Web Wealth: Retirement planning
Are you expecting too much, or too little, out of whatever retirement you’ll have? There’s no guarantee, of course, but everyone should do some planning and these sites can guide the way.
Are you expecting too much, or too little, out of whatever retirement you'll have? There's no guarantee, of course, but everyone should do some planning and these sites can guide the way.
"Oh, no! I forgot to save for retirement," says the headline here. About.com's retirement planning site has links to articles about understanding retirement accounts, how to deal with old 401(k) accounts when you change jobs, and different ways to think about what your financial, housing and other needs will be when and if you retire.
http://retireplan.about.com
How to retire in style. Click on articles in the right-hand column under "Retirement Planning" on this page at the Motley Fool site for investors to read about the challenges of planning an early retirement. One post notes that retiring at 50 leaves you more than three decades, on average, to fend for yourself — a huge challenge. If you haven't done so before, you'll be asked to register at the site.
http://bit.ly/JCMhs3
Social Security planner. Social Security's retirement planner page is a gateway to online tools for determining when you can collect and how much you'll get. Then you can apply for benefits online. There's also information on what happens to your benefits if you go back to work after starting to collect Social Security.
http://www.ssa.gov/retire2
Count on it. AARP's retirement calculator gets detailed with questions on your biography, salary, savings, and expectations for Social Security income and retirement lifestyle. But the result is likely to be a good guide to the steps you need to take to realize the reasonably comfortable retirement you're envisioning.
http://aarp.us/KILYM3
Bloomberg's calculator is a stripped-down way to see how much you need to save year by year to get your retirement account to your goal.
http://bloom.bg/KY6PdV
Throwing a retirement party? Here's a checklist for planning one, including tips for your speech.
http://bit.ly/Lef568
Retirement savings regrets. Perhaps reading about other people's failures here at Bankrate.com will prove instructive.
http://bit.ly/KIMo53
Contact Reid Kanaley at 215-854-5114 or rkanaley@phillynews.com.