Ask the Elder Law Lawyer: How Much Do I Need to Save for Retirement?

If you’re like 70% of people in the US who have a retirement plan, you still haven’t worked with a professional such as an elder law attorney in Northwest Iowa in order to determine how much money you really need to save. A recent study found that only about 30% of this group has actually sat down with a professional and another 34% has simply guessed at a number that they think might be reasonable.

Any good Northwest Iowa elder lawyer will tell you that this is incredibly dangerous. There are so many factors that go into determining what will be needed. Just a few of these include:

• What do you want to do when you retire?
• What assets do you have now?
• How will inflation impact the value of the dollar?
• What kind of retirement fund do you have?
• How long do you have before you retire?
• How much will you lose to taxes when you withdraw your money?

As you can see, getting to a total that will support your lifestyle during retirement is a bit more complex than simply plucking a number out of thin air.

And, once you have that number, you need to know what has to be done to achieve it. How much do you need to save monthly/annually? Are there better retirement tools than what you’re using? The questions keep on coming.

Consider, too, that 80% of people will need nursing home care at some point during their lives. If the average nursing home cost is around $6,000 per month and the average stay is just over two years, you can see that just thinking about the fun part of retirement could mean you run out of money and can’t get the care you need.

The whole process can be very overwhelming and cause a lot of people to throw their hands up in the air and give up. Really, though, it’s a matter of having the right information. Fortunately, a Northwest Iowa elder law attorney has that information. He or she knows all of these questions and more and, in conjunction with other advisors, can help you put together a comprehensive picture of where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.

A good Northwest Iowa lawyer can help you understand what areas you’ve succeeded in for your planning as well as to let you know where you can improve. With professional guidance, you can learn how much you really need to be contributing to your retirement now in order to reach your goals for later, and he or she can likely help you uncover ways to do just that.

As with just about anything in life, having a clear-cut, reasonable goal is the most important aspect for getting what you want. Fortunately, elder law lawyers in Northwest Iowa are well-versed in exactly what needs to be done for this to happen.