Anyone got a link for a retirement calculator that would best fit our unique fixed pension/variable contribuation situation? I find most online sites can't or won't assume waiting till 70 before taking SS nor do they properly reflect our income growth assumptions; they usually only allow a variable % increase.

 

I don't care for retirement calculators. Too many unknowns: inflation, the fed, the stock and bond market, our trillions of dollars in US debt, means bracketing( no ss for you you make too much)and your health, major illness not covered by new drugs for you or your family, and lastly when will you die? 75, 85, 95?
Look at the mass migration in Europe. How many illegal aliens in the US 11 million? War? Next ten years will be very interesting. If global warming is real and the sea level does rise. Good by Miami. No big deal. But the millions that live in southern India where will they go?
China, Iran, N Korea, Russia Mr V Putin. The world will change soon. Especially when all the baby boomers die or retire.

 

So you are saying I should just break out the Magic 8 Ball?

 

"Cannot Predict right now, ask again later"

 

Bump...I am also looking for a good combined investment calculator so I can make a more-informed TA decision.

 

Doesn't our ALPA membership get us a free consultation with Schwab and free access to their tools?

And, we have free access to the Vanguard tools because they handle all our FedEx accounts, I believe.

 

Skeebo2 has a point, but if you think you might retire before the apocalypse he describes, I would suggest hiring a personal financial planner. Not just someone who will try to tell you what to invest in, but someone who understands retirement planning and all that it entails. After flying with several guys who were approaching retirement, and were worried about not knowing how much money they'd need and whether their health care coverage was going to be sufficient as they got older, I decided to look into all of that on my own. I quickly realized I didn't have the expertise or time required to manage multiple pension accounts, life insurance options, long term health care plans, my established investment portfolio and other assets we've all probably accumulated. At least not well enough to maximize the potential of each. I've been working with mine for over a decade now. It costs money, but I cringe to think about all the things I wouldn't have thought about if I had just assumed that I'd get my retirement $hit together a year or two before I retired by attending one of those ALPA retirement briefings. Don't get me wrong, those are great, but too many guys find out in one of those sessions that they've misallocated their assets for years and it's almost too late to catch up.
If you are looking for an online retirement calculator, then you probably have a lot of the same questions I did. Go the next step and find a human who can take a look at all your variables. It's worth the money.

 

How much per year does it cost you?

 

I couldn't agree more. This is EXTREMELY wise advice.....especially the part about the "expertise or time." How are you voting again?

 

dckozak, to answer your original question, try:

Financial Calculators

They've got every type of financial/retirement calculator you can think of. You can plug in expected inflation and investment returns, along with annuity payout numbers.

Everyone above is right though- garbage-in, garage-out applies. Even if you have a true financial expert helping you plug in the right numbers, it's all still just a WAG. Maybe a more informed wag, but still a wag.