money sectionmoney sectionThe Thrift Savings Plan is essentially an alternative to the 401k for federal employees. Like the 401k plan offered by many private employers, if you are a federal employee, you can opt into the TSP and defer taxes on your contributions and the investments inside the plan until you reach retirement age. It is possible to pull out your TSP money early, but if you do, you may incur an additional tax penalty.
For those that aren't lucky enough to have an employer that offers a pension, saving for retirement may seem like a burden. One of the hardest parts of saving is getting started and adding money to your retirement account. There are two primary ways to fund your own retirement -- either through a 401k or an individual retirement arrangement (IRA). You can choose to utilize a 401k, IRA or both to help you save for retirement.
Getting to retirement is one of the ultimate financial goals of most people, but once you get there, figuring out how much money to spend can be tricky. When planning out your retirement, you need to have an idea of how much you need in your retirement savings so you do not run out of money once you get there. When making these calculations, you have to take several variables into consideration. Otherwise, you may be disappointed when your retirement savings is not enough to live comfortably on.
How much money should you put into pretax retirement savings? For most people, it's as much as you can afford. According to Liz Davidson in "Are You Ready to Retire?", you will likely need at least 80 percent of your current annual income for each year you are retired to maintain your lifestyle. Social Security benefits alone won't approach that figure. Pretax contributions to a retirement savings plan can help close the gap and reduce the taxes you pay on your current income.
Individuals who worked for the General Telephone and Electrics Corporation are typically entitled to pension benefits when they retire, but these benefits may begin at different times for each worker. In most cases, the age of the individual and his years of net credited service determine whether he is able to begin receiving benefits.
Saving for retirement is one of the most important things you can do with your money. Since the number of companies offering traditional pensions has decreased to nearly nonexistent levels, and the likelihood that Social Security alone will be insufficient to support you, the responsibility to stash enough cash to live comfortably falls on your shoulders. The key component to successfully accumulating enough money for retirement is the percentage of your current earnings that you save.
The financial industry provides estimates on how much people should spend on housing. However,no clear-cut answer exists for how much you should pay in rent because the cost of living in your area dictates rental rates. People who live in large cities may have to pay more than twice as much as others do for a small apartment. Therefore, a bigger percentage of their gross, or pre-tax, income goes toward paying rent.
You could challenge the fact that gold is money, based on comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Congressman Ron Paul, that "gold is not money; it is an asset." Unfortunately, the final arbiter as to what constitutes taxable income is going to be the most powerful government agency in the United States: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Keeping a budget to estimate living expenses allows you to manage your money more efficiently and keep from accumulating too much debt. The largest expense that most people have is for housing, and utility costs can vary significantly from month to month. The U.S. government makes recommendations for how much you should budget in major expense categories and provides an online tool to help you estimate your expenses and compare them to your income. Expect to pay anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent of your salary on rent and utilities.
Superannuation is a government-mandated defined benefit pension plan covering Australian workers. Superannuation plans are jointly funded between the worker and the worker's employer. The government offers a tax deduction for superannuation contributions, and money within superannuation plans grows tax-deferred until the retiree starts drawing down the income.
Forced retirement is generally illegal in Minnesota but with several exceptions. The state has adopted age discrimination employment laws in keeping with federal statutes, but they have loopholes. If your employer is trying to force you out due to your age, speak with an attorney knowledgeable in employment law to learn your rights. Depending on your personal circumstances, you might fall outside the law's protection.
Next to your mortgage or rent payment, your car payment may constitute your largest monthly expense. That's why it is important to carefully consider how much of your salary you can truly afford to allocate toward the purchase of a new vehicle. To determine the proper figure, you'll need to take steps to determine your true financial picture and follow certain widely used spending guidelines.
It may be time to get out on your own, but before you start shopping for an apartment or home, you need to know the parameters of your budget. Although general guidelines exist for the percentage of income you should dedicate to your rent, it's wise to look at your own specific expenditures and financial priorities to develop a rent budget tailor-made for you. By recognizing your current and future needs, you ensure that your money is flowing in the right direction.
