Retirement Nest Egg Calculator

No doubt you’ve heard the term “retirement nest egg” while growing up and certainly as you’ve aged. The nest egg is what we are supposed to create by saving
money wherever we can, be it from the income we earn working, cutting back a little on our spending, investing, and more.

The idea is that the retirement nest egg will secure us as we go through life, from our working years on through our retirement years. From the normal expenses of raising a family and dealing with the curveballs life throws at us and continuing through the point where we retire and no longer work for income, our nest egg is meant to secure us financially.

For many though, that idea of creating a nest egg is a distant vision no matter how young or old we are. From the point we start to work and earn money, for a large percentage of people, it seems like simply existing and paying the bills requires all we make, plus more.

This creates anxiety that for a lot of people is ever constant. “Yes, I know I should save and create a retirement nest egg, but I am not sure how to do so, especially given the fact my expenses take up everything I earn.”

This anxiety can ramp up considerably over time, especially as we start to approach retirement and suddenly are faced with the very real prospect we may not have enough savings for retirement…fear we won’t be able to retire and/or have enough saved and will end up outliving our assets.

How Do I Create a Nest Egg

As financial advisors and retirement planners, we know the anxiety facing many Americans when it comes to saving money, especially when it relates to retirement. Among the major questions many people ask is, “How can I create a retirement nest egg.” This is often followed by the question, “How big will my nest egg grow to if I start saving now, no matter how much I am able to contribute each year or for how long I do so.”

The answer to the first question is actually straightforward – create a plan and start saving now. Keep doing so if you haven’t already, no matter your current age or what you’ve accumulated so far.

Save Money Starting Right Away

We’ve all heard we should start saving early to secure our financial future and that of our family.

No denying that’s pretty sound advice and probably not a mystery in terms of reasoning. The earlier you create a plan and start saving, the more likely it will be you can cover expenses for the unexpected. Moreover, if you do so diligently, you will probably eventually be able to retire with confidence, enjoy your golden years and live without the fear of outliving your assets.

At this point you are probably saying to yourself, “If only it were that easy.”

Truth is it’s not necessarily easy, nor is it just a matter of discipline. Life gets in the way of our best laid plans and can take us on an odyssey that is far from what we envision or want.

Between the health issues, our kids, jobs, education costs, struggling to pay the mortgage, cars, and more, the list is endless.

And just about the time we think we are making progress, a new emergency pops up, or a new type of expense emerges.

Life…

Frankly this is not a new or even rare story. The majority of Americans struggle with simply keeping their heads above water and dealing with their most immediate needs.

For many, putting together a retirement nest egg for the future feels like a pipe dream.

This is evidenced by the fact a significant number of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond have no nest egg or savings for their retirement, according to a National Institute of Retirement Security report. They estimate that approximately 40 million U.S. households have no savings for retirement.

Lack of a Plan Can Lead to Trouble

Unfortunately, a lack of a plan for building your nest egg can lead to serious issues in the very years you are hoping to slow down and enjoy life.

Not saving even a small amount on a regular basis starts the ball rolling in the wrong direction. This is compounded by not looking at your situation, and either on your own or with a financial advisor or retirement planner, putting a plan in place.

While that can sound sort of harsh, It’s simply true. A failure to plan and to fund your nest egg, even modestly, will inevitably lead to financial stressors in your golden years. That’s probably not something you want to face.

Nest Egg Roadmap

Whichever path you’ve taken till now, it’s important to start saving some regularly and in a sustainable manner. You don’t have to live completely austerely where there is no enjoyment in life – it should be a balance.

But rather than just deciding you’ll begin to save some arbitrary amount monthly, believing that will do the trick, you should create a plan for building your retirement nest egg. Doing so will give you some perspective on how much you might want to save and how much of a nest egg you can grow by a certain age.

In building a plan, you want to consider the following:

• Age
• Salary
• Current standard of living
• Job
• Health
• Debt
• Goals when you retire
• What you hope to leave for family
• What you plan to leave for organizations and charitable causes

Income Sources

As part of your plan, looking at your income situation will be important. While you are still working this will probably include your salary, side work, property, passive income from other activities, etc.

Looking ahead to retirement, you need to consider sources of income that will replace what you currently live on. The savings you’ve amassed, such as pensions or 401(k), IRAs, and more, as well as social Security benefits, earning money from part-time or side gig jobs, consulting work for your current employer or others, turning that hobby you’ve enjoyed for years into a real business, etc.

When considering Social Security benefits, it’s important to remember that while you can take them out earlier, doing so will result in reduced payments. It might be better to hold off until you reach the age of full retirement, which for many is 67. Doing so will actually increase your benefit payments for life.

One other issue you may wish to consider regarding income is the idea of working longer than you might have planned. While this may not sound appealing, it can be an opportunity to add to your nest egg and take full advantage of compound savings for a longer period. Doing so will also delay drawing down your retirement funds a bit longer.

Budget

Any kind of plan requires some sort of budget. Aside from funding, the other major component of a budget is the expenses. When considering retirement, there’s a decent chance that some costs you currently incur may actually go down., such as paying for your kids, college, commuting, etc.

On the flip side, some expenses may go up – perhaps significantly. There’s also the issue of long-term care, which many simply skip and hope they won’t need, which is a big risk.

Travel, engaging in new activities you didn’t have time for in the past, entertaining more, playing more golf or tennis…they all cost…and add up. So you need to consider there will likely be more expenses than what you might have already contemplated, and allow some room for them in your retirement budget.

