Which Factors Can Impact My Retirement Savings Negatively?
Depending on which type of plan you use to save money for retirement, you should always consider the following factors when calculating the returns from your monthly payments. These can have a negative impact on your retirement savings, and you may not be able to predict some of them when you start your retirement account:
- The age at which you start investing in your retirement account can be important, as some plans (such as IRAs) have a limit on the amount of money you can invest each year. In other words, if you're limited to $6,000 a year, and you start investing at age 35, you'll likely end up with overall less money compared to if you had started at 22.
- Inflation and low interest rates can effectively devalue your money. The growth of your investment may be entirely eaten up or even outpaced by inflation. What's important here is to consider that your retirement savings are subject to both current and future inflation and interest rates, so when you set up your retirement plan, you might want to calculate with very disfavorable interest rates and inflation percentages, just to make sure you're ready for any future developments.
- Some retirement plans allow you to withdraw money even before reaching retirement age. This typically comes with a significant penalty, however. So make sure you don't invest everything and set some of your current income aside in case you need quick cash. If you have to withdraw from your retirement account prematurely, this may impact your bottom line at retirement age more significantly than if you set aside some of your current income for emergencies.
Also, keep in mind that a retirement investment calculator is only as good as the data you feed it. This means you need to keep all of these factors in mind and apply them to your calculations if necessary. Alternatively, you might want to contact a financial advisor who should be able to work out a detailed investment plan with you.
Calculators Can Only Estimate Your Retirement Funds
Be aware that any calculator you use to calculate the amount of money you'll need to put into your retirement account can only ever estimate how much capital you'll actually get in return when you're retired. Things change, and this goes not just for inflation but also for laws and regulations as well as market indices. So if you're asking yourself, "how much money will I have if I invest?", then no calculator can actually give you a fully reliable number. It's simply impossible to predict in detail how your investment will pan out, and there are numerous factors outside of your control that can affect it.
When it comes to your financial future, it's best to err on the safe side and take the numbers you get from calculators as a pure estimate. You may also want to put particularly disfavorable numbers into the calculator, just to make sure you'll get a worst-case scenario estimate.
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If you're looking to make the most out of your retirement investments, you should also take a look at CARL's quantitative hedge fund strategies with 15%+ targeted returns and self-directed IRAs (SDIRAs). These investment vehicles combine the power of quants with built-in risk controls, which can potentially grow your investment significantly. Using self-directed IRAs to invest in alternative investment vehicles such as hedge funds has long been a retirement plan that is popular with high net-worth individuals, and CARL is finally bringing this winning combination to all eligible investors.
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