• Use Online Retirement Calculators to Check Your Work

    Welcome back!  If you’ve read my blog posts up to this point, you should have a pretty fair idea of your financial fitness for retirement: Do you (or will you) have enough money to retire (see this post); How should you manage your money once you stop working (see this post); When should you begin taking social security retirement benefits (see this post and this one); and How can you protect yourself from things that might go wrong (read this post)? You may have reassured yourself that you’re financially on track, or perhaps you’ve identified some weaknesses in your plan that need shoring up.  But how do you know you…

  • Can I Retire Yet? (Part II)

    Welcome back to the Retirement Hangout!  If you haven’t read Part I of Can I Retire Yet?, I recommend that you go back and read that first.  In Part I, you estimated the annual income stream you will need in retirement, and what portion of that needs to come from savings.    But what size retirement savings stash will provide that income – for the rest of your life?   Drawing Income from a Nest Egg — the 4% Rule Perhaps you’ve heard of the 4% Rule.  This is the amount many financial planners suggest you can withdraw from a retirement portfolio and be confident your savings won’t run out.  If…