Retirement Planner

Our retirement planning calculator helps people plan for retirement by providing them with estimates which inform their financial habits. This calculator gives information about:

• How much money you'll need to retire at a certain age
• How you should go about saving for your retirement
• What your average retirement income will be
• How long you'll be able to live off of your retirement savings

Many factors are often overlooked by people who aren't financially savvy. The annual inflation rate is one example of one of these overlooked factors.

All in all, retirement calculators are very helpful to people who don't know where to start with retirement planning. They're easy to use and provide a strong foundation for financial planning.

Some of the most common questions about retirement savings are how and when people should start saving. People typically ask questions along the lines of:

• Is there any benefit to saving for retirement given my financial situation?
• At what age should I start saving?
• How should I start saving money? Should I open a savings account? Or should I look into opening a 401(k)?

We'll start by addressing the first question:

Prioritize Your Saving

Yes, there is a benefit to saving even when your back is against the ropes. Until Father Time says otherwise, you have to get old. And you'll need money to take care of yourself in old age.

Of course, we understand that bad financial situations make saving for retirement difficult.

That said, even setting aside small amounts today can help tremendously in the future. And if you're having trouble saving, set up a money-saving plan now.

Which leads us to our second point:

When To Start Saving

You should start saving as soon as possible. Recall that about half of Americans have little to no retirement savings. Some of them are in that position because they didn't start saving early.

Only saving, however, isn't enough. You need to know how to invest your money to maximize your returns on your savings.

Consider, for example, how opening a basic savings account would benefit you. Now consider how opening a Roth IRA would benefit you.

There's a good chance that one of the options yields considerably more financial growth.

This question is almost always at the back of many working adults' minds.

Here's the truth: There's no definite answer to the question.

Once upon a time, advisors would have suggested that you set aside one million dollars. But times have changed. The cost of living has gone up.

So much so that one million dollars might not last you more than a decade.

The Rule Of Thumb

Financial services corporation Fidelity recommends that people plan to have at least 10 times their final salary in retirement savings by age 67.

Additional Considerations

You should also consider your future living expenses. Let's say, for example, that you plan to move to a location where the cost of living is lower after you retire.

The lower cost of living could mean that you don't need quite as much money to live comfortably after retirement.

But if you plan on moving to a location where the cost of living is higher? You're going to need to save considerably more than this rule recommends.

Many of us don't see ourselves working past retirement age. We likely see ourselves cooped up in our homes watching daytime dramas as our grandparents did before us.

Given the state of our economy today, though, you might end up working during retirement.

There are several financial reasons to continue working after you've reached retirement age.

Savings Shortfall

The most important reason is the most obvious: You know haven't saved up enough money to retire. Working in retirement can help to bridge the gap between what you haved saved, and what your shortfall is.

Health Benefits

The money isn't always the motivator in these situations. Sometimes, for instance, people continue working in retirement for the health benefits.

Health care expenses in the states have skyrocketed within the last two decades. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, health care spending surged by almost a trillion dollars between 1996 and 2013.

There's yet another reason to keep working:

Poor Investment Performance

You don't always make returns on your investments. Some of the investments you made when you were younger could lose value at any time. Staying in the workforce for a few more years could be enough to see better returns.

Okay. So let's say you decide to keep working towards your career goals after you reach the retirement age.

How will this decision affect your social security benefits? The answer depends on your intentions.

If you plan on claiming your Social Security benefits as soon as possible, working won't technically decrease your benefits. Once you've claimed those benefits, understand that your benefits will no longer grow.

If on other hand, you don't plan on claiming those benefits as soon as possible, you're doing yourself a favor. Your Social Security benefits will continue to grow while you work as long they remain unclaimed.

To those of you who are currently fretting about saving for retirement: Take a breather and realize that there are several resources available to you.

Once you get a better grasp of how your saving strategy stacks up, you'll be in a better position to make the pivots needed to ensure a comfortable future.

A great place to start is with our retirement planning calculator.