Lately, there has been a lot of speculation as to how much money most of us will need to see us through our retirement years. Is a million dollars going to be enough given the fact that most of us are living longer?
Many people may try to their best to save as much as possible for retirement. But when the time comes, how do you know if your nest egg is going to last? Not unlike a household budget, knowing how much money you can safely withdraw from your retirement savings accounts each month requires planning. If you don't crunch the numbers, you run the risk of running out of money before you run out of time.
Retirement withdrawal calculator
If you're looking at your savings and wondering what your budget will look like when you retire, try using a retirement withdrawal calculator. Here are a few of our top picks to help get you started:
Money-Zine.com: By plugging in seven numerical fields, this basic retirement withdrawal calculator can give you an estimate of how much money you'll need based on your projected life expectancy. At the end, the calculator summarizes your results for an at-a-glance peek at what you may be looking at.
Vertex42.com: This website offers a free Microsoft Excel Retirement Withdrawal Calculator that you can download and actually have a little bit of fun with. Build for Excel 2007 or later, as well as Excel for iPad/iPhone, this calculator gives you a lot more flexibility and customization than most online calculators, and even allows you to print off a payout schedule.
Bankrate.com: Because how much money you'll need in retirement depends on how long you'll live, we're tossing in Bankrate's life expectancy calculator. Based on your input, you'll have a figure that you can use as a general gauge when it comes to estimating your longevity.
For more information on saving for retirement, visit the Protective Learning Center.
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