Planning for retirement involves more than simply tucking money away for your future nest egg. It includes setting goals, crunching numbers, and making a solid plan that holds you accountable until you’re ready to retire.
Resources like paycheck calculators and retirement planner calculators can be a great tool to help you determine what you need to retire, but there are some other key steps to take before you implement a savings plan. Read on to learn how to best utilize a retirement calculator, the steps that will help you achieve your goals, and resources to use along the way.
Step 1: Make a Retirement Goal
When you sit down to determine your goal, you will need to consider a few things, such as how old you want to be when you stop working, what kind of lifestyle you want to live, and how you will meet the financial demands of your family.
Goals change based on a variety of factors, including career and lifestyle changes such as purchasing a home, switching jobs, moving, welcoming a new baby to your family and more. This is important to remember as you determine your retirement goals because they will be ever changing.
You should also consider the type of retirement strategy that will work best for you. If you are retiring soon, you will want to plan for a conservative approach, but if you still have decades to go before retirement, your portfolio can withstand a more aggressive and high-risk approach to capitalize on investments.
Slavic401k has a retirement planner calculator that can help you create a retirement plan based on factors like age, how old you want to be when you retire, salary, savings, expected income increases and more.
Speak with a financial advisor to determine a plan that will best fit your timeline and goals.
Step 2: Create a Retirement Plan
Without having a consistent income, you will want to consider the types of spending needs you will have post-career. To estimate your expenses, start with your current monthly income and subtract monthly expenses that you currently have, plus others you expect to have. Costs to consider include a mortgage, vehicle payments, loans, medical expenses, taxes, travel, dining and groceries, and more.
Fifth Third Bank has a retirement expense calculator that can help you determine the amount you will need. Once you have a general idea, you can create a better retirement strategy and save appropriately to ensure you can cover your costs when you stop working.
To help plan for retirement needs, you have the option to open an individual retirement account, like a Roth IRA, which will help you add additional savings throughout the years. If the company you work for has an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you will also want to enroll in that. Companies often have matching policies and will match a percentage of your contributions, helping you save more over time.
All of these steps are key to retirement planning and will help you achieve your goals for a financial fit lifestyle. For additional advice and resources, visit the Slavic401k blog.
Step 3: Use Retirement Calculators
Steps one and two will help you when navigating a retirement calculator or paycheck calculator because it creates a broader picture of where you are financially and where you want to be. By setting goals and understanding your needs, you can appropriately crunch the numbers and determine the best retirement strategy for you.
Paycheck calculators can help you visualize how 401(k) contribution increases and decreases can affect your take-home pay and retirement savings. The Slavic401k paycheck calculator uses the redesigned W-4 to comply with the elimination of exemptions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which can help you nail down your contribution effects to the dollar.
You can also view reports to see how contributions will change based on your numeric inputs, your current balance in retirement accounts, how many years you have to invest, annual rate of return, account balance predictions by year, paycheck withholdings, and other features that create a clear financial snapshot.
As mentioned above, Slavic401k also offers a retirement planner calculator that can help you determine how much you need for retirement. The calculator measures your current age, estimated retirement age, income, savings percentage, years of retirement income, and more. The calculator will also outline how far your savings will go in retirement, estimating retirement expenses and when you are expected to run out of funds.
Calculators are great tools to use for financial planning because they produce solid numbers and estimates that can help you plan appropriately for your financial future. To view other calculators, visit the Slavic401k resources page. There, you can estimate social security benefits, contribution differences between a Roth IRA and a 401(k), retirement nest egg, and so much more.
For additional investment education and insights, speak with a financial advisor or read the Slavic401k blog.
