Financial Aging

One topic that we have not discussed in our seminar is the role of finances in aging.  Various research highlights the importance of socioeconomic status and its impact on our lifestyle and health. While we can't forecast every expense that will incur during our lifetime, and the amount that we will need to sustain our desired lifestyle, it is never too early to start thinking about saving!

This is a simple retirement calculator (simple, as in there are MANY factors in the equation...and I'm guessing not too many people have multiple investment options) to project how much you will need to save in order to retire at your desired age and income level. (When do you THINK you want to retire? How much money will you need?).  I'm assuming that since no one is currently a salaried worker, it might be more accurate to guess what your salary might be when you graduate, and then adjust your current age to how old you will be when you enter the work force.  Similarly, you can hypothesize if you will have a spouse to contribute. The default for "years in retirment" is set at 20.  Therefore, if you were to retire at age 65, you would only be covered until age 85.  Try plugging in the age that the longevity calculator estimated that you would live to, and then subtract the age at which you would like to retire from that number.

Feel free to try and plug different numbers in the equation to see how much of a difference variations in salaries might influence the amount that you will need to save for retirement.  Of course, this is a crude estimate and doesn't take into account what type of investments you might make, as well as how many children you might have and major medical expenses that might come up.


Are you surprised by the number?
Notice that the "default" for including social security benefits is "no". Several experts have recommended that individuals not to "count on" social security for retirment.