The Right Retirement Planning Tools Help You Make Informed Retirement Decisions


Figuring out how much money you will need to carry you through your retirement years can seem like a complex undertaking. However, using the right retirement planning tools to plan for your retirement will make the task a lot simpler and complete. The right tools will help you see how much money you’ll need to put away to meet your projected retirement date, how much your retirement nest egg will be worth at retirement and beyond, and how much net income you will need to sustain the lifestyle you want through your retirement years, so that you can feel confident about the informed decisions you need to make.

The various retirement planning tools will take the guess work out of calculating the money you need for your retirement. Accuracy in planning your retirement needs is important for managing your money today. Not putting enough money aside for your retirement means not having enough money to provide that lifestyle you want during your retirement years; putting to much money aside will cause financial hardship and cause you to stay in the workforce more years than necessary.

Fortunately, there are plenty of internet how-to guides, retirement advice blogs and calculators available at your finger tips that you can use to help you get an accurate assessment of how much money you need for your retirement and can help you decide where to direct your retirement funds in the most profitable direction, so there will meet your retirement goals when its time for you to retire.

Online retirement calculators are some of the most handle retirement planning tools available. Most calculators are usually provided to you for free and without asking for any personal information about you. All you do is input the numbers and the calculators can help you project the cash flow you will need to maintain the lifestyle you want, when you need to start saving, how much you need to save and to save for retirement and how much money you need to retire with the plan of your dreams.

These online calculators will also provide important information about your 401K, IRA and Roth IRA plans, or other retirement savings plans.

There are a series of how-to guides that teach you how to plan a retirement savings plans portfolio to consider inflation and deflation of the market.

Other how-to guides such as how to avoid croaked or incompetent money managers and tips on how to know spot an honest financial planner from a fraudulent one are valuable tools for retirement planning tools that can make sure that your retirement portfolio is well funded when you reach your planned retirement date.

Some planning tools will allow you to do the calculations and save the information in a file so that you can go back to it from time to time and make any necessary adjustments to recalculate your projections. Many investment firms such as Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Ameritrade provide online retirement planning tools to the general public. You don’t have to be a customer of the companies to use their planning tools.

There are many online retirement planning tools that require you to sign up as a member for free. But there are other tools that are only available to customers of the company offering the service.

With the right retirement planning tools you can make the right decisions today that will help you be happier and more financially secure when your retirement comes. It is important to remember to be flexible in your planning and make adjustments as circumstance in your life warrants.

Get the right tools to calculate how much money you need for retirement by visiting BestRetirementInvestmentPlan.com – a website that offers information on retirement planning including tips on setting retirement goals, do-it-yourself retirement planning software, and retirement planning tools to help you make the best of your financial planning for retirement.

 

What Are Your Retirement Planning Variables?


Article by Paul Sutherland

Having a secure, fulfilling retirement is a primary goal for most of us. At some point in the future we will no longer receive a “paycheck” from an employer and will instead rely on the income from assets we have accumulated and saved, plus income benefits from defined benefit pensions, Social Security benefits, distributions from retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s, deferred compensation, sale of our business and other investments. For most people, the overriding and often primary directive of financial planning is simply “retirement planning.” However, planning for retirement is not a particularly easy process.The retirement planning process involves using a retirement planning calculator and creating a road map toward your retirement goal and developing a plan to achieve that goal. The plan generally considers post-retirement budgeting, savings, tax management, debt management, pre-retirement budgeting and a host of other inputs all geared toward ensuring a quality retirement. However, planning for retirement takes time and judgment, because it involves many unknown variables. Among the top variables that may determine when retirement is feasible are lifestyle/family goals, longevity, future income tax rates, portfolio returns, the effect of inflation on expenses and future investment returns.Let’s review the basics of these variables as they relate to your retirement plan.

Lifestyle Goals Would you like to travel? Own one home or two? What is your retirement vision? These questions and others like them are necessary to help create a budget for your specific retirement needs.

Longevity Attempting to gauge how long we’re going to live in retirement is a task that’s becoming more and more difficult. Medical advances have led to increased life spans and continue to increase the mortality age. This is best illustrated by the Social Security system. In its original design, participants in Social Security were expected to live only a few years after they have begun receiving benefits. People live longer now, and life spans are increasing each year. We believe it is wise to project a retirement plan that assumes you’ll live to age 100.

