Senior Retirement Tips :: Retirement Savings Calculator
Retirement Savings Calculator: A Government Calculator to Help You with Your Retirement Savings
The U.S. government has released an extremely helpful and easy to use retirement savings calculator to help you calculate and understand your retirement finances. To learn more about it, why it works and where you can get it - keep reading.
Background
The guide, titled “Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning” was published by the Department of Labor and the Employee Benefit Security Administration. It's 62 pages long and takes you through a series of worksheets and information to help you find out how big of a nest egg you'll need to retire comfortably and how much you'll need to save to achieve that.
Where to Get It
The guide was previously only published in print format, with eight worksheets. However, it's now available online with a great retirement savings calculator to help you do the math. Users can even store their information and results for up to a year (with a secure user name and password).
To order a print copy, you can call 1-866-444-3272 or print it off yourself right from the website. You can also access the worksheets and calculators online at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa (choose Publications/Reports).
Why It Works
Probably the best feature of this retirement planning guide is how simple it is to use. The text is easy to read, the graphs are simple to understand and it's actually interesting to read through, not a chore. Another great feature is how diverse and versatile this small publication and calculator really is – it talks about portfolio diversification, at-home children, split families and more.
The other great feature is that this seemingly simple booklet and guide make some fairly complex assumptions. For example, most retirement financial planners will just assign a generic inflation value to everything. But, this guide understands and accounts for the fact that costs like health care actually inflate at a higher and faster rate (typically double).
Problems With the Guide
The main drawback for the guide is that it appears to be written for people who are about 10 to 15 years from retirement. The online tools can help and assist recent retirees, but the main focus is on planning and saving in those last few, crucial years.
Another drawback? There's little planning advice for those who suspect they may need long-term health care or the extra cost of assisted living - a reality for many aging adults.
However, as a retirement savings calculator, it's a great tool that's extremely comprehensive and yet easy to use and understand. It understands government protocol, offer helpful suggestions and the best part about it? It's completely free.
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SeniorRetireTips.com :: Retirement Savings Calculator