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Friday, March 6, 2009

Don't Skimp On Your Retirement Savings

By David C Lewis, RFA

If you are making or thinking of making 401k contributions, then you may want to start using a retirement calculator before you put any more money away for your future.

Using a retirement calculator is a must. They are all over the Internet. The more detailed the better. They can help you determine how much money you will need for your future. It sure beats guessing.

Financial calculators (re: retirement calculators) can often give you a basic overview of what you will need for retirement. Unfortunately, they do not always give you the specific details you need, like how to adjust for changing interest rates and taxes.

Choose a retirement calculator that delves into specifics. Ideally, a calculator that can help you with "what if" scenarios is best. Although it may be more complicated to work with, you will be happy when you have hard facts and enough details to make a solid plan.

One major concern that is often overlooked is the distribution phase of your retirement. So much time is spent worrying about accumulating money. Make sure that you factor in the effects of taxes. As a general guideline, assume that taxes don't decrease over time.

Most people believe that taxes aren't going away any time soon. If you are like most people, it is probably best that you factor in the effect of them during retirement. Also consider whether you would rather pay tax now and get money tax-free during retirement (as you can do with high cash value life insurance or a Roth IRA) or if you'd rather pay tax on a larger sum of money (as you do with a traditional 401k or IRA).

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