About Retirement Calculator, Inc.

Recommended Reading

• How to Stop the "Pension Pirates" from Stealing your Retirement
• The Nervous Retiree
• Why You Need Retirement Calculator Software
• Analysis of the Economics of Early Social Security Withdrawal

• FREE Retirement Calculator recommended by Ray Martin on the CBS Early Show - Watch the video clip
• FREE Retirement EBook written by Bill Losey, America’s Retirement Strategist
• FREE Retirement Intelligence Information Services Newsletter
• FREE New Social Security Calculator
• FREE Consultation with a certified financial advisor in your area

How to invest milliondollars

How to Invest a Million Dollars

For many, it seems as though learning how to invest a million dollars would be a task that they wouldn't mind taking on - after all, it would imply that they had a million dollars to invest. What they do not realize is something that is so simple that it should be obvious: someone who is looking to learn how to invest a million dollars will need to gain the same knowledge as someone who is looking to learn how to invest one hundred or one thousand dollars.

Whether you want to learn how to invest a million dollars or you have a bit less cash available, you're going to follow the same basic procedure:

1. You will need to look at how you want to divide the money that you are investing;
   
2. You will want to find a diverse group of companies in which to invest rather than putting everything you have into a single company;
   
3. You will need to consider the amount of risk that you are willing to take and then look at investments that won't stress you out too much. If you are not willing to put everything into a company that has a fifty-fifty chance of tripling your investment or going bust, don't look into those companies; find mutual funds or utility companies to invest in. Your money will increase at a slower rate, but there's far less chance of losing everything.
   
4. You will want to follow your investments and make changes as necessary. If you discover that you could better increase the value of your investments with a simple move, it may be worth making it.

Of course, in order to make the right decisions - again, whether you are learning how to invest a million dollars or any other amount - you will need to have the right tools available. For that, you will need a way of looking at your investments and income, and you will need someone who can be there to give you the advice that you need along the way. When you download the retirement calculator on this page, you will find that you have access to both of those tools.

First, with the retirement calculator, you will be able to take a closer look at your investment options. Each stock or mutual fund that you have invested in or are thinking about investing in is something that you can look at to determine how it has performed historically and to see how it it projected to perform over time. You will be able to see how small changes to your investment strategy will affect your earnings.

Second, because your contact information will be forwarded to a financial advisor in your area when you download the retirement calculator, you will receive a call from a financial advisor who can help you to look at your options, answer your questions and help you decide the best strategy for your investments - the strategy that will allow you to achieve your financial goals regardless of your starting point.

With the right tools, learning to invest is a far simpler process. Whether you currently have a million dollars to invest or you are hoping to someday, you can be well on your way with just a few simple steps.

Find a Qualified Financial Planner in Your Area

Do You Know the Answers to These Important Retirement Questions?

• Are you retired or thinking about retiring?
• Do you have enough money to comfortably live throughout your retirement years?
• Would you like FREE face to face advice or retirement consulting from a trusted local financial advisor?
• Are you looking for help to achieve your long-term financial goals?
• Would you like to learn more about Annuities, 401's, Life Insurance and Long Term Care?

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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:

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.