculators’ definitions so you can see how they fit your needs.
These are some of the most useful tools, though, so you can just go through them in checklist fashion.
- Use this calculator designed by Bloomberg to help you determine your financial health. View your retirement savings balance and your withdrawals for each year until the end of your retirement. Social security is calculated on a sliding scale based on your income. Including a non-working spouse in your plan increases your social security benefits up to, but not over, the maximum.
- CNN Business also has an excellent retirement planner that will help you estimate how well your savings program is preparing you for retirement.
- Bankrate.com has provided an array of financial calculators and tools to help you plan. Use Bankrate’s retirement calculators to compare 401(k) contributions, ROTH IRA, savings goals, pay down debt, and budgeting for retirement planning.