Future Tax Rates Since we can only spend our “aftertax” income, it is imperative that we consider what tax rates our retirement income will be subject to. However, as government bodies at all levels change with each election, so do virtually all tax laws, including property tax, sales tax, state income tax and the granddaddy of them all, the federal income tax. Taxes such as property and sales taxes should be adjusted to account for cost of living increases. One thing is certain – taxes will exist in retirement.

Investment Returns How much you can withdraw from your “nest egg” each year is perhaps the most critical variable to retirement projections. Like the other retirement variables, the annual return on your nest egg will not be linear. As we know, the investments most suited for providing long-term income security into retirement are going to fluctuate. Financial markets can have long periods of up and down investment return cycles. We need continual income and that is the key. That’s why we work toward constructing portfolios that can provide lifetime income security for our clients. Many retirees get caught up in “short-termism” and use CDs, shortterm bonds and fixed annuities as core holdings in their retirement portfolio. But this investment strategy is very risky. While inflation causes things to cost more, deflation can keep interest rates low for many years, requiring the need for retirees to invade their principal savings to meet their budget needs.At FIM Group, we balance the long-term asset volatility with the more stable fixed investments to construct our clients’ portfolios. Our goal is to allow clients to live on the income generated from their diversified portfolio with a goal of providing income that can increase over time. That way clients won’t need to invade principal. Simply put, we call it living on the eggs (investment returns), not the chicken (principal).

Inflation Loss of purchasing power caused by rising prices must be included in any retirement plan. It is safe to say that one dollar will buy less in the future. As you progress into retirement, you should factor in giving yourself a raise periodically to offset cost of living increases.

Family Constraints Will you need to provide for or care for your parents and/or children in retirement? If so, how much will you help them? In summary, we are realistic about retirement planning and take retirement seriously. While the future is unknown, we do know that life will go on, some businesses will grow and pay great dividends, interest rates will fluctuate, politicians will fiddle with taxes, and inflation and deflation will fight it out. One thing, however, is certain: we will retire someday.

About the Author

The author has great knowledge about financial planning. He has offered financial planning to many people as well. He has written many articles on financial planning.

 

 

Best Retirement Planning Websites


Article by liame haley

Retirement is inevitable in any field on endeavor one is engaged in. No one continues to work in a company or organization till age 80 or more. There’s always a time to retire from active service. Well, retiring from service is one thing, but maintaining your life during such a period is another ball game altogether. One needs proper retirement planning in order to keep body and soul together during the retirement period.

By way of definition, retirement planning refers to various strategies put in place to ensure a stress-free enjoyment season during the period of retirement. In the financial context, retirement planning is all about allocation of funds for your pleasurable retirement season. You have to set aside a particular percentage of your regular income while you’re still in active service. The money you save at that time will then serve you when you retire.

Oftentimes, many people fail to plain their retirement as it should be. Such people end up becoming great burdens to their families when they finally retire from active service. In order to help matters, there are many retirement planning agencies that run their websites online. They are available to assist you plan your retirement before it dawns on you.

There are so many aspects to consider when planning your retirement. Oftentimes, you may not be able to plan those aspects well. You may not even remember to do something about that. This is the reason why various agencies have been established to assist those who desire to enjoy life during retirement season.

One of the aspects usually considered in retirement planning is the location and building where you’ll stay for the season. One weighing retirement must consider the best retirement cities. Such cities are nice locations to stay if you truly want to enjoy life to the full. Oftentimes, it’s very difficult to locate pieces of information about the retirement cities. However, when you go on a well-designed retirement planning website, you’re sure to locate all the various pieces of information you need.

Retirement websites abound online today. You can find a list of some of the top ones at http://www.over50web.net/finance/retirement-finance/some-top-retirement-planning-websites They are vital portals you need to visit in order to learn everything you need about your retirement. When you succeed in locating a good site that can help, you’ll discover the right way to save for your future retirement. You’ll also discover how best to invest some cash in various projects in order to safeguard your future.

Simply put, you’re sure of a better retirement season when you succeed in locating a good retirement planning website that can furnish you with the best of information. Your retirement season is sure to be a glorious and enjoyable period when you take time to plan it well. Why not go online today to gather more pieces of information?

About the Author

Dave operates a blog devoted to tracking the best retirement cities free ebooks.