Retirement calculators are a helpful tool, Exponent Investment Management  they’re no substitute for sound planning and the help of an advisor. These online tools can give you an estimate of how much you might need to save for a comfortable retirement, but they can’t guarantee that your savings will be enough. Generally, experts recommend that you save enough to live off of 15 to 25 times your current annual income in retirement.

Your actual retirement needs may vary depending on your age, expenses and lifestyle choices. A good plan is to begin saving for retirement as early as possible and make regular contributions to your retirement account (either a 401(k) or IRA). You should also consider investing in other assets such as stocks, real estate or a business.

Retirement Calculator: Plan for a Secure Future

Inflation is an important factor to keep in mind when calculating your retirement needs. It is important to know the long-term average inflation rate and make adjustments for this in your calculations.

Social Security

The Social Security check box is checked when you want to include your estimated Social Security benefits in your plan. The calculator will use your current earnings to calculate a projection of what your future benefits would be. This will include a lifetime benefit for yourself and a survivor’s benefit for your spouse if you’re married.

This calculation uses an annuitization method to estimate the monthly lifetime income payments based on both your current account balance and the projected value of your account at retirement. It is calculated as if you had already reached the retirement age entered, even though you are currently much younger.