When April 15 rolls around, you don't want to owe the government more than you have available. Income-tax withholding helps, but it's possible other expenses, such as capital-gains tax or taxes on self-employment income, will result in your paying additional taxes instead of getting a refund. If you think that might be the case, a savings plan for your taxes is a good idea.
Retirement planning requires periodic checkups just to ensure you're on track toward meeting your financial goals. By the time you reach age 40, you should have a significant portion of your retirement savings accumulated. If you're starting out late in life, you'll need to know how much you need to save so that you can retire when you want to.
You need to save enough money for retirement so that you don't end up destitute. But, where do you start? You must take into account your financial goals and the ultimate end you want to achieve with your financial plan. You also have to know what your retirement savings options are in addition to investments and savings levels you should shoot for.
Becoming a millionaire is a lofty and achievable goal. The value of time is enormous when building your retirement savings. With enough time and patience even average earners can achieve a seven-figure net worth by the time they retire. The key is to save consistently and to live beneath your means while you save for a comfortable retirement.
Saving for retirement when you're 30 allows you greater financial flexibility than starting later in life. Still, the question always looms: Will you have enough money? While there is no exact amount of money you should save for retirement, the answer to this question is fairly simple to determine.
Social Security benefits alone may not be enough to provide you with a comfortable retirement income, but this government-sponsored plan can be part of your overall retirement planning strategy. Knowing how much you can expect to receive in Social Security benefits can make the rest of your retirement planning easier and help you build the nest egg you need for your post-work life.
You and your parents have been saving up money since the day after you were born preparing for the moment you would head off to college. Yet, as the big decision day approaches, you realize you don't have quite enough money to pay for tuition, room and board, and all the other expenses that comes with attaining a higher education. Your choices are limited. You choose a less expensive school, dig yourself into a financial hole by applying for student loans or look for free money.
Retirement savings accounts and investments are not without their fees. An individual retirement account can be held at any one of a variety of custodians offering different investment options. Each has different fees associated with different investments. And while some might tout "no-fee" policies, know that no company can exist without generating revenue from its customers.
There are no hard and fast rules for how much you should have saved for retirement by age 30. The simple truth is that everyone's personal finances are different. At age 30, people who have been in graduate or professional school during their 20s are just entering the workforce. Some people have been working since their early 20s, but not all jobs pay the same amount, and there are other things that should come first. It's no use having $25,000 in savings for retirement if you have high-interest debt equal to or greater than that amount. That doesn't mean there…
Asking if it is better to rent or own a home in retirement is kind of like asking if it is better to live in Maui or Malibu in retirement. Each option has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. What's best depends on a host of factors, some objective and some subjective, and all of which may change for you over time.
The term liquid asset describes any solvent asset that may be easily transformed into its cash value without incurring a loss. Apart from actual cash, liquid assets include foreign currency holdings, a range of bank accounts, accounts receivable and often such precious commodities as gold. Liquid assets allow companies and individuals to access their cash value quickly for use as money.
You know you should save and invest for retirement, but it can be difficult to know exactly how much to invest. Everyone has different needs when it comes to retirement savings, and there is no one right number for everyone. How much you should save depends on a number of factors, including any guaranteed income sources and how much you expect to spend when you stop working.
You already know that you need to save and invest for your own retirement. But it can be hard to know exactly how much to save. Knowing how much money you will need each year in retirement can be difficult, but there are some techniques you can use to more accurately predict your income needs in a post-work world.
For many, thinking about contributions to a retirement account is not a source of great pleasure. However, calculating the amount you'll need to live comfortably into your retirement is vital, and it's important to start making those contributions as early as possible. Your hard work will pay off when you have the means to keep up your lifestyle into your retirement years.
Accumulating a large retirement portfolio is not difficult if you understand the proper steps involved and you make a commitment to do so from an early age. When you decide to get started saving for your retirement, you need to know where to put the money and what to do with it once it is there.
