Determining how much money you will need for retirement requires assessing your current financial situation to see if you’re off to a good start–or not. You want to save enough retirement money for you to maintain your standard of living. How much you need depends on when you want to retire, what you anticipate your living expenses will be by the time you reach your golden years, the anticipated rate of return on your savings and whether you will continue to work after you retire.
Two key factors pretty much determine how much you should aim to save for retirement: the length of time you have to save, and the number of years you expect to live after retirement. A qualified financial advisor can help you map out a retirement plan according to your present financial circumstances and where you want to be financially by the time you retire. The financial planner can help you visualize where you are now and what you need to save in order to achieve your goals, as well as how best to invest your money. An elder law attorney can advise you on to ensure any retirement funds you save are distributed according to your wishes in the event of your death.
There are a lot of websites on the Internet that offer free retirement planning tools such as “retirement calculators”, but they are no substitute for a seasoned professional. The sooner you start your retirement plan, the better prepared you’ll be when you retire.
