More than 100 financial planning calculators are now available at the American Savings Education Council''s Web site. The calculators can help with a wide array of financial planning issues, including retirement planning, credit, home mortgages, and budgeting. The Council, which is a coalition of private- and public-sector organizations, works to raise public awareness about what is needed to ensure long-term personal financial independence. The Council reports that currently only 53 percent of workers surveyed have tried to determine how much they'll need to save for a comfortable retirement.
Visitors to the site can start with The Ballpark Estimate, which offers users a way to obtain a rough first estimate of what they will need for retirement. The worksheet is available in interactive and print format. The site also offers more finely tuned retirement calculators, including "What will my expenses be after I retire?", "How much effect can inflation have?" and "Which savings should be used first." In addition to the retirement calculators, the site features calculators for Roth IRAs, Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Home Equity Loans, Insurance and more.
To access the calculators, go to www.asec.org