Transitioning from a full-time or part-time salary to a retiree's lifestyle is difficult. When you worked, your employer took care of everything from withholding enough taxes from your paycheck to maybe even providing you with health insurance coverage. When you retire, you are responsible for those items. Before you retire, you need to make sure your post-work tax plan is in order.
If you don't save enough money for your retirement, then you may be forced to work longer than you planned. The earlier you start saving money for your retirement, the better. But, if you're 45 years old and you still aren't sure how much money you should be saving, you need to spend some time figuring this out.
If you have started your own business successfully and the business is turning a profit, you should already be considering how you will leave the business. It does not matter if you plan on retiring in a year or decades from now---a good plan for leaving your business should start when you begin running the company, not when you are looking for a way to retire. Experts call this an exit strategy, and there are many different options for how you can retire, depending on what key components of the business matter to you. There are also financial issues you…
An individual retirement account, or IRA, helps you save for retirement. IRAs are opened through financial institutions. Although IRAs offer tax advantages and can help grow your retirement savings, the process also comes with a few fees that you should be aware of. Some fees are mandatory, but you can avoid others by paying attention when you open and manage your account.
It is never too early to start thinking about a retirement savings strategy. The sooner you get started, the larger your nest egg will grow, so it pays to start thinking about how much you need to save as soon as you start working and earning an income. If you start building toward that nest egg when you are young, you can contribute far less on a monthly basis than you would if you waited just 10 or 15 years to get started.
If you are asking the question about how much money it costs to raise a baby, you are on the right track. As you probably already expect, it's expensive to raise a kid. However, there is an upside; you can control your expenses by planning ahead. Make a plan before the baby arrives for smoother sailing later.
The idea of retiring at age 55 can seem attractive for many reasons. At this age, you've probably done a lot of the work of raising your family, you've achieved many of the successes you wanted out of your career, and you will still be healthy and active enough to enjoy your favorite leisure activities for many years -- maybe even decades. But by any measure, retiring at age 55 is an early retirement -- it's a full seven years before you can start collecting even partial retirement benefits. Being able to retire comfortably while you are so young requires…
Retirement planning is one of the most important financial commitments that you can make in life. For a comfortable retirement, you may need to save hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a few decades before leaving the workforce. A good retirement plan begins with goal setting. From there, you can calculate the amount of money you need to be saving each month in particular accounts to secure your vision of retirement.
Early retirement is a dream for many workers, but retiring early is an extreme goal even for dedicated savers. You already know you can retire at 40 if you win the lottery, but you might be able to leave work behind even without that large one-time windfall. There is no one hard-and-fast number that is "enough" to retire on. Instead, the amount you need to live comfortably for the rest of your life depends on factors such as your spending habits, your investing style and your ability to earn some extra income if you need to.
College educations can be inexpensive, or they can cost more than a hundred thousand dollars, but the trade-off lies in knowledge and a diploma that can help graduates land a job. Most students assemble a mixture of private savings, earnings from part-time jobs, scholarships and student loans to pay for their education. Given the complexities of paying for college, some students wonder how much money they'll need to make it to graduation day. Total sums can depend on a number of factors, so consider these variables to determine how much you'll need.
Planning for a comfortable retirement takes many years, and one of the primary challenges is determining exactly how much you need to live a good life after you stop working. There is no one answer to this important question, since everyone's individual needs are different. Understanding your own income needs will help you determine how much you need to retire comfortably.
An Individual Retirement Account is a specialized investment account that provides tax advantages for your retirement savings. While you can manage your own IRA in terms of investments, you must open the account at a financial services firm that provides a custodian for the account. A custodian is charged with the safekeeping of account assets and certain administrative functions that you cannot perform on your own.
To most retirees, retirement means more than just having more free time on their hands -- it also means learning how to live within a more fixed income. Upon taking the leap into the world of retirement, you may find that you no longer have the same level of disposable income as you once did. To ensure that you achieve successful living within this new income level, consider some ways in which you can save money during your golden years to make sure your carefully created nest egg lasts as long as you do.
