Retirement Planning 101
Retirement will naturally happen with the passage
of time. So why should begin you retirement planning now? The answer is
a really simple - start your retirement planning early so that you can
enjoy life today (while you're still working) and enjoy life later when
those bi-weekly checks stop coming in.
- Simple Advice (often the best)
- Live Within Your Means
- Eliminate Debt
What is YOUR
vision of retirement?
 Vacations
to tropical islands. Relaxing and enjoying the scenery? Lying in a
hammock, sipping a cool, refreshing fruit drink; under the shade of
palm trees. The gentle washing of the warm tropical waters rolling ever
so quietly against the white sand.
Someone to anticipate your every need or desire -
a muscle melting massage; sunscreen for you ventures to water's edge or
a refreshing dip in the blue, clear waters.
 Travelling
with your family and friends across the United States?
Perhaps visit all 50 States?
Your vision will determine how much money you will
need. Sitting around the house watching the Discovery Channel takes a
whole lot less money than actually travelling to Italy and eating in an
authentic Italian restaurant!
Starting now gives you the
time to accumulate money without breaking today's budget because time
and compounding interest will work for you.
To begin with, you're in pretty good shape with
the options you have available to you through the City of Savannah and GFPF
(Georgia Firefighter's Pension Fund
Just these two will go a long way to securing a
comfortable retirement. There is a good chance you will be able to
retire with 100% of your pre-retirement salary by participating in both
the City Pension and GFPF.
How is this possible?
Depending on your years of service with the City
of Savannah, you may be eligible for 60% or more of your pre-retirement
salary. Basically you receive 2% for each year of service prior to 2000
and 2.5% for each year of service from 2000 on. For instance:
1978 - 2000 = 22 years
2000 - 2009 = 9 years
22 years times 2% = 44%
9 years times 2.5% = 22.5%
Total = 66.5%
So, after a total of 31 years of service you could
be eligible for 66.5% of the average of your last 5 years salary.
If your salary averaged $60,000 over your last 5
years, using the numbers from the above example, your City Pension
would be $39,990.00 per year, or $3,325.00 per month.
The exact amount will depend on federal and state
taxes and other options you select, like health insurance and survivor
benefits.
Before you move on to information about the City
of Savannah pension, Georgia Firefighter's Pension Plan or the IMARC
457 deferred compensation plan, play around with the calculator below
to estimate how much you need to save monthly to reach your retirment
goals. Enter a variety of rates of return to help you see what you need
to be looking for in your investments.
Be sure to book mark this page so you can return
to use the calculator.
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