Calculate your way to a restful retirement

For a more nuanced view of retirement finances, one that takes into account your own situation, try some of the calculators on the Club’s Resources page.

The calculators range from FINRA’s basic retirement calculator, to the Ballpark E$timate® mentioned by Dr. Alcon in her kickoff speech, to the more complicated calculators from the AARP, the Digital Federal Credit Union, or the worksheets from the U.S. Department of Labor. 

Change your estimated retirement age, monthly savings, projected investment return or other factors, and see how the results change.

Also included are Roth IRA calculators, insurance calculators, and savings, credit card, budget, and life expectancy calculators, among many others.

Please remember that all the calculators are for educational and entertainment purposes only and the results provided are estimates.

Get Rich Slow

At the second meeting of the Retirement Planning Club last night, members held a lively discussion while playing the online game “Get Rich Slow” from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.  We didn’t always agree on the decisions for our fictional couple headed to retirement, but the game gave us a broad overview of the effects of major decisions we will all need to make, such as when to retire, how much to save, and how to allocate assets.    

If you missed the meeting, you can play the game on your own–just click here.

Read your way to a happy retirement

See our latest bibliography, Planning on Retirement, for a list of recent books on retirement and retirement planning.

We’ve ordered more new books specifically to support the Retirement Planning Club, and they will be arriving on our shelves soon.

Please note:  The Club can only provide resources and information; no investment or financial advice will be provided.

MoneyTrack TV Show

Learn more about managing your finances from MoneyTrack, a public television series covering a wide range of financial issues, including retirement planning.  Each episode introduces real people’s experiences with investing or provides an overview of crucial investing issues, and includes how-tos, quizzes, a ”scam alert,” and a summary.

MoneyTrack airs in Boston Sundays at 8:00 a.m. on WGBH 44.  The website provides episode summaries and many useful resources and links.

Money Management Resources

The club’s Resources page now has a section for general Money Management resources, including three mentioned by Dr. Arnaa Alcon in her kick-off speech:

Personal Finance Information from eXtention
Personal finance articles and information, from the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service. You can also “Ask an Expert” a specific question, or join one of their personal finance online chats.

Small Steps to Health and Wealth
From Rutgers University, resources designed to motivate consumers to implement behavior change strategies that simultaneously improve their health and personal finances.

WAGE – women are getting even
A non-profit with the goal of ending discrimination against women in the American workplace in the near future. WAGE is led by Evelyn Murphy, Ph.D economist and former Lt. Governor of Massachusetts.

For more on this issue, see Ellen Goodman’s recent column, “The backward plight of the working woman.”

Evelyn Murphy’s book, Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men—And What to Do About It, is on order for the Newton Library, but can be reserved through the Minuteman Library Network.

2008 Retirement Confidence Survey

Dr. Arnaa Alcon has also drawn our attention to the most recent Retirement Confidence Survey, from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.  Reflecting the growing concern over health care costs and economic issues, 2008 results show American workers’ confidence in being able to afford a comfortable retirement decreased over the past year by a rate unmatched in the 18 years of the Retirement Confidence surveys.

A link to all survey results since 1996 is located on our Resources page.

Who is Ready for Retirement?

Dr. Arnaa Alcon, our kick-off speaker, has drawn our attention to a recent intereting report:  Who is Ready for Retirement, How Ready, and How Can We Know?  Recent literature on retirement income adequacy among boomers is examined in this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Sophie Korczyk of Analytical Services, Inc.

You can find all of the reports from AARP’s Public Policy Institute linked on our Resources page under “Research.”

Two resources from Morningstar

For the advanced investor, Morningstar’s Guide to Alternative Investments, has information on options, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds.  It’s listed on the Resources page under “Investments.”

And when you’re in the Library, Morningstar offers a wealth of financial education in its database:

Morningstar Investment Research Center* (In Library Only)
Under “Help & Education,” the “Investment Goals” section has information on Retirement Planning and Investing During Retirement.  And for general investment information, click on “Investing Classroom” for a complete set of courses from beginner to advanced.

New York Times Special Retirement Section

The New York Times ran a special “Retirement” section on Monday, April 21, with 12 articles on work options, Medicare, investments, and other retirement topics. 

For the photos, multimedia slide shows and an overview of the topics, click here–but after looking at a few articles, the Times will prompt you to log in or pay.  However, your library card offers free access, whether in the building or elsewhere, so use these links from the Library’s database list to read the full series:

New York Times   Home Access | In Library Access

Choose “Advanced Search,” search for “Keyword” retirement, and “limit results” to publication date on 21 April 2008 and you can read all the articles.