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Retirement Calculator, Inc. provides the tools and resources necessary to assist you in making critical economic decisions regarding your retirement future.

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Retirement Calculator, Inc. has been exposed live in New York on CBS The Saturday Early Show for its flagship product the Retirement Calculator and recommended by Ray Martin the top financial analyst for CBS News.

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Asset Allocation

Often financial "experts" make asset allocation difficult to understand. My goal in this series of articles is for you to understand asset allocation thoroughly, in an easy to understand format.
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NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
30 yr fixed mtg 3.80% 3.76%
15 yr fixed mtg 3.11% 3.02%
5/1 ARM 2.69% 2.68%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 4.38% 4.39%
5/1 jumbo ARM 2.94% 2.89%
Rates may include points
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
$30K HELOC 4.60% 4.59%
$50K HELOC 4.24% 4.24%
$30K home equity loan 5.77% 5.76%
$50K home equity loan 5.50% 5.47%
$75K home equity loan 5.47% 5.44%
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NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
36 month new car loan 3.13% 3.13%
48 month new car loan 3.24% 3.25%
60 month new car loan 3.34% 3.35%
72 month new car loan 3.31% 3.31%
36 month used car loan 4.36% 4.36%
Rates may include points
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGESTODAY+/-LAST WEEK
6 month CD 0.46% 0.46%
1 yr CD 0.70% 0.70%
5 yr CD 1.38% 1.38%
1 yr IRA CD 0.71% 0.71%
5 yr IRA CD 1.49% 1.49%
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How Do You Choose Between Retirement and Your 529?

Retirement Calculator, Inc.
retirement529.com

Retirement529

Sometimes, when you're planning for your retirement and for financing your child's education, it's difficult to know how to go about saving. Do you choose to invest in stock, bonds or mutual funds? More importantly, do you put your cash aside in an IRA or in a 529 account?

The answer to that question is not an easy one. There are no guarantees that your son or daughter is going to want to go to college. More importantly, aside from credit cards, there's no way to guarantee that your dreams for retirement, relaxing, traveling, spending time with your family or being prepared for circumstances unforeseen, will be funded if you don't save for your retirement.

So how do you decide?

Well, you can look at penalties for early withdrawals. Though there is a penalty for withdrawing funds from your retirement account before you reach a certain age, you decide how you will use them. With a 529, there is a 10% penalty on all withdrawals that are not made specifically for education.

Perhaps that gives you an answer. 

More likely though, it doesn't. More likely, you're still caught between retirement and 529. Retirement; 529 plan.  Retirement. 529. Which do you choose?

One suggestion that you could take is to further plan using our retirement calculator. Ray Martin of CBS News, and a noted financial analyst, suggested on the Saturday Early Show that our retirement calculator was a valuable tool. 

It's a tool that can be used to evaluate your finances, whether or not you have begun an investment strategy. While the calculator is geared towards those who are investing in their retirement as a way to evaluate their investments, it can also be used to determine which investments are good for you, without having to invest and then wait to see how it works out. 

In so doing, it eliminates much of your investment risk. Ultimately, that allows you to make a choice that you would not be able to make with a 529 savings plan , a choice that could drastically impact your savings for the future.

And there are other points that might affect your choices as well. To begin with, there are more alternatives for paying college tuition costs than a 529 savings account (which will be taken into consideration if your child needs to apply for additional financial aid); there are grants, loans and scholarships available. 

In addition, other family members , such as your child's grandparents, can have a 529 account in your child's name. These same family members cannot help you to fund your retirement as easily.

Confusing as this decision between saving for retirement and beginning a 529 savings account for your child's education is, there's good news. Not only can you explore your retirement savings options with the free retirement calculator, but when you download and use it, you will also be contacted by a financial advisor. This expert will be able to help answer all of your questions and steer you towards the option that is better for your situation.

Why struggle to make sense of your savings on your own? Take advantage of the chance to see how your investments may affect your retirement savings and get answers to all of your important financial questions by downloading the retirement calculator for free, just click the red button.

While no one but you can determine the best way for you to advise, it's a great idea to get some help along the way.  Whether you choose to invest in your retirement or a 529 plan (or a combination of both), the retirement calculator is a valuable asset, a great tool to explore all of the possibilities. See for yourself: Click the red button to get started.

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Analysis of the Economics of Early Social Security Withdrawal

Robert J. Phillips
Chief Retirement Consultant

Deciding whether or not to take the early withdrawal of social security at age 62 can be difficult. If you need this income at 62 to fund your retirement the decision is fairly straightforward. Take it early! On the other hand, if you have another source of revenue to fund your retirement your decision will be primarily based on lifestyle, health and investment preferences.

Several factors can affect your decision. First is your life expectancy. If you are in good health and have a family history of living beyond 90 then waiting for full benefits may be best. Two other factors impact this decision. First and most important is the value of money or your expected return from your investments. If you are using other investments instead of social security to fund your retirement you should use the rate of return of these investments as your value of money. There is another way to look at the value of money. If you do not require the social security money to live, you can invest the distributions for the future. The rate of return of this investment is your value of money. If your investments will make larger returns such as stocks this would favor taking the early withdrawal.

The last factor impacting your decision is inflation. Social security includes an annual adjustment based on inflation. You cannot control this variable but you should be aware of its impact. If future inflation is significant it will favor a later full distribution

FREE Social Security Calculator:

Find Out Your Breakeven Age

We developed a calculator to assist in analyzing the impact of taking early benefits at age 62 or waiting for full benefits at age 66 to 67 depending on the year you were born...If you were born in 1960 or later your full benefits will begin at age 67 and your reduction for early benefits at age 62 will be 30%. If you were born between 1946 and 1960 your full benefits begin as early as age 66. We have included a chart that summarizes information.

To use the calculator you need to input your year of birth. You also need to input a value of money up to 10% and a projected inflation adjustment. The calculator analyzes income generated over time from both the early and full benefit investments. It calculates the age at which full social security will catch up and breakeven with the early withdrawal. If you were born before 1960 your breakeven age will be impacted by the year you were born. An early breakeven age favors waiting for full benefits.

The social security calculator is not the final answer whether to take an early withdrawal but it does give you additional economic data to assist in that decision. Ultimately you must balance income, investments and lifestyle to optimize your enjoyment during your retirement years.