Calculate How Much Money You’ll Need in Retirement

Saving for retirement with a gold IRA is one of the shrewdest financial decisions you can make for a comfortable future. Gold and other precious metals have a stabilizing effect on your portfolio and can help ensure a secure retirement free from monetary worries.

But how much wealth do you actually need to build so you can enjoy a pleasant retirement? Online calculators, which take into account factors such as your current age, the age at which you wish to retire, current savings, and current living expenses, are available to give you a ballpark figure of where you stand. However, since your magic number depends on many more variables than can fit into a calculator, we recommend that you not rely solely on those types of generalized estimators. Instead, you should also consider the following points when analyzing your own needs.

• General health and life expectancy: Thanks to medical technology, life expectancy for middle class folks in developed countries keeps getting longer and longer. If you’re generally healthy and don’t have a family history of cancer or heart disease, your retirement calculations should extend 20-25 years or more.
• Post-retirement plans: Do you wish to travel around the world after you retire? Or will you be content to stay at home most days? Do you want to take up an expensive hobby like scuba diving or flying? Or are you more of the fishing or gardening type? How you intend to spend your golden years will have a major impact on how much of a nest egg you need.
• Day-to-day lifestyle: Your expenses today—at the height of your earning power—might be considerably different from your expenses in retirement. If you plan to downsize to a more modest home or condo, drive your car longer before replacing it, and reduce your spending in other ways, then calculate your retirement needs based on these projections.
• Taxes on retirement funds: Don’t forget about taxes! If you’re currently contributing to a Roth IRA, then you’re paying taxes now and won’t be taxed on the withdrawals. You will, however, be taxed on withdrawals from a traditional IRA, which will in turn reduce your net income.

Determining how much money you’ll need in retirement is a critical step in financial planning. Take the above factors into consideration as you evaluate your retirement needs and be sure to contribute enough physical gold to your gold IRA to get there.

Although the information in this commentary has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, American Bullion does not guarantee its accuracy and such information may be incomplete or condensed. The opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. American Bullion will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be used to make buy or sell decisions for any type of precious metals.