Most workers dream of retirement. You can set your own schedule, spend more time with your loved ones, and explore new hobbies. But for that to be possible, you have to save enough money first. That’s where retirement calculators are key.
How much money will you need in the future? How much money do you have to save now in order to reach that goal?
These retirement calculators help ensure you’re saving enough money now to make your retirement dreams your future reality.
My favorite retirement calculator comes from Charles Schwab. Schwab is an investment brokerage and financial company, so they really don’t skimp on their calculator tools.
Their retirement calculator is very customizable.
It looks at your current situation, your tolerance for risk, and your retirement goals.
Once you’ve entered all your information, the retirement calculator spits out a pretty detailed analysis of your financial picture. It tells you how much money you’ll need in retirement based on what you’ve entered and their formulas.
It will also tell you if you’re currently saving the correct amount. If you’re not, the calculator will identify the anticipated shortfall in your future retirement fund.
I really appreciate that Schwab’s retirement calculator works for anyone, not just customers. I mean, yes, of course they’d like to have your business.
However, unlike some of the other businesses that sponsor financial calculators, there’s no hard sell on this page. You don’t have to enter your email or any other personal contact information to access your results.
Of course, if you are looking for different options in retirement calculators, there are other good choices.
Smart Asset has a retirement calculator with a very different feel than Schwab’s. Rather than entering all the information upfront, it asks you a series of questions, one at a time. It then calculates your results and gives them to you in a variety of formats.
First, there’s the simple “Yes, you’re saving enough,” or “No, you’re not.” But then Smart Asset further expands on the information with helpful graphs, tables, and charts.
One of the things I like most about this particular retirement calculator is the sliding dial you can adjust for your age of retirement.
Smart Asset’s calculator will automatically adjust how much money you’ll have available in retirement based on what you enter.
(The one thing I didn’t like about Smart Asset’s retirement calculator is that it seems to run a little slowly. It saves your answer after every individual entry, so going through it one at a time feels a bit tedious. I still think it’s worth it for the value of the information provided at the end though.)
Nerdwallet also has a retirement calculator that’s very simple to use. Enter a few variables and it automatically calculates your results right there on the screen.
The calculator gives you a simple scale that includes, “needs attention,” “on your way,” “getting close,” and finally, “on track” (the best result). I love how simple the interface is.
Retirement calculators are an important part of planning for your future.
Keeping your retirement savings on track is tied closely to your overall financial health. If you’re trying to get an all-around handle on your finances, these are some of the best financial calculators to help you manage your money well.
Retirement can seem so far away that it’s easy to put saving for it on the back burner.
Plus, it’s just so hard to imagine how much money you’ll need that many years from now.
Retirement calculators help bring that seemingly distant future into clearer focus so you can make smart decisions now and reap the benefits later.