Getting Started with Your 401(k).
The decisions you make now will help shape your retirement future. InR makes it easier for you to plan and research those decisions with confidence.
Below is a selection of articles and calculators that can help guide you through your retirement options.
Articles
Redefining Retirement in the 21st Century
The traditional approach to planning for retirement may well be already obsolete. This article explains the parameters of the "new retirement."
Make the Most of Your 401(k)
Your 401(k) plan is your key to a comfortable retirement. This report explains the fundamental features of 401(k) plans and key steps to retirement planning.
Calculators
Staying on the Path to Retirement.
Managing your investments can be complex. With the right tools and resources, reaching your investment goals is easier.
Below is a selection of tutorials, articles and calculators that can help guide you through your retirement options.
Articles
Investing Through Life’s Stages
How you allocate your investment portfolio among different types of investments will depend on your goals and time frame. Take a look at how these might change over time.
Retirement Plan Loans: Do They Make Sense for You?
Thinking about taking a loan from your 401(k) plan? Here are some essential considerations.
Mutual Fund Benefits
Why have most mutