DECIDING how much money you need for retirement is obviously a highly personal calculation. It depends on any number of factors — from your current lifestyle to your general state of health. That's why we've designed this set of interactive worksheets to let you tailor your estimate to your own circumstances.
They'll take a little while to complete. But when you're done, you'll have a dependable estimate of how much money you'll need in retirement — whether you retire early or late — and how much you'll need to save this year to reach that goal.
A Moving Target
What the worksheets won't tell you is what to save five years from now, or even next year. By then, anything from your salary to your market outlook might have changed. That means you should take the time to repeat this planning exercise every couple of years — or every year as you near retirement.
One other consideration: When you're young, many of the projections the worksheets demand of you are almost impossible to make reliably. So if you are in your 20s, 30s, or even your early 40s, you might want to just give these worksheets a quick look and move right to Picking Investments or 401(k) Issues, to start tailoring your investment program.
Still with us? Then let's move on to the
worksheets....
