#retirementcalculators

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The Retirement Calculator: A Key Tool for Future Financial Security

Planning for retirement is a crucial aspect of personal finance, and one that demands careful thought and preparation. To simplify this process and provide a clear outlook, a tool known as the Retirement Calculator comes in handy. This article explores the concept, functionality, and benefits of a Retirement Calculator in shaping a secure and comfortable retirement.

A Retirement Calculator is an online tool that assists individuals in planning their retirement finances. By inputting details like current age, intended retirement age, current savings, monthly savings amount, and expected rate of return, the calculator estimates the retirement corpus that will be accumulated by the time of retirement. It can also factor in inflation and post-retirement expenses to calculate how long the corpus will last.

The primary function of a Retirement Calculator is to provide an estimate of the savings needed to maintain a desired lifestyle post-retirement. This foresight is instrumental in helping individuals understand their saving requirements, adjust their investment plans, and set realistic financial goals for their retirement years.

One of the key benefits of a Retirement Calculator is its ability to illustrate the impact of various factors on retirement savings. By adjusting inputs like savings rate, return rate, or retirement age, users can understand how these changes affect their retirement corpus. This understanding can guide individuals in making necessary adjustments to their financial plans.

Moreover, the Retirement Calculator underscores the power of early and regular saving. By showing the compounding effect of money over time, it demonstrates how starting early can significantly increase the retirement corpus, even with smaller amounts.

However, while a Retirement Calculator is a valuable planning tool, it's important to remember that it provides an estimate based on the inputs provided. Actual results may vary due to changes in return rates, unexpected expenses, or changes in lifestyle. Therefore, it should serve as a guide, supplemented with regular financial reviews and professional advice.

In conclusion, a Retirement Calculator is a powerful tool in retirement planning. By providing an estimate of the required retirement savings, enabling scenario analysis, and emphasizing the importance of early savings, it allows individuals to plan proactively for their retirement. However, while the Retirement Calculator provides a solid foundation, comprehensive retirement planning should also consider other factors such as health care costs, potential income sources in retirement, and estate planning. With careful planning and effective tools like the Retirement Calculator, a secure and fulfilling retirement is an achievable goal.

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Retire with Confidence - Guide to Starting Your Retirement Planning

Take charge of your future, a beginner's guide to retirement planning

Planning for retirement can seem overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. But it's never too early or too late to begin taking steps towards securing your financial future. Retirement planning involves making important decisions about your future, such as how you'll live, where you'll live, and how you'll fund your lifestyle. By starting your retirement planning today, you can take control of your financial situation and work towards the retirement you've always dreamed of. In this article, we'll discuss some of the essential steps you can take to start your retirement planning journey, no matter what stage of life you're in. Retirement is a time when you can finally sit back and relax after decades of hard work. However, to ensure a comfortable and financially stable retirement, it's essential to start planning early. In this beginner's guide to retirement planning, we'll discuss some essential tips and strategies to help you achieve your retirement goals.