Planning Tools

Obviously there are tons of considerations. Whether you use a professional or go it on your own, at least at this point you will have critical information gathered to help you move forward with planning, including income and expenses.

Now you can start to take advantage of great tools and information available here at Oak Harvest. They can help you start to get a grip on your financial situation right away. And you will be that much more informed if and when you do see a financial advisor or retirement planner.

Retirement calculators are a great resource for getting started – they can provide you with invaluable information very quickly.

When it comes to the question of how much of a retirement nest egg you can create by certain ages, the Oak Harvest Retirement Nest Egg Calculator is a great tool.

At What Age Can I Retire?

To determine at what age you will have accumulated enough of a nest egg to retire, you will have to make assumptions based on factors and variables you currently know, but you need to recognize that things change.

With that in mind, you should think about how you seek to live in retirement. If you’ve saved diligently starting young and your investments have done well, you may be able to live it up in retirement.

If instead you haven’t done so, then you may have to adjust your plans and live more austerely.

Travel is a good example. We can all appreciate the thought of traveling extensively when we retire, but to actually be able to do so will require some serious dollars. If you don’t anticipate having the money necessary to travel often, then you might be able to do so on a limited basis, perhaps in a lower key manner and vacationing closer to home.

The amount you will spend on movies, splurging on the grandkids, dining out, charitable giving, and more are all things to consider at this point. And you have to assess how active you wish to be, especially if you or your spouse have health issues

Another good test is comparing how you envision your retirement against how you live currently, especially when it comes to costs. Doing so will provide some context.

In addition, you need to have some foundational information to work from. Ask yourself these questions:

• How much do you have saved
• How much do you make now
• Are you able to cover current monthly expenses without taken on more debt or are you living beyond your means
• How long can you work if you need to do so for an extended period
• How’s your health – can you continue to work

Collectively, this information can help you ascertain what you might need in retirement to maintain whatever standard of living you are hoping to achieve. And in turn determine how much you will have to save regularly (monthly or annually) to achieve your goal.

Scenarios

Age 42

You are 42 and earn $85,000 annually as the sole breadwinner of your family. You’ve managed to save $87,000 between a couple IRAs and your 401(K).

Your family costs eat up a large portion of what you bring home each month, but you have decided you will start contributing more each pay period as you are getting concerned about you and your spouse’s future.

You are hoping to retire by age 65 and want to know how much you will have in your retirement nest egg if you start contributing a total of $18,000 per year into your various retirement accounts until you retire, even though that will create a burden on your family. You don’t want to be too aggressive, so you assume you can earn 5% on average between now and when you retire.

If you do manage to contribute this amount and earn 5% each year until you retire at age 65, your nest egg will have grown to approximately $1.12 million at that time.

Age 53

You’re married and 53 with a spouse age 50, and you both plan to retire when you turn 65. You have a combined salary of $115,000. You’ve been saving pretty diligently since you were younger and have $185,000 in various retirement accounts between you and your spouse. Your plan is to continue contributing a total of $2,000 collectively per month and you believe you can earn 5.5% annually, as that is roughly what you’ve averaged since you started investing.

Based on those assumptions, you and your spouse will have amassed a nest egg of nearly $689,000 when you retire, along with social security and any other income sources you have in retirement.

Age 60

You’re single and 60, with $135,000 saved for retirement, which you plan to do in 10 years at age 70. You are comfortable with an annual salary of $110,000 and have no debt. Your plan is to contribute $1,500 monthly until you retire, but given your age, you want to be conservative, so you assume you can earn 4.5% annually on your money.

If you do follow this plan, your retirement nest egg will have grown to $444,000 when you retire at age 70.

Other Retirement Nest Egg Considerations

As you start using the retirement nest age calculator, be sure to run different scenarios. Doing so will give you a good idea of how contributing different amounts, perhaps working longer, and even how slight differences in your average returns may all add up to affect what your retirement nest egg can grow to.

Keep in mind that the aforementioned scenarios listed don’t take into account your tax situation, as well as your health and life expectancy, other money you might have or will receive (examples include social security benefits or funds from part-time work), issues that might arise in retirement, etc.

Additionally, you want to consider the fact there exists a full arsenal of products/tools available that are designed to do specific things, like providing lifetime income, death benefits to pass on to a spouse, and much more. You can also take advantage of strategies involving trusts and taxes that can provide significant savings (thousands to tens of thousands), further enhancing your retirement portfolio, and potentially your retirement.

One last thing. Even if you’ve never considered doing so, your might want to do so now – talk to a retirement planner or investment advisor. It should be clear at this point there are myriad considerations and moving parts when it comes to building a retirement nest egg.

Even more so when you think about retirement itself and the various issues that you may encounter. These can range from what you will need, the costs you have to consider (e.g., increased healthcare costs), planning a monthly/annual budget in retirement, which retirement accounts to pull from first, tools or products that are available (example – Fixed Index Annuity with lifetime income benefit), as well as tax strategies that can make a huge difference, and much more.

Ultimately, you should ask yourself if you really want to take all of this on all by yourself. Especially considering its importance to your financial security and given you may have to live with tough consequences throughout the remainder of your lifetime.

If possible, you should consider consulting and possibly working with a retirement planner or financial advisor, as they can guide you when it comes to addressing all the various considerations, and do so in a manner that will help you maximize your eventual retirement.