Calculating how much to save for retirement can be a difficult task. On one hand, savers have to make sure and pay current bills. On the other, they have to plan accurately for the future to ensure they have enough money to retire. Balancing these two tasks can be a tricky proposition, but there are a few standard areas of focus that savers use to successfully plan how much money is appropriate to save.
Retirement planning hinges on the single key question of need. Sadly, as the countless number of books on shelves and sites on the web have proven, there is no easy answer to this question. There are, however, some relatively constant factors and considerations that anyone planning for retirement should contemplate before deciding how much to contribute to retirement plans.
Selecting the amount of money you'll need for retirement is a tricky endeavor, since it's often difficult to foresee your future goals, health and living expenses. You may think you want to retire as early as possible, but some people enjoy their careers so much they end up working as long as they are able. On the other hand, a number of circumstances may cause you to want to retire earlier than planned (stress, job changes, a disability) so you'll need to be financially prepared.
Retirement can be a time for relaxation and peace of mind, but these things are difficult to maintain if you are dogged by financial worries. Living in a less-expensive locale can make your retirement savings go much further and allow you to live well on less. The trick is to find a location that has a happy medium: a low cost of living, but sufficient amenities and comforts that you can be happy there.
The Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, insures approximately 34 million single-family home loans. The insurance protects lenders who fund the mortgages against losses if a borrower defaults. The FHA, part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, enables lenders to approve borrowers under less stringent guidelines than those of conventional, nongovernment guaranteed loans. One of those relaxed guidelines involves liquid assets for borrowers.
Superannuation is a government-regulated retirement fund in Australia, and is similar to a 401k. In the U.S., the term "superannuation" is also sometimes used to refer to a pension plan set up by a company for its employees.
Saving money for retirement can allow you to enjoy a better quality of life after your productive working years. An individual retirement account (IRA) is one tool for saving money for retirement that comes with tax benefits. According to the Congressional Research Service, IRAs have been available in the United States since 1974. Benefits accrue to the IRA account holder, with the particular value of benefits depending on the type and management of account.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides insurance to U.S. banks that meet government standards. All FDIC-insured banks must meet high standards for financial strength and stability. The FDIC has provided insurance since 1933.
Most people look forward to retirement and work toward that goal their whole life. But if you do not plan properly, your finances may not be in place when you reach retirement age. Figuring for retirement requires planning and determining what benefits will be available to you when you retire.
An IRA account is designed to help investors save supplemental money for retirement through a tax-deferred or tax-free structure. The IRS does not limit the number of IRA accounts an individual may have; but as of 2010, there is an limit to contributions of $5,000 per year. Investors with several IRAs may see wide differences in how their fees are assessed.
It is easy to save for retirement when you develop a plan. Most fears come from bad planning or lack thereof. There is always time to save for retirement.
If your company offers a 401(k) plan, you can choose a percentage of your salary to contribute to your 401(k) account. This account is designed to provide you with a portion of the income you will need when you retire. Many new employees ask themselves wonder much should they contribute to their 401(k) account.
If you have not saved any money for retirement, do not beat yourself up about it. Plenty of people are in this situation. In fact, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found in its 2009 Retirement Confidence Survey that Americans are less confident now that they will be able to achieve a comfortable retirement than they were in 1993, when the survey began.
If they haven't already made the decision to retire, baby boomers come closer to facing this decision each year. Like them, you'll need to determine how much money you'll need when you retire. There are two ways of looking at your retirement needs--your total savings and your annual retirement expenses. To live a fulfilling retirement, it's best if you have a comfortable handle on both of these numbers.
How much money do I need to retire? Glad you asked. Retirement plans are difficult enough to make without worrying about how much you need to retire. Follow these steps to get personalized answers to your retirement questions. How much you need to retire is based on the answers these steps help you determine for your retirement plans.