Senior Adult Reading Letter Postcard Concept Set your retirement goals: The first step in retirement planning is to identify your retirement goals. This includes estimating your living expenses, setting a target retirement age, and identifying any financial milestones you'd like to achieve. Setting clear and attainable retirement goals is one of the most important steps in the retirement planning process. Retirement is a significant milestone in life, and it requires careful consideration and planning to ensure that you can live the lifestyle you desire. Setting retirement goals can help you determine what you want to achieve and create a plan to reach those goals. Whether you're just starting your career or are nearing retirement age, setting your retirement goals is a critical step in securing your financial future. In this article, we'll discuss the importance of setting retirement goals, provide tips on how to set effective goals, and guide you through developing a personalized retirement plan that aligns with your unique vision for the future. Determine your retirement income sources: Once you've identified your retirement goals, you need to determine your potential sources of retirement income. This includes pensions, Social Security benefits, and retirement savings plans like 401(k)s and IRAs. One of the most critical steps in retirement planning is determining your sources of retirement income. Retirement is a time when your income will change, and it's essential to have a clear understanding of where your money will come from during your retirement years. Whether it's Social Security, pension plans, investments, or personal savings, it's important to evaluate your income sources and develop a strategy to ensure that you have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. In this article, we'll explore the various sources of retirement income and provide guidance on how to determine your retirement income needs. We'll also discuss how to develop a retirement income strategy that aligns with your lifestyle goals and helps ensure financial security throughout your retirement years. Start saving early: Saving for retirement is a marathon, not a sprint. The earlier you start saving, the more time your money has to grow. Aim to save at least 15% of your income for retirement. The earlier you start saving, the more time your money has to grow and compound, which can have a significant impact on your retirement savings in the long run. Whether you're just starting your career or have been working for years, starting to save for retirement as early as possible can help you achieve your retirement goals and ensure financial security in your golden years. Maximize your retirement savings: Maximizing your retirement savings can help you reach your retirement goals faster. Take advantage of employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s and contribute as much as possible. If you're self-employed, consider a solo 401(k) or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. Manage your investments: Managing your investments is an essential part of retirement planning. Diversify your investments to minimize risk, and consider consulting a financial advisor to help you create a well-balanced retirement portfolio. Monitor your retirement plan: Retirement planning is a crucial component of your financial well-being. By starting early, setting clear retirement goals, maximizing your retirement savings, and managing your investments wisely, you can achieve a comfortable and financially stable retirement. Remember, it's never too early or too late to start planning for your retirement, so take action today and secure your financial future. As you get closer to retirement, it's essential to monitor your retirement plan regularly. Review your investments, update your retirement goals if necessary, and adjust your contributions and investments to reflect any changes in your financial situation. Read the full article

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Retirement and Pension Calculator Online

Use Kotak Life Insurance's Retirement Planning Calculator to organize your retirement. Use a retirement calculator to help you accumulate the funds necessary to cover all of your retirement-related costs.

Visit us to know more.

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Want to plan your retirement? Our Retirement Calculator will help you figure out how much money you need to save today so that you can live peacefully in your work-free years.

Call on: +91 22 4062 8990

https://www.ajmeraxchange.co.in/tools-and-calculators/retirement-calculator

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Should I Downsize My Home for Retirement?

So maybe you're nearing retirement and thinking about downsizing your home for retirement. Or perhaps you've already retired and are considering downsizing to buy a more manageable property. Of course, there may be benefits of moving to a smaller place. You might be able to reduce or pay off your home loan, get rid of some clutter and there is likely to be less cleaning and gardening. But don't assume that moving to another property is guaranteed to give you more cash to live on. Before you put the 'for sale' sign up, get a few different estimates on what your house is worth. Then think about why you want to move and what you're hoping to achieve.

Some things to consider

Why do you really want to sell? Is it to have a better lifestyle, be closer to your family, pay off your home loan or have more cash?

Where do you want to move to, and have you trialed living there before to see if you like it? Consider a house swap or renting a property in the area you want to buy, before forking out for a deposit.

Why do you want to live in a particular area? You might love the idea of living on a remote beach or in the bush, but have you researched nearby facilities, such as shops, public transport or hospitals?

Do you have emotions tied to your family home that would make it hard to move, such as memories of the kids growing up there?

What about the social aspects of moving, like whether you have friends or family where you're moving to? And what about the ones you're leaving behind?

Super benefits for downsizers

If you do decide to sell, you'll need to consider what to do with any proceeds that are left over. One option to consider is the new super measure allowing these proceeds to be contributed to super. As of 1 July 2018, downsizers aged 65 or over can make an after-tax contribution of up to $300,000 per person (or $600,000 per couple) from the sale of the family home they've lived in for at least 10 years. This is in addition to any other before-tax or after-tax contributions they're eligible to make, regardless of work status, superannuation balance, or contribution history. There are conditions—as well as additional rules which may apply to your situation—so it's important to do some research before making any decisions.

