Week 10 - Life, Health, and Income Exposures

For this assignment you will analyze you own retirement savings plan. This will take place in two parts. First you will evaluate your current retirement savings plan; second you will analyze retirement plans and see if you are saving enough to meet your retirement goals.

1. Evaluate your current retirement savings plan.
You should consider the amounts in your retirement accounts to complete the analysis, but you do not need to state these amounts in the assignment. However, please include what types of retirement accounts you have (pension, 401k, IRA, ect.). Consider the following:

• What are your expected Social Security Benefits? (Use the Social Security Calculator to estimate your monthly retirement benefit). http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/AnypiaApplet.html
• At what age will you be eligible for Social Security benefits? (See Table 20-1 on page 405 or visit http://www.ssa.gov/retirechartred.htm).
• What can you expect from your employer pension plan(s)?
• What type of employee savings plans or individual retirement plans are you invested in?

2. Analyze your retirement plans.
Respond to the following questions in your analysis.

• At what age do you plan to retire?
• What percentage of your current income do you need to live? OR How much income will you need? (To receive a "Ballpark Estimate" of the savings you need when you retire go to: http://www.choosetosave.org/ballpark/index.cfm?fa=interactive .)
• How will inflation affect your retirement plans? (The following calculator looks at inflation and retirement purchasing ability. http://www.fincalc.com/ret_05.asp?id=12425 )
• Are you currently saving enough?
• If not, what else could you do to plan for this loss of income?