The following were “best” picks in the Encore edition of the Wall Street Journal today:
- Financial worksheet to plan your retirement: The T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Calculator. “The calculator helps people who are approaching retirement, or who are already retired, figure out whether their monthly income goals are realistic. To do so, it uses “Monte Carlo” simulations — a type of probability analysis that generates hundreds of computer scenarios of what might happen to your money over any given period, and then uses that information to determine your portfolio’s probability of success. You have to supply your starting retirement age, retirement length, marital status, retirement assets, monthly income goal, and investment mix of stocks, bonds and short-term securities. The calculator does the rest.”
- Information about Social Security: Ask Mary Jane. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a Washington advocacy group, has this spot on its Web site where you can e-mail a question about Social Security to Mary Jane Yarrington, “a longtime congressional caseworker who joined the group in 1986 as a senior policy analyst and has written her question-and-answer column for 14 years.” There is a list of Q & A’s where she has already answered many questions that can arise.
- Information about IRAs: IRAhelp.com. Ed Slott, a certified public accountant, hosts this website.
The “Best” Advice: Free information is great, but it is always best to get the advice of a qualified professional so that he or she can address the facts and circumstances of your particular situation.