The real costs of moving

While there may be many good reasons to consider downsizing, selling your home and buying another property will incur some out-of-pocket expenses. You'll have the costs of moving, such as connecting and disconnecting utilities, removalists' fees, stamp duty and potentially real estate agent commission costs. In addition to these, any money left over after downsizing could affect you under the government assets and income tests. For example, moving from a property that is worth $1m to one that’s worth $400,000 means you could have an additional $600,000 in assessable assets, which could impact your Age Pension entitlement. So you'll need to carefully consider if downsizing is the right option for you and your retirement plans. For more information download our downsizing planner.

Other sources of income

Apart from selling your home, you could think about other ways to generate income leading up to, or during retirement. Here are just a couple of examples.

If you've already retired, consider getting a part-time job to help supplement your income or the Age Pension. But bear in mind there are limitations to the number of hours you can work after you have declared that you’re retired. Depending on your circumstances, income from working could also impact on your pension entitlements.

Consider reviewing your investments to make sure they align with your goals. Just remember that past performance is no indicator of future performance and higher returns can also mean higher exposure to risk.

We’re here to help

Retirement planning can be a complex area and there may be tax or Age Pension implications which you need to be aware of before making any decisions. Contact Brad Lonergan (Financial Planner Newcastle and Lake Macquarie) for more information about downsize my home for retirement for Newcastle and Lake Macquarie residents. Call 0423 621 120 or email brad@bmkfs.com.au

© AMP Life Limited. First published July 2017

http://bmkfinancialservices.com.au/should-i-downsize-my-home-for-retirement/

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Now You Can Check If Your Employer Is Contributing To The EPF A/c

Do you get an SMS when your bank transaction fails for any reason?

But have you heard of someone getting a similar intimation from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on the failure of the employer to deposit contributions in your Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account?

Recently, EPFO took another step to improve transparency. It decided to intimate subscribers through email or SMS every time their employer fails to deposit its contribution. To access the press release, click here.

Why did EPFO take such a step?

In the past there have been instances where employers not only skipped their contributions deliberately, but also didn’t deposit contributions deducted from the employees’ salary.

And, such unethical incidents have been steadily on the rise since FY 2012-13.

Defaulting employers…

(Source: The Hindu Business Line)

Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have reported the maximum cases of such deliberate defaults.

What happens when your employers deduct your contribution, but don’t credit it to your account?

If contributions remain un-deposited for more than six months, then the employer has to pay 25% p.a. interest along with dues.  

If it remains outstanding for more than two months, but less than four months, then the employer has to pay 10% p.a. interest along with the amount due.

For a delay of more than four months but less than six months, the interest penalty increases to 15% p.a.

Despite such stringent laws, employers refuse to pay heed. An employee remains under the impression that since the amount is deducted from his salary, the employer must have credited this to his/her EPF account.

At present, you can only check your credit balance. But with this initiative of EPFO, you will be able to track the contribution frequency of your employer as well.

Do you solely depend on EPF for your retirement planning?

Ideally, you shouldn’t. There’s no doubt that EPF is one of the most attractive investment avenues from the retirement planning perspective, since it fetches you perhaps the higher tax-adjusted yield in the fixed-income category.

However, depending entirely on it would severely constrain your portfolio.

First, try to estimate the corpus you might require at retirement using PersonalFN’s retirement calculator. You may use PersonalFN’s calculator to do this exercise.

Second, depending on years left for your retirement and your risk appetite you should create a personalised retirement plan. You should also take into account your existing kitty of retirement savings.

Want PersonalFN to help you accomplish your goal of blissful retirement?

Yes?

Do not hesitate to call us on 022-61361200.

You can also Schedule a Call with our investment consultant, or even drop a mail at info@personalfn.com and we will be happy to help you.

PersonalFN is a SEBI registered investment advisor. We will handhold in the path of wealth creation and living a blissful retired life.

How good is the idea of investing in mutual funds for retirement?

It’s imperative for you to invest in assets that keep pace with inflation. In other words, you should have exposure to assets such as equity and real estate. But as you know, investing in real estate requires a considerable capital commitment, for which many of us aren’t ready always.

This makes it all the more critical for you to invest in equity oriented mutual funds to create a dependable corpus for retirement. You should invest in them through a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) route.

Retirement is a significant financial goal and you should not ignore, plan for it today!

