Planning for retirement is complicated. If you are married or part of a committed couple of any kind, retirement planning is doubly complicated. you have to use a calculator.
Financial considerations double when you are part of a couple. Additionally, your values and priorities may differ, and this all plays a big role in your retirement planning. If you are a planning couple, it is very important to find and calculate a retirement calculator that can account for each of you as an individual. it’s all together.
Here are some tips for finding and using a retirement calculator for married couples.
A good retirement calculator will provide separate fields for you and your spouse or partner for each of the following topics: It is very important that the retirement calculator document these items separately for each individual in the couple.
Current age/date of birth and gender:
This data influences the life expectancy. Both want to have enough money for as long as they live.
Retirement date:
You may retire years before your spouse, or vice versa.
Social Security Start Date and Benefit Amount:
There are various Social Security claims strategies for spouses that maximize your benefits, but they are unlikely to both start at the same time and receive the same amount of benefits.
Retirement account:
They are owned by you as an individual. IRAs and 401(k)s cannot be joint accounts due to minimum distribution age requirements.
Current Income:
What do you earn and how is that income used? It’s unlikely that you’re earning the same amount with the same benefits and retirement savings contributions.
Other Retirement Income, Term, and Cost of Living Adjustments:
Will you or your spouse have a job or other source of personal income after retirement?
Pension benefits:
Do either or both of you have a pension? What are the respective starting ages and cost of living adjustments?
Medical bills:
Medical costs must be calculated individually due to different health needs and life expectancy.
pension:
If you have or plan to have pension income, this must also be documented as an individual. This is because payments are based on your lifespan. (If desired, be sure to specify survivor benefits as well.)
Are you single or married?How to Answer Marital Status Questions with Retirement Calculator for Couples
Are you single or married is a question that retirement calculators often ask. If you come across this question and are planning to retire with your partner but are not married, answer “Married”. If it’s a sophisticated calculator that covers taxes, you may need to get results with granularity. .
Why Retirement Calculators For Couples Really Work
If you’re in a relationship, you’re probably familiar with two important concepts: compromise and communication. Fidelity Investments found that many couples have great difficulty discussing retirement plans and other financial plans. In fact, our research found that:
- Very few respondents said they were confident in their partners’ ability to manage their finances.
- Fewer than half of couples make regular financial decisions together, such as budgeting and paying bills.
- Only 38% discuss retirement investment and savings strategies together.
A retirement calculator can actually help you have meaningful discussions about finances in an organized and sober way. Retirement Calculator is perfect for use as a couple.
How Couples Use the Retirement Calculator
For starters, couples are encouraged to use the comprehensive and detailed retirement calculator themselves and review the results together. NewRetirement Retirement Planner is one of the only tools that saves information. So you can easily log in to see the results together and try out ways to improve your plan.
Think About These Concerns Before Using Our Retirement Calculator For Couples
Before you sit down and do your retirement maths, it’s a good idea to first discuss your retirement goals.
My husband and I were recently at a dinner party. The conversation turned to thinking about the future. I announced that I was going to buy a small resort on a tropical island for my retirement, he laughed and said that we were going to move to a small town in Colorado or Idaho, so airfare and maintenance of two households would cost him I declared that I would spend a lot of money on expenses. Luckily, we are currently testing and discussing both scenarios in Retirement Planner. Pros and cons of each option.
Agree with your spouse on the following retirement questions.
Some calculators mention goal setting, but most don’t. You will need to agree on some plan with your partner for:
what? Who do you want to spend time with and how?
Spending: How much money are you willing to spend? This can be a big point of contention. Some want to cut costs significantly and retire early. Others want to worry less about what they spend, and are willing to save more or work longer to alleviate financial anxiety.
health care: How much money do you want to set aside for medical care?
nursing: What would each of you expect from someone in need of care? Who would you like to be cared for and how?
Priorities: What is really important to each of you and as a couple at the end of this long life?
heritage: Is it important for both of you to leave a financial legacy for your heirs? Retirement planning is not just financial, lifestyle decisions affect your financial health. That’s why it’s important to look for a retirement calculator that goes beyond simple savings and investments. The NewRetirement Retirement Planner helps you evaluate decisions about social security, workforce reductions, and health care, among others.
best retirement calculator for couples
Here are some of the best retirement calculators that allow you to enter your spouse’s or partner’s information separately from your own. Each of these calculators works slightly differently than the others. Not all calculators include all of the key questions and results above, but they are more detailed than most online retirement calculators.
Fidelity Retirement Income Calculator
New Retirement Planner
The Best Retirement Calculators Are Not Actually Calculators
Many online retirement planning tools are simple calculators. While these widgets can provide quick answers, they are not a reliable mechanism for making decisions that will affect his next 30-40 years of financial life.
NewRetirement Planner is often referred to as a retirement calculator, but it’s actually much more than that. It goes far beyond simple answers based on assumptions about savings and investments and how much you need. The NewRetirement Planner gives you the details you need to make the right decisions that give you peace of mind and make better use of your time, taxes and money. Income, Insurance, Withdrawals, Social Security, Debt and more.
