Retirement Calculators Help You Make up for Lost Time

Retirement
It doesn’t matter where you should be in your retirement planning; it only matters where you go next.

No life is perfect, and things happen. Life happens. For whatever reason, the traditional retirement planning advice of starting early and contributing often doesn’t always work out. Many Americans get a later start than what’s ideal, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. There is a solution in most cases, and a retirement calculator can help you find it.

Starting later just means that you have to work a little harder and be a little more dedicated. Where a 20-year-old could contribute a smaller amount regularly, a person in her 40s or 50s needs to make adjustments. That’s not always easy, since patterns and habits are in place. But it can be done.

Begin at the Beginning

Starting a plan for retirement might seem like an overwhelming goal. You might have a mortgage, one or more vehicle payments, credit cards, and any number of other responsibilities. Fitting retirement contributions into what might already be a tight budget can seem impossible without major sacrifices. But that shouldn’t stop you from moving ahead. That’s what a calculator is for – finding the path that you didn’t know was there.

With calculators like the one at NewRetirement (rated one of the best retirement calculators), your part of the work really isn’t difficult. You’re asked to enter certain particulars, such as your salary, debt, current savings and investments, and other details about your financial health. Then you’re asked to consider your retirement goals. Maybe you want to live extravagantly after you retire. Or maybe not. The lifestyle that you want plays an important part in determining what you’ll need.

Retirement
Family depends on you, but you have to save for yourself first.

Analyze What You’ve Found

The calculator does all of the difficult work for you. Based on the information that you provide, it generates projected outcomes. You’ll see what you can expect to have at retirement, if you stay on your current path. Since you’re starting later, the outcome might not look great, but that’s OK. All this means is that you have some work to do. And knowing where you stand now and where your current path will take you gives the critical information that you need to find the right path that leads to a better retirement plan. You can’t effectively change your course until you know which course you’re on.

Not all calculators are the same, but the one at NewRetirement offers suggestions. Don’t like the amount you’re projected to have in a 401(k)? You can make adjustments to see how they would affect your bottom line. For example, if you’re not maximizing contributions, you’re missing out on pre-tax savings as well as employer matched contributions. And the closer you get to retirement, the more you can contribute with “catch up” contributions, says Investopedia.

Retirement
Look at your new retirement plan as a whole new adventure.

Make a New Plan

A calculator is only as valuable as what you do with the information that you get from it. Some experts recommend aiming for $1 million in retirement savings, but that might not be necessary for the lifestyle that you want. The calculator will help you find a realistic number that you can aim for now and that can sustain you later. Once you have that number in mind, then you have a defined goal. Everything else that you do between now and retirement works toward that goal.

You might need additional income to reach that number. Or maybe paying off certain debts and doubling down on your retirement contributions will get you there. Paul Sisolak for the Detroit News says a gradual approach might work well, especially if you’re getting a late start and have existing habits to break. By incremental increases to your contributions, you’ll learn to live with the changes gradually instead of all at once.

Starting later in life doesn’t mean you can’t have the retirement that you need. It only means that you have to work a little harder and maybe change your priorities. Using a retirement calculator helps you determine what you’ll need to retire, which is a big part of the battle. After that, it’s a matter of taking steps toward the goal.

NewRetirement created a calculator to help people just like you. It doesn’t take a lot of time to use, and you can tweak and adjust to find different ways to save what you need. And if you want to try new scenarios later, you can do that at any time.

Check out our retirement calculator today and start making up for lost time tomorrow.

NewRetirement Planner

Do it yourself retirement planning: easy, comprehensive, reliable

NewRetirement Planner

Take financial wellness into your own hands and do it yourself retirement planning: easy, comprehensive, reliable.

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