You would certainly like to have plenty of money saved up when you reach retirement age, so you can enjoy those golden years after a lifetime of work. You can calculate or project how much money you will need to retire in several ways. Although your calculations may present you with a daunting goal, taking a series of smaller steps can get you there.
Deciding on how much money is needed to support a retirement is a bit like asking a surgeon what is his best operation. It all depends on what the individual needs. One rule of thumb is retirees can support themselves on around 70% of their work salary, and another cautions retirees to spend only 4% of their investments annually to keep from running out of money.
Retirement is an event for which everyone must plan carefully. However, the exact amount needed for retirement varies widely due to differences in desired lifestyle. Retiring in Canada is no exception. Although Canadians have the advantage of socialized health care, they also have a high tax burden that cuts into their retirement savings.
To determine how much to save each week for retirement, figure out how much money is required for retirement, project the year at which you will retire, and work backwards. Allow for inflation rates when determining what to save for retirement with advice from a registered financial consultant in this free video on personal finance and retirement.
The easy answer for how much a person should save for retirement is that they should save as much as they can. Save at least 10 percent of an annual income when planning for retirement with help from a licensed insurance agent in this free video on retirement planning and personal finance.
With the Social Security system crumbling, retirement planning is becoming increasingly important to all Americans. However, without a crystal ball, knowing just how much to save is difficult. Here are some suggestions that may help you decide on a retirement budget.
There is nothing scientific about saving for retirement. Most experts agree the best way is to pay yourself first out of every paycheck. A target proportion to save is 10 to 15 percent of gross income. This takes discipline and vision, but separates the will-haves from the won't-haves.
When there is an economic crisis, retiring can be difficult. The markets are down, and your retirement accounts have lost a substantial amount of their value. Every day brings a new surprise, with stocks and mutual funds bouncing from highs to lows in a single day. You want to retire. You've worked hard to get to this point, and it's time to enjoy some freedom. This article will give you tips on how to retire during an economic crisis.
Estimating how much is needed to retire is a complex problem that usually requires an online tool or hired services. Learn some simple steps for calculating a retirement fund with tips from a financial planner in free personal-finance video.
Figuring out how much money needed to retire is something people tend to put off until their 30s or 40s. But getting the facts and figures during your 20s gives you hard retirement savings figures for which you can start to plan. A workable formula, according to University Credit Union Home and Finance Family Resource Center, requires estimating your retirement-age income and adding 0.25 percent to it -- to accommodate inflation -- for every post-retirement year.
Investing is something some people don't think about. All it takes is a little now to have a lot later. Reading this article will teach you how to invest cash.
For many years, Americans relied on one of two things (or both) for the security of their retirement years. One of these things was a good pension from their careers and the other was Social Security. While a pension may still be a viable plan for retirement (depending, of course, on your career), Social Security is not. Unless you want to live as a pauper in your golden years, you have to plan wisely for retirement. This guide will show you how to do so.
The average American spends 18 years in retirement. You want your retirement money to last all through your retirement years. Once retired, you will save some money on your work related expenses such as commuting and wardrobe. You also won't be paying Social Security taxes. However, plan on spending money for hobbies, trips and leisure. Therefore, it is important to make your retirement money last.
Many people look forward to the day that they will be able to retire and pursue leisurely activities. The pension offered by the companies where you worked during your career, however, may not be enough to provide you with the monthly income to support the lifestyle that you would like to lead. In addition, you may want to leave money for your children and grandchildren. If you save money for retirement, you can supplement your income.
If you work in a government office, or in a certain private sector job, you may have been offered the option to save a portion of your salary for retirement in a Section 457 plan. In this plan, you can regularly contribute a fixed amount that will not be taxed until you withdraw it upon retirement. A 457 plan lessens your tax burden as you plan for your financial future.
Before crunching any numbers, remember that the quality of your retirement will depend in some ways more on your preparation than on the amount of cash or assets you have. Also, remember that retirement years don't have to be periods during which you bring in absolutely no income. It is possible to have a graduated retirement to help with your financial goals. Understanding these caveats, let's look at how best to come up with a solid number for your finances.
