About Retirement Calculator, Inc.

Recommended Reading

• How to Stop the "Pension Pirates" from Stealing your Retirement
• The Nervous Retiree
• Why You Need Retirement Calculator Software
• Analysis of the Economics of Early Social Security Withdrawal

Retirement Income Money

Retirement Income Is About More than Just Money

Retirement income is about more than just money. Beyond money, retirement income is freedom. Retirement income is the ability to travel, the ability to help out your family, a chance to spoil yourself and the people that you love. Beyond money, retirement income is the security of knowing that even after you no longer have a regular paycheck coming in, you will still be able to make ends meet and to have the savings in place that a health crisis or other unexpected cost will not throw you off track.

Retirement income is, in part, about money - there is not really any way to deny that; it is just essential to know that money is not the end all and be all. It is the planning for retirement income - it is the choices that you make about the ways in which you are able to save money and about how much you save, it's about the strategy that you have when you make the choices to invest in your retirement.

The choices that you make now are going to have an affect on your future. Whether you are in your twenties or thirties or you are approaching retirement a lot more quickly than you would like to admit, whether you have been saving for years or are just getting started, it's important that you have the information that you need to help you to make the right decisions.

One of the best things that you can do in order to take control of your retirement income - money and all - is to download the free retirement calculator that is available at the bottom of this page. There are two great reasons why this retirement calculator will benefit you.

The first is simple. With the free retirement calculator, you will be able to take a closer look at your savings and investments to determine whether or not you are on the right track to have the retirement income that you are going to need in order to live out the retirement that you have dreamed of. You will be able to look at savings accounts to see how they will accrue over time, and how the value of those accounts will be affected by inflation so that you will have a stronger sense of the money that you will have when you retire.

Not only will you be able to take a closer look at your savings accounts, but you will also be able to get a stronger sense of the investments you've made and whether or not they will help you to reach your retirement income goals. You will also be able to take a look at the ways in which small changes to your savings and investment strategy will affect the money you have as retirement income.

The second benefit may be even more valuable. When you download the retirement calculator, your contact information will be forwarded to a retirement planner who will call you to follow up. Together, you will be able to look at the questions that you have, to find the answers that you need and to develop a plan that will ensure that you reach all of your retirement income and money goals.

The longer that you put it off, the harder it will be to have the retirement income you need, so why not get started now? Click to download the free retirement calculator and you'll be on your way.

Find a Qualified Financial Planner in Your Area

Do You Know the Answers to These Important Retirement Questions?

• Are you retired or thinking about retiring?
• Do you have enough money to comfortably live throughout your retirement years?
• Would you like FREE face to face advice or retirement consulting from a trusted local financial advisor?
• Are you looking for help to achieve your long-term financial goals?
• Would you like to learn more about Annuities, 401's, Life Insurance and Long Term Care?

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Analysis of the Economics of Early Social Security Withdrawal

Robert J. Phillips
Chief Retirement Consultant

Deciding whether or not to take the early withdrawal of social security at age 62 can be difficult. If you need this income at 62 to fund your retirement the decision is fairly straightforward. Take it early! On the other hand, if you have another source of revenue to fund your retirement your decision will be primarily based on lifestyle, health and investment preferences.

Several factors can affect your decision. First is your life expectancy. If you are in good health and have a family history of living beyond 90 then waiting for full benefits may be best. Two other factors impact this decision. First and most important is the value of money or your expected return from your investments. If you are using other investments instead of social security to fund your retirement you should use the rate of return of these investments as your value of money. There is another way to look at the value of money. If you do not require the social security money to live, you can invest the distributions for the future. The rate of return of this investment is your value of money. If your investments will make larger returns such as stocks this would favor taking the early withdrawal.

The last factor impacting your decision is inflation. Social security includes an annual adjustment based on inflation. You cannot control this variable but you should be aware of its impact. If future inflation is significant it will favor a later full distribution

FREE Social Security Calculator:

We developed a calculator to assist in analyzing the impact of taking early benefits at age 62 or waiting for full benefits at age 66 to 67 depending on the year you were born...If you were born in 1960 or later your full benefits will begin at age 67 and your reduction for early benefits at age 62 will be 30%. If you were born between 1946 and 1960 your full benefits begin as early as age 66. We have included a chart that summarizes information.

To use the calculator you need to input your year of birth. You also need to input a value of money up to 10% and a projected inflation adjustment. The calculator analyzes income generated over time from both the early and full benefit investments. It calculates the age at which full social security will catch up and breakeven with the early withdrawal. If you were born before 1960 your breakeven age will be impacted by the year you were born. An early breakeven age favors waiting for full benefits.

The social security calculator is not the final answer whether to take an early withdrawal but it does give you additional economic data to assist in that decision. Ultimately you must balance income, investments and lifestyle to optimize your enjoyment during your retirement years.