Comments on: Retirement Planning Calculator: Some more thoughts

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By: ctreit

ctreit — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:14:26 +0000

I don’t know what other calculators do, but we built such a gradual switch into our calculator. Nevertheless, I think that a retirement calculator’s main benefit is setting up a retirement plan and checking up on it periodically. I don’t think that small mathematical imperfections hinder the process of retirement planning that much.

By: Manshu

Manshu — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:11:18 +0000

That’s a good point you make. Is there any retirement calculator that allows for such a gradual transition?

By: ctreit

ctreit — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:17:41 +0000

This post also shows that retirement planning is a very imprecise science if we even want to call it science. 1) The two rates won’t change abruptly. There is more of a slow switch into lower rates as the asset allocation gets adjusted gradually towards generating income. 2) If one expects to spend a bit of time in retirement one should not even switch to a more cautious stance too early.

By: Manshu

Manshu — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:48:11 +0000

You must be one of the rare early early starters

By: Jessie

Jessie — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:07:05 +0000

A twenty-something here who loves retirement calculators! I’ve been saving money in RRSP’s for years now. Always a small amount, but when I’m ready to retire in some 40 plus years – i’ll be ready for it.

By: Manshu

Manshu — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:30:30 +0000

Everyone (or at least most) do learn about compound interest but not the concepts of retirement or other such PF things.

By: Mark Wolfinger

Mark Wolfinger — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:51:18 +0000

The amazing part to me is that this is amazing. Everyone ought to be familiar with the concept.

Teaching high school students about compound interest ought to be mandatory. And not just ‘teaching,’

The numbers must be made to be REAL so the students see how it applies to them. I understand that poor kids will not see relevance to their lives, but if they just get the idea that buying stuff they cannot afford and then paying interest is a bad idea, it will may a significant difference.