Boston Gal's Open Wallet

Each of the four calculators we tried is free and sponsored by a well-known nonprofit group or company. (There are many others, of course -- some more elaborate and some that charge a fee.) For our test, we said we were a single, 45-year-old man who earns $50,000 a year, a bit higher than the average U.S. household. His only debt is a mortgage, and he's got $90,000 invested in a 401(k) account and $10,000 in taxable accounts. He's putting $5,000, or 10% of his income, into his 401(k) annually.

He wants to retire at 65 and live on 100% of his preretirement income -- that is, $50,000 a year. He expects to live until 100. (That may sound unlikely, but it's safer to overestimate, given that half of us will outlive the average life expectancy.)

His likely monthly Social Security benefit is $1,408, based on his current income and expected retirement date. Some sites allow you to enter your assumed rate of return and expected inflation -- we put 6% return and 3% inflation -- but other sites make their own assumptions.

Labels: Calculation