Browsing Category: "retirement"
How much do I need to save?
Question: I’m 36 and have saved only about $20,000 for retirement. How much per year should I try to save for the next 30 years to assure I’ll have a reasonable retirement? –Beth, Grove City, Ohio
The best time to invest in a 401(k)? Now
Question: I’m 47 years old and would like to begin participating in my company’s 401(k) plan. But I don’t know if this is the right time to do so. Do you think I should start now or wait until the economy gets better? –Frank, Brighton, Mass.
Getting back in the game
Jason and Patty Simkins, both 40, have saved next to nothing for retirement in the past year. They were rattled by the rocky market, which caused the value of their portfolio to tumble 40% at its low point.
Spending a lifetime of savings
Question: The 4% rule seems to have become the conventional wisdom for drawing money from your savings in retirement. But I believe the rule is flawed. I think it might make more sense to choose a percentage of your savings that you will withdraw annually and then just apply that percentage to your savings balance at the beginning of each year so you would have more money to spend in years when investment returns are good and less to spend in years when returns are bad. What do you think? –E. W., East Lansing, Michigan
Retired early … and scared
Question: I had the good fortune to be able to retire early at age 52, but last year’s market meltdown has made me rethink the decision. I may still be okay, but I don’t have the same level of certainty I once had. My question is this: How will Social Security be calculated for me and how does the fact that I haven’t worked the last few years fit into the calculation? –Jack Ford, West Newbury, Mass.
Obama wants $250 for seniors
President Obama is calling on Congress to send another $250 payment to 57 million seniors and other Americans to stem the economic strain.
Retired early … and getting scared
Question: I had the good fortune to be able to retire early at age 52, but last year’s market meltdown has made me rethink the decision. I may still be okay, but I don’t have the same level of certainty I once had. My question is this: How will Social Security be calculated for me and how does the fact that I haven’t worked the last few years fit into the calculation? –Jack Ford, West Newbury, Mass.
How much you’ll need
Question: I always heard that you will need 80% or so of your working salary to live on in retirement. But is that a percentage of your gross income or your take-home pay? –Mary Taylor, Chalfont, Pennsylvania
401(k) investors: Hit hard in ‘08, doing better now
Among the swell of bad news that occurred courtesy of the financial crisis last fall is that 401(k) investors got slammed. And a new report released Tuesday quantifies just how hard.
The right way to unretire
Tom Wogan loves working with his hands, especially building fishing rods and restoring World War II Army knives. So when he retired in June 2006 at age 60 from his $110,000-a-year job as a shift manager at the Florida City nuclear power plant near his home in Palmetto Bay, Fla., he looked forward to spending carefree days puttering around his garage working on his hobbies. With a retirement portfolio worth $1.1 million, Wogan thought he was all set.
