Whether you're considering retiring early or just need to withdraw some funds from your nest egg, you can learn how long your funds will last with our saving withdrawal calculator.
To find out why it's the ultimate tool to secure your financial future, read our detailed FAQ below. If you found this calculator useful, please share it on your favorite social network.
People open savings accounts to plan for different things. Some dream of owning their own home. Others have their eyes on the retirement prize.
One thing everyone has in common is that we work hard for our money and don't like to see it slip away.
So how does your savings account keep dwindling down when it's supposed to be going up? The answer is saving account withdrawals.
A savings withdrawal calculator is also called a "How long will my money last?" calculator because that's what it does. Through a series of inputs, it determines how much you have left after making regular withdrawals.
It enables you to make necessary adjustments, so your savings account balance isn't at zero when you need it most.
The general answer is six, but it depends on how you withdrawal your money. The reason why there's a limit is Regulation D.
The Federal Reserve put Reg D into effect in 2008. The reasoning is a little wordy, but the short answer is to regulate how much reserves banks have on hand.
The Federal Reserve determines reserves requirements using transaction accounts (in other words, checking accounts).
They have to limit the non-transaction accounts (like savings and money market accounts) from acting like checking accounts. This is all for classification purposes.
Regulation D limits include:
Some transactions aren't limited, such as:
To clarify the last one, if you request a withdrawal from your bank and they are mailing a check to you, it's not limited by Reg D.
Banking institutions will assess penalties if you exceed the six-transaction limit. Your bank can charge you a fee or cancel your account.
Although Reg D is frustrating at times, the headaches are avoidable by using an ATM or a bank teller.
According to the IRS, the interest earned on the money in a savings account is income. That means, it's taxable and you have to claim it when you file your taxes.
Likewise, if you earn interest on the money in your checking account, that's income as well in the IRS' eyes.
Don't worry, you don't have to keep track of the interest yourself. Your financial institution will send you a 1099-INT form at the end of the year if you earned more than $10 in interest.
If you earned less than $10, your bank may not send a 1099-INT but you're still required by law to claim the interest on your taxes. Even if it's only pennies.
Any interest earned is income, but you would need a substantial amount of savings to rely on the earnings that are generated. That said, there are some ways to increase the interest you earn.
Credit unions give you the same access to checking and savings accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards that a bank does. The biggest difference between the two is the interest rates.
A credit union operates as a not-for-profit institution. This enables them to offer higher interest rates on savings accounts and lower interest rates on credit cards.
If you're fed up with banks, credit unions are a better option than stuffing money in a shoe box. They're cooperatives and their members are the owners and decision makers.
Unlike a bank, where it's stockholders and board members who call the shots.
If you already use online banking, this will be a breeze. A high-interest or high-yield savings account earns you more interest on your deposits than a traditional bank.
The average interest rate is .25% annual percentage yield (APY). According to a recent survey of banking institutions, the bigger banks pay less. The same survey found the highest APY on a high-interest savings account is 2.25%.
It may not sound like a big difference but it's huge when you do the math.
Using .25%, if you deposit $1,000 into your current savings account, you'll have $1002.50 in a year. If you deposit $1,000 into a high-interest savings account online, you'll have $1,022.50.
But you make interest on every deposit with a high-interest savings account. That's where the huge gap comes in. Online banks can pay higher interest rates because they have little overhead.
The caveat to online high-interest savings accounts is that they tend to come with a maintenance fee and/or a high monthly minimum balance. Some require as much as $10,000 to open an account.
If your savings is for retirement or is something you won't need for a long time, you may consider a CD (certificate of deposit) instead of a savings account. But you'll have to leave your money in it until the maturity date.
The term lengths are usually six, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months, and the APY is higher than a high-yield savings account (up to 3.7%). The downside is that financial institutions will charge you a fee if you withdraw before the maturity date.