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Is Including Gold In NPS A Good Idea? Find Out Here…

Generating inflation-beating returns is crucial for a sound retirement plan. But, what’s equally important is how safe is the corpus you’ve accumulated.

After all, you can’t take risks with your retirement savings. That’s because the quality of your life during retirement completely depends on how you have treated your savings during your earning phase.

Though seeking higher returns is okay, but striking the balance between risk and returns is more important.  A well-rounded asset allocation is the key of any investment plan.

As you know, India’s social security system is in an abysmal condition compared to some developed nations.  In fact, India ranked 43rd on the Global Retirement Index in 2017—making it one of the worst places to retire in.

The National Pension Scheme (NPS)  and Employee’s Provident Fund(EPF) are the most prominent formal retirement planning systems in India. Recently, the government and the corresponding development authorities have made these schemes more investor-friendly and rewarding.

Recently, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)——the regulator of the NPS——released a discussion paper that documented the stakeholders’ comments on increasing the ceiling on equity investing from the current 50% to 75% under the option of ‘active choice���.  

The idea was to give investors the option to generate higher returns in the long term through higher equity exposure. The paper further proposed to subsequently reduce the equity exposure after subscriber reaching 50.

In the nick of time, the World Gold Council (WGC) has made an interesting suggestion to the PFRDA. It believes allowing NPS to invest in gold would not only provide the stability to the portfolio, but would also offer a chance to generate higher inflation-adjusted returns.

G.N. Bajpai Committee of the PFRDA made a similar recommendation to the pension fund regulator in 2014. The Committee had suggested permitting the NPS schemes to invest in gold through Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) with a cap of 1%. At the time, the regulator had made some reservations, but didn’t rule out the possibility of allowing this investment avenue in the future.

Considering the global experience of allowing gold as a permissible asset class for investments of pension funds, there’s a strong case for the PFRDA permitting NPS upto 10% investments in gold.

Globally, gold has outshined a large basket of currencies and has generated consistent returns, thereby reducing the overall volatility of the portfolio.

If allowed, it will be in line with the government’s strategy

In the Budget 2018, the Finance Minister briefed the public about the government’s intent to create a comprehensive gold policy and develop a strong gold market for investors. Along with the proposal to hike the ceiling on the equity component of the NPS, the regulator will give serious consideration to allowing investments in gold.

Is NPS a good investment?

PersonalFN is of the view that, the NPS is ineffective to create a substantial corpus that will meet your retirement needs. It would work better if you chalk-out a prudent financial plan with the help of a financial planner.

You can even use our Retirement Calculator to estimate your expected retirement corpus.

Wisely invest as per the plan laid out (which would mostly recommend equity allocation at younger age, and then balancing the asset allocation between equity and debt instruments as you grow older).

You will be able to generate the substantial corpus to meet your retirement needs. Also under this scheme, when one withdraws money at the age of 60, it is taxable.

So, although the structure looks attractive on the face of it, the NPS falters in its goal of attracting more investors; even when it provides a deduction under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Moreover, under the present scheme, it is mandatory to purchase an annuity on retirement. An annuity generates paltry returns, it isn't competent to beat inflation, and is taxable

If investing in the NPS appeals to you, make sure you aren't completely dependent on it. A judicious asset allocation is required to earn the maximum returns during your life’s golden years. Hence, consider other wealth creating investment avenues that can help you plan your retirement well.

If you wish to have professional guidance, do reach out to PersonalFN’s Certified Financial Guardian, who will handhold and guide to plan your retirement and many more financial goals. Call on 022-61361200 or write to us at info@personalfn.com

Since you’re here…

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Facilitates optimal diversification;

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Enables you to benefit from a variety of investment strategies;

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Offers the potential to outperform the market; and

Reduces the need for constant churning of your entire portfolio

‘Core and satellite’ investing is a time-tested strategic way to structure and/or restructure your investment portfolio. PersonalFN’s Strategic Portfolio for 2025, is based on the secret followed by Successful Investors. Subscribe now!

Happy Investing!

Author: PersonalFN Content & Research Team

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