Key Retirement Concepts
All of these widgets help explain a key retirement concept. They cover saving, investing, planning, and monitoring your progress. Each one takes just a few minutes to run through.
Please take a look and leave your comments below. Which ones resonate with you? Do any of these need a tweak? If so, in what way?
Retirement Tools
The Power of Saving. “Save 1% More” widget Link
The single most powerful factor in your retirement success is how much you contribute (as a percent of your income).
Follow Up: Bump up your savings rate. If you contribute to a 401k plan that has an auto-increase feature, turn it on. If you have earned income, open up an IRA. If you have a brokerage account, set up an automatic monthly contribution. Even $25 dollars per month makes a difference.
Freeing up Funds to Invest: Spending and Values Exercise Link
You can’t invest unless you can save, and you can’t save unless you can get a handle on spending.
Follow Up: Bump up contributions with the funds you have freed up.
Understand Where You Are Right Now: Ratios widget. Link
There are two key metrics that tell whether you are on track for a solid retirement.
Follow Up: Record your current metrics (see One-Page Plan below) and re-calculate annually.
What Age Should I Target for Retirement: Retirement Age widget. Link
There is little guidance on how to choose a target retirement age. This tool narrows it down.
Follow Up: Going forward, use your result above as an input for retirement plans and calculators.
What Is the Star Rating of a Fund? Fund Quality widget Link
High quality funds earn significantly more than low rated funds.
Follow Up: Review your funds and replace low rated (one- and two-star) with higher quality options.
Do Fees Matter? Yes they do. Here’s how much . . . Fund Fee widget Link
It’s not like with automobiles, where the more you pay, the better the product.
Follow Up: Review your funds and replace high-cost funds (one- and two-star) with lower cost options.
What Can I Expect to Earn When I Invest? Stock Market widget. Link
Click the spinner once for each year you have until retirement to see a random collection of real market returns.
Follow Up: Be sure you have the right mix of fund styles for your risk profile. A good mix includes large cap and small cap, domestic and international, growth and value, and the right asset classes like equity, fixed income, commodities, real-estate and cash. The jury is still out on bitcoin.
Why Start Now? “Juice Factor” widget. Link
Every dollar you save is more than just a dollar saved. Albert Einstein called time value of money the eighth wonder of the world.
Follow Up: Remember this concept as the powerful idea of “the time value of money” and get started saving now.
One-Page Retirement Plan. Template Link
The key items for a successful retirement can fit on one page.
Follow Up: Contact us with any comments or questions at info@theretirementchallenge.com
