How to Calculate for your Retirement

N.A.R.V.R.E

You have worked hard for most of your life. You deserve your retirement. To have an enjoyable and stable retirement, you need to make sure you have financially planned for no longer receiving a paycheck. How to calculate for your retirement is one of the most challenging parts of retirement planning.  Figuring out how much money you should have saved is tough.   

If you worked for the railroad, consider yourself incredibly lucky. The benefits for railroad employment are many, and one of the best railroad retirement benefits is your retirement package. The people at N.A.R.V.R.E. or the National Association of Railroad Veterans and Retired Employees have worked for over 80 years to protect and preserve your railroad retirement. They plan to continue to stay updated on any legislative issues that will threaten those pensions, as well.  

Financial planning experts say you should aim to replace between 70% and 85% of your pre-retirement income. Therefore, your goal should be to create enough savings that you would be able to live on $70,000 to $85,000 per year if you earn $100,000 a year. 

Here is a broad rule of thumb that you can use to figure out how much money you will need when you retire. Multiply your current annual spending by 25. That is what your savings will have to be in retirement to allow you to safely withdraw 4% of that amount every year to live on.  

For this calculator, you will enter your current age, the age you plan to retire, your life expectancy (as stated earlier, reports show age 79 as the typical life span as of 2018,) your expected S.S.I.  However, the calculator will help you decide if you need to make lifestyle changes.  

You might have to redefine what kind of lifestyle you want to live in retirement. There are several ways to cut costs and keep an active lifestyle. It may even make sense to downsize. Many retirees even choose to retire to a state with no income tax.  Consider it an adventure. There are plenty of ways to make retirement work. You just must adjust the numbers to see what makes the best sense for you.  

For railroad retiree’s make sure to become a member of the N.A.R.V.R.E. organization. The membership dues are small. It is an opportunity to stay in touch with your colleagues. And ensuring no legislation is enacted that would affect your pension. You can now find us on Facebook.