Savings What Savings?

The stock market fell to a six-year low today, taking it with it all gains made since 2002! Which raises two questions: “Where’s the bottom“, and “What happened to my next egg?” Not even Warren Buffett can answer the first, but the second is a little easier.

With an online financial calculator, you can actually simulate how well your nest egg may be doing. And it’s free! There are many good financial calculators online, and the Wall Street Journal reports that the best ones are getting quite a workout these days. One of the best is hosted by T. Rowe Price, the Baltimore-based mutual funds company. In about 10 minutes – after plugging in the latest information about your earnings, savings, and household budget – you can learn how much income your nest egg will generate in the years ahead. Check it out: www.troweprice.com/ric. We can also recommend two sources for online calculators: One is at www.AARP.org (click on Money). The other is at www.ChoosetoSave.org, hosted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a Washington DC-based financial research group. Click on “Calculator” on the toolbar, and you get to choose from dozens of online calculators for bonds, mutual funds, retirement, Social Security, taxes, and more.