Retirement Calculator: How Much To Save & How To Save It
March 7, 2019, BY Emma Craig
Not sure how much you need to retire? Use a retirement calculator to do the hard work, and put your mind at ease.
As we work away in our busy day to day lives, retirement can seem like it’s so far away. However, retirement is creeping up closing than any of think, which means it’s never too soon to start planning for the golden years.
While many of us cannot wait to stop working, no more work also means no more guaranteed, steady income. Daily life can be expensive enough without even considering monthly retirement savings.
Use this retirement calculator tool to your advantage, and keep reading for other valuable savings tips!
Retirement Calculator Canada: How Much Do I Need To Save?
Some people just aren’t that into math and finances, and that’s okay. The Internet is full of helpful and free resources you can use to help you plan, invest, and save.
Sun Life Financial has a free retirement savings plan calculator tool you can use to calculate how much money you will need for your retirement.
In the tool you can input:
- Your current age
- Your annual income
- Current retirement savings (if any)
- TSFA savings (if any)
- And more
Tip: There is a field for how much money you’ll need in retirement. There is actually another calculator there, where you can calculate your expected monthly expenses, which will give you that number.
The tool is easy to use and completely free, it only takes around 2 minutes! This tool is also a great starting point if you’re just starting to plan for retirement.
Mortgage Calculator
You may have seen another blog post we posted about a free mortgage calculator. The free mortgage calculator is similar and designed to help people plan and budget for the purchase of a home or the renewal of an existing mortgage.
If you haven’t seen that post, be sure to check it out today. It could also be super beneficial to you as you plan your retirement.
How Do I Save That Amount? Easy Ways To Save
Now that you know how much money you’ll need to save, the next question is how do you save that money?
We have a few tips you can use, which are especially helpful for people living on fixed or restricted incomes.
Start Early
One of the best tips for saving for your retirement is to start as early as possible. The earlier you start saving, the more money you’ll have in your nest egg.
If you’re on a tight budget, don’t stress yourself out about putting away large sums of money every month. Even if you’re putting small amounts of money away each month, that’s better than nothing.
Make a monthly budget and see how much you can realistically afford to save each month.
Don’t forget: we posted our easy money saving challenge to save $1,300! Check it out today and see how it could help you save for retirement.
Use Automated Deposits
Have you ever heard people saying they pay 50% off their paycheque away right after they get paid?
While we might not all be able to save that much money, MyMoneyCoach recommends taking advantage of automated deposits.
Once you’ve decided how much money you can save monthly, set up automated deposits to put that money away every month. The automated deposit will put the money aside right away, so that you won’t forget or spend it.
Oftentimes you won’t even notice the money is “missing” if you have your automated deposits set up to coincide with your payday.
Cut Back On Your Credit Cards
Another tip from MyMoneyCoach is to cut back on your credit card spending and pay off your debts. It makes sense, the more debt you have going into retirement, the less savings you’ll have.
So try to use debit or cash when possible, and focus on paying back any credit card debts you may have.
If you want more tips on saving money on your credit cards, check out these posts:
More Money-Saving Resources:
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