Free Retirement Calculators
Planning your retirement? Use our free retirement calculators to determine (1) if you have enough money for retirement and (2) the impact of inflation on your retirement.
Do You Have Enough Money for Retirement?
How Does Inflation Impact Your Retirement?
Some Basic Rules for Saving for Retirement
1) You should save 10% of your earnings for retirement. Why? Because it is an easy number to remember and 10% of earnings saved and invested over a lifetime will provide, in most cases, a good cushion at retirement time.
2) The percentage of bonds in your portfolio should equal your age. Why? Because as we age we need to focus on avoiding risk rather than on growth. And it reminds us that portfolios are not written in stone and need to be re-evaluated over the years.
3) To ensure that your retirement money lasts, do not withdraw more than 4% per year. Why? Because withdrawing more than this amount may cause you to run out of money. If your portfolio takes a loss, then plan to withdraw less than the 4%.
4) Your emergency fund should have enough in it to cover 6 months of expenses. Why? This amount of money should help cover day to day expenses in the case of a job loss and help you avoid raiding your retirement funds for daily expenses.
5) Pay off high interest credit cards first. Why? Because over time it saves you money, money which can be put into your retirement account.