A recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies asked 4,000 American workers how much savings they thought they needed to have a secure retirement.  The results:

10% – Less than $100,000
42% – Over $1,000,000
48% – $100,000 – $1,000,000

So, how much savings do Americans really need, to have a secure retirement?

How much savings you need for retirement is determined by how much you spend in retirement.  You control how much you spend in retirement, therefore, you control how much savings you need for retirement.

The table below shows retirement savings needed based on different monthly retirement budgets.

Monthly Retirement Budget vs. Savings Required
$2,000 – $600,0000
$3,000 – $900,000
$5,000 – $1,500,000

Use our Free Retirement Calculator to determine how much savings you need for retirement based on any retirement spending budget.  Read How to Create a Retirement Budget to learn how to control your required retirement savings.

While the survey asked Americans how much savings Americans “think” they need for retirement, our Free Early Retirement Planning Software, changes how Americans think about retirement planning.

Our Free Retirement Software takes the guessing out of retirement planning, allowing you to calculate and control how much savings you need for retirement, and when you will retire.  Now anyone can accurately and easily plan, manage, achieve, and maintain, a safe and secure retirement.

Download:  Free Retirement Software

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While any time of the year is a good time, to create your retirement plan, the best time to retirement plan is tax time.  Why?

When you prepare your taxes, you need to gather all your financial statements, something you also need to do when you create your retirement plan.  After you are done preparing your taxes, why not take advantage of having all your financial data gathered together, and create your free early retirement plan?

You can create a free early retirement plan in less than 30 minutes.  A retirement plan which let’s you know how much you need to save each month, how much you can spend in retirement, and when you will retire.

Learn More:  Free Retirement Software

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Free Early Retirement Planning and Software, brought to you by Green Retirement LLC., is intentionally designed to be Green.

The Green Retirement Formula, used in Free Early Retirement Planning Software and developed by founder Ramsay Mameesh, was originally created to give individuals an incentive to save the planet – early retirement.  The Green Retirement Formula calculates the positive financial benefit reducing your consumption has on your retirement savings needs.

Simply put, reducing your consumption or spending before and during retirement, increases your retirement savings, and reduces the amount of savings you require for retirement, enabling you to achieve a safe and secure early retirement years earlier.

As an example, the Green Retirement Formula calculates that getting rid of one of your cars and it’s $600 per month expense 20 years before you retire, could give you an additional $450,000 in retirement savings.  Getting rid of one of your cars, and it’s $600 per month expense when you retire, reduces the amount of retirement savings you need by $180,000.

And, early retirement, is the single best action you can take to save the planet.  When you stop working, your consumption of natural resources naturally declines, as you no longer commute or require two locations to be heated and cooled.  No more dry cleaning, fast food lunches, etc.,

More Ways Free Early Retirement is Green:

Paper Free
Zero paper is used to create your retirement plan.
No Offices
Free Early Retirement is completely online.
Green Web Hosting
The Free Early Retirement Website runs on wind power.

While being green is not the reason you should use Free Early Retirement Planning Software, the fact that Free Early Retirement enables you to accurately and safely retire early is the primary reason you should choose us, being green and saving the planet is included for free.

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This Free Early Retirement Blog article explains why and how to retire debt free.

Why You Should Retire Debt Free
The reason why you should retire debt free, by paying off your debt before or when you retire, is because it can significantly increase your retirement income.  Here is an example:

Retire With Debt
Assets – $650,000
Debt – $100,000
Rate – 7%
Monthly Retirement Income = $1,250

Retire Debt Free
Assets – $550,000
Debts – $0
Rate – 0%
Monthly Retirement Income = $1,833

Retiring debt free increased retirement income by $583 per month or an amazing 46%

How to Retire Debt Free
The previous example clearly describes why you should retire debt free.  You can retire debt free, by paying off your debt when you retire, or by paying off your debt before you retire.  The choice is yours, however, paying off your debt before you retire has the advantage of decreasing the amount of interest you will pay over time.

The following 2 step method describes how to pay off your debt before you retire to increase your retirement income when you retire.

Step 1. Choose When You Want to Retire
Use our Free Retirement Software to choose when you want to retire.

Step 2. Use a Debt Pay-Down Calculator
Use the CNN Money Debt Free Calculator to determine how much you need to pay each month to be debt free when you retire.

Keeping with the example used in this article, if the couple with $100,000 in debt wants to retire debt free in 10 years, they would need to pay $1,154 per month or an additional $571 over the $583 minimum monthly payments they are currently making. Free Retirement Software contains budgeting tools to help you find the savings to pay off your debt.

If the couple payed only the monthly minimums on their debt, then payed off their debt when they retired, they would end up paying $70,000 in interest payments, then having to payoff their $100,000 in principal.

By paying off their debt before they retire, they would only pay $40,000 in interest payments, a savings of $30,000 and be debt free when they retire.

Summary
The reason why you should retire debt free is to increase your retirement income.  The reason to pay off your debt before you retire, instead of when you retire, is to decrease the amount you pay in interest payments.

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It is something we all know we need to do – save for retirement. The question is how do you save for retirement? Here is a 3 step process, that will teach you how to save for retirement, and get you on track to achieve your retirement goal.

