First, many thanks to the hundreds of people who downloaded and tried our new Free retirement calculator for Android, and to those who have purchased the Pro version. We appreciate the support and positive reviews! We’re committed to making these the very best retirement calculators for Android. In fact, we are planning a significant upgrade…
Instructional Videos Basic/Free Introduction Basic/Free Example Pro Introduction Pro Example Pro RMD Taxation Pro Property Event Articles on Retirement Modeling Debugging Your Retirement Calculations Launching 2 New Retirement Calculators: Behind the Scenes 10 Tips for More Accurate Retirement Calculations Is Your Retirement Calculator Designed for Accuracy? How to Model the Retirement Income Gap Dealing with…
Retirement planning can be hard. Annuities, estates, health care, retirement calculators, safe withdrawal rates, Social Security, taxes. There are many pieces to a successful retirement plan. But almost all of those topics boil down and feed into the one question that outranks all others: How much money do I need to retire? I’ve been a…
The holy grail of retirement income is guaranteed, inflation-adjusted payments that last a lifetime, with principal left over. Annuities offer that kind of lifetime income, at the cost of giving up your principal. But true inflation-adjusted annuities are hard to find, and very expensive. On the other hand, investment portfolios with a sizable allocation to…
For the first decade of my adult life I was saving diligently while coasting through life with vague ideas that someday I could retire early. As my wife and I reached our mid 30’s, we paid off our home and saw our investment balances building. We realized early retirement may actually be a possibility. I…
You’ve saved diligently your entire working career. You’ve maxed out your retirement savings accounts. And it’s paid off. You’ve reached the point of financial independence, early. Or, maybe you were laid off, or took an early severance package. Whatever the reason, like me, you got to retirement ahead of the usual schedule. Maybe in your…
It’s a common problem in or near retirement: A relative passes away and leaves you an inheritance. Or you receive a lump sum pension payout. Or you sell the big family home and downsize. In each case you suddenly have a large sum of cash on your hands…. What should you do with the unexpected…
It was a blustery winter day, just about a year ago, when I stayed indoors all afternoon to work at my desk. The snowflakes stacked on the railing outside as I broke ground on new software, something I hadn’t done in years. It would be a modeling framework that I could use to research and…
In real life, retirement cash flow is not as simple as the pundits would have you believe. Try a typical retirement calculator, and you’ll be prompted for a single expense number: How much would you need to spend from savings to live in retirement each year? But research shows that your gross expenses will change,…
Samuel Foote, famous British comedic actor of his time, was chatting with a member of the royal court. The entitled aristocrat complained bitterly of having been thrown out a second-floor window for cheating at cards. Foote’s advice? “Don’t play so high.” One secret to successful retirement saving, in addition to getting started, is to avoid…
Mainstream retirement planning these days is all about maximizing your spending in retirement. And that seems sensible, on the surface. The theory is you want to spend as much as possible in retirement, subject to the whims of the stock market. So, if the market is down, you cut back. But if the market is…
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “New Study Questions Retirement Planning Calculators’ Accuracy.” It reported on an academic study of 36 retirement planning tools. The research concluded that “in most cases, the available offerings are extremely misleading.” This wasn’t news to me. My first article on the inaccuracies in retirement…
My second book, Can I Retire Yet? — How to Make the Biggest Financial Decision of the Rest of Your Life, is coming soon. It should be available on Amazon, in paperback and Kindle, in just a few weeks. To celebrate, I’m publishing another excerpt here on the blog. The new book takes a comprehensive…
On April Fool’s Day I completed and filed my returns for the 2015 tax year. Normally I’m proactive about financial matters. But, for taxes, I wait until a few weeks before the mid-April deadline. That reduces the chances that a late-breaking 1099 will force me to file an amended return. Taxes are my least favorite…
Are you feeling lucky? That’s how the debate between the two schools of retirement income often shapes up. Do you keep your retirement assets in the stock market, where you’ll have more flexibility and better odds for long-term financial growth, along with a chance of failure? Or do you go the safe, secure route and…
Running out of money before you run out of life. It’s the biggest fear many retirees face. And, for baby boomers and succeeding generations without guaranteed pensions, it’s not just a night terror — it’s a realistic concern. Without adequate savings, a prudent lifestyle, and regular financial checkups, running low in retirement is a very…
What can you do if you’re running out of money in retirement? Even those fortunate enough to have a comfortable nest egg could find themselves feeling financially squeezed at some point. If that happens, what should you do? At the simplest level, there are two solutions: (1) reduce your expenses, or (2) increase your income….
Though I no longer work a regular job, it still feels like a vacation when I break from the usual routine. And, for the past four weeks, we’ve enjoyed a major break from our regular routine. In late July, we left Santa Fe for an extended road trip to the West, Northwest, and Rockies. We…
There is no shortage of bad news about retirement: The population is aging. Workers haven’t saved enough. Market returns will be lower going forward. Inflation is bound to return. Health care is expensive…. Many of you, even those who are relatively well prepared, are concerned about the prospects for your golden years, afraid to make…
What will it cost you to live in retirement? You may be asking this question as you plan your future. You could try to answer it by looking at national statistics on living expenses. The Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is widely cited. But truly, you are the only one with…
The reviews of free retirement calculators here have been some of the most popular posts on the site. There are certainly some useful free calculators available. And since no one calculator has a corner on predicting the future, it’s nice to have the option to run several and compare the results, without having to pay…
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