Tools

Retirement Nest Egg Calculator

Do you know how much money you will need per year in retirement? Do you know how that number will be affected by inflation? I would encourage you to check out our Retirement Nest-Egg Calculator Tool. While it may trigger a shock to your system when you see the numbers, it can help you get into gear to retire well.

This calculator is incredibly easy to use and only needs two pieces of information from you! All you need to do is enter the amount of money you would like annually in retirement and how many years until you expect to retire. After that, the calculator will compute the amount of money that you need to have saved and how different annual rates of return will change that number.

Below you can see a calculation that I ran for an “annual amount I want” of $75,000 if I hypothetically retire in 20 years:

As you use this calculator, keep a couple of things in mind:

  1. The calculator assumes that you will never touch the principal.
  2. The calculator assumes that you will give your nest-egg a “cost-of-living-raise” of 4% each year.
  3. This calculator adjusts the “annual amount your want” for an average annual inflation of 4%.

So, at 4% annual inflation, I will need $164,334 per year in 20 years to have the same purchasing power that $75,000 has today.

The bottom six rows tell you what you need to have in your nest-egg at different rates of annual growth. At 8% annual return, I would need $4,108,356 when I retire. That number drops significantly if I expect growth of 12% and I would only need $2,054,178 when I retire.

These numbers may seem astronomical and you might feel like you will never build a nest-egg of that size. But remember, the power of compound interest can work in your favor! By starting early and investing consistently, you can watch your nest-egg grow to numbers you may have only dreamed of.

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Investment Value Calculator Tool

Are you ever tempted to pull money out of your investment accounts? Sometimes it can sound like a good idea to withdraw money from retirement funds or other accounts to pay a debt or even go on a vacation. However, most of the time taking money out of the market is not a good idea! The one thing you will never be able to get back is TIME! If you take money out of an account or wait to start investing, it could be a decision that you really regret in the future when you see the value of your accounts. In most cases, people wish they had started investing sooner. I have never heard anyone say, “I should’ve waited ten more years before I started saving for retirement”.

It can be encouraging to get an idea of what your investments will be worth five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years down the road. I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. has a tool that can help you illustrate just that! The Investment Value Calculator Tool takes the current amount of the investment, the annual rate of return, the amount of time you plan to invest, and your monthly contribution and calculates the value of the investment. It also shows a range of your investment value from five years all the way to sixty years! While, of course, these returns cannot be guaranteed, the tool can allow you to imagine what these accounts have the potential to grow to. This can keep you from making an unwise decision to withdraw funds and can even tempt you to add more money to your accounts! Check it out today!

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Early Pay-Off Calculator

Do you have debt that you are really trying to get rid of? Are you interested to see how much time and money you could gain by paying off that debt earlier? If so, check out our Early Debt Payoff Calculator HERE. This tool allows you to enter the interest rate, outstanding loan balance, the principal & interest monthly payment, and the additional amount that you want to pay towards the loan each month.  Once you have entered this information, the calculator will tell you how many months you will gain back of no payments and how much money you will save in interest payments. It is time to break up with that student loan debt and pay off that home mortgage. Check it out today!

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Actual Cost of Debt Calculator

Do you know what your debt is really costing you? How much of your monthly payments to your debt is actually going to principal and working at attacking your debt? Use our Actual Cost of Debt tool today to find out! By entering in the name of the debt, the amount you owe, the monthly payment and annual interest rate, the tool will calculate the amount of interest you are paying per month and per year. It also shows the overall percentage of your payments that are being applied to your principal balance and your debt freedom date.  

Take some time to calculate what your debt is costing you in interest payments. If you are carrying a balance on credit cards from month to month, consider using a 0% balance transfer HERE. This can allow you to start applying 100% of your payments to debt and accelerate your debt freedom date.

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Calculate Your Debt Freedom Date

Do you know the date of when you will be debt free? The 8th wonder of the world is compound interest and it will work against you every single day that you pay interest to someone else! Interest payments have the power to keep you broke. I have yet to hear a person who is living a fully funded life tell me that their car loans and credit cards were the reason they became wealthy. So what should you do about your debt? You can start by calculating your Debt Freedom Date by using the calculator found HERE on our website.  

You will document every debt you owe including the name, balance and the minimum monthly payment. You will be able to see just how close or far away your debt freedom date is. This is so empowering because once you know, you can make changes in your lifestyle to move that date closer and closer to you.

Our team has conducted research to document the steps people have taken to speed up their climb to debt freedom:

  1. Reduce Interest Rates: Many people with substantial consumer debt do not realize that 50% to 75% of their payments are merely going to the lender as interest payments – greatly reducing their ability to lower the debt. If you have high interest rate credit card balances, consider transferring them to a 0% interest balance transfer credit card. If your mortgage interest rate is higher than those listed at BankRate.com, consider refinancing.
  2. Pay Raise: Are you being compensated fairly? Few things speed up debt elimination faster than receiving additional income from your current job.
  3. Tax Refund: A tax refund might be an “interest free loan to the government” but it also represents an opportunity to force yourself to save money which can be used to impact debt in a big way.
  4. Bonus: Do you receive an end of the year bonus? Use it the same way you would as a tax refund by throwing it towards that outstanding debt.
  5. Found Money From Better Budgeting: When I started preparing and living by a budget, it literally transformed my finances. I freed up hundreds of dollars each month that was disappearing in the form of “miscellaneous ATM cash withdrawals” and impulsive purchases.
  6. Sell Some Possessions: Sell the boat, motorcycle, extra car, and collectibles. Eliminating possessions will free up space, eliminate stress, and greatly speed up your debt freedom date.
  7. Work Overtime: If you have the chance to earn additional income by working extra hours, you can use this money to speed up debt reduction.
  8. Extra Job: If you do not have the opportunity to work overtime at your existing job, obtain a second job – or start a small side business. The key here is to focus on something short term and commit to putting all additional money earned towards debt.

However you decide to eliminate your debt faster, the first step is knowing your debt freedom date. Calculate yours today!

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