“Ballpark” Your Retirement Plan

The U.S. Department of Labor has developed a capable Lifetime Income Calculator that can give you a boiled-down conclusion on how much your retirement plan might provide for you in retirement.  Here are the four steps:

1. Retirement Age. 
2. Current Account Balances
3. Current Annual Contribution
4. Years til Retirement

Plugging in these numbers will produce your “projected value at retirement age” as well as an estimate of a monthly benefit for yourself and a “joint and survivor annuity.” 

See John Wasik, Figuring Your Retirement Income in Four Steps, Forbes, Feb. 5, 2014.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.