Step 1. Calculate
The first step is to calculate how much you need to save for retirement. Not just the total amount of savings you need for retirement, but also, the monthly amount you need to be saving to achieve your goal.

Our Free Retirement Software allows you to choose when you want to retire, and accurately calculates both the total amount, and the monthly amount you need to save to achieve your goal.

Download: Free Retirement Software

Step 2. Budget
The next step in how to save for retirement, is to create a budget and track your expenses, to find out where and how you are spending.  Our Free Retirement Software contains budgeting and expense tracking tools.Learn More:  How to Create a Retirement Budget

Step 3. Cut Expenses
After you have created a budget and tracked your expenses for a while, examine your current spending budget, to find where you can eliminate or reduce your expenses to match your monthly retirement savings goal.

Eliminate your mini-storage unit and have a garage sale.  Reduce your cable bill, phone plan, dine-out less, move closer to work and get rid of one car, etc.  Be creative to find the monthly savings you need to retire when and how you want.

Lean More:  How To Retire Early

Once you are saving the monthly amount you need to be saving, you’re almost done, just one last thing to take care of -  what do you do with your savings?  Allocate.

Asset allocation sounds complicated and confusing, when in reality, asset allocation is simple to understand and practice.  The following article explains Free Early Retirement’s easy asset allocation model that beats 90% of mutual funds and money managers.

Read: Best Asset Allocation Model

That’s it, that is how to save for retirement, and achieve your retirement goal.  To get started saving for retirement, don’t forget to…

Download: Free Retirement Software

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With Free Early Retirement Software you can easily create your retirement plan in 30 minutes or less.  A retirement plan that shows you how much you need to save each month, how much you can safely spend in retirement, and allows you to choose when you want to retire,.

If you want to retire now, or you are already retired, Free Early Retirement Software gives you a 30 year safe retirement spending plan, again in less than 30 minutes.

How do you to create a retirement plan in less than 30 minutes? 

To create your retirement plan in less than 30 minutes using our software, answer a few simple questions, such as your ages, when you want to retire, your salary, etc., and complete the net worth section.

The net worth section of Free Early Retirement is where you  list all your assets and debts.  Gathering all your bank, investment, loan statements, and entering their balances, is what takes most of the 30 minutes needed to create your retirement plan.

Read How to Calculate Your Net Worth

Once you have completed the net worth section, you are done, your retirement plan is ready!  In less time than it takes to wash your car, or do the laundry, you can create your retirement plan.  Now what’s your excuse for not having a retirement plan?

Lean More and Download: Free Retirement Software

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When it comes to choosing where to retire you basically have 3 options; retire where you are, retire in a different location, or retire overseas.

There is no right place to retire, and there are no rules, choosing where to retire is a matter of affordability and desire. Let’s take a look at each of your retirement location options, and how to go about determining if it is the right choice, for where you want to retire.

Retire Where You Are
Most people want and choose to retire where they are currently living.  The first thing you need to do is determine if you can afford to retire where you currently live.  Try our Free Retirement Calculator to find out if your retirement savings will support your current budget.

Retire to a New Location
Many people choose to retire to a different location for a better climate or for lower cost of living.  To choose the right location, again first calculate your safe retirement budget, and research the cost of living in your desired location, to see if it falls within your budget.

Retire Overseas
Retiring overseas to a low cost of living country, can dramatically reduce the amount of savings you need for retirement, enabling you to achieve an earlier retirement.

However, in order to take advantage of the lower cost of living, one must generally live the same lifestyle as the locals.  If you try to recreate your American lifestyle overseas, you may discover that your cost of living, is actually higher than it would be if your retired where you currently live.

Although it may sound exciting, and it usually is, retiring overseas is not for everyone.  Many people who attempt an overseas retirement are unable to adapt and return home, usually poorer, after only a couple of years.

Whether you choose to retire in a new location, or retire overseas, do not purchase real estate in the first few years.  In fact, you should not purchase real estate in retirement, it can significantly reduce your retirement income.

Also keep in mind, that you can always change your mind, and change where you live in retirement.  Retirement is freedom, the freedom to live where, and how you want.

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If you are planning to retire in 2012, here are the financial and personal steps you should take before you retire.  Steps to insure you enjoy a safe, happy, and successful retirement.

Step 1. Calculate How Much You Can Safely Spend
How much can you safely spend in retirement?  Overspending can result in the disaster of running out of savings during your retirement.  Here are tools to help you find out.

Try Our: Free Retirement Calculator
Learn: How to Retire Early

Step 2. Create a Retirement Budget
Now that you know how much you can safely spend in retirement, you need to create a retirement budget, that matches that amount.  Free Early Retirement Software includes budgeting tools to help you create and maintain, a safe retirement budget.

Download Our: Free Retirement Software
Learn: How to Create a Retirement Budget

Step 3. Get Social
The transition from work to retirement, for many people, can be a stressful and depressing experience.  Mainly caused by the loss of social interaction with co-workers and the lack of activities to replace work.

Avoid retirement stress and depression, create a smooth transition from work to retirement, by getting social outside of work before you retire.  Join community groups, local volunteer organizations, take college courses, renew a long lost hobby.  Begin filling your time with non-work activities and social circles.

Taking these 3 retirement planning steps before you retire in 2012 will help, reduce or eliminate the financial and personal stress associated with retirement, and insure a safe and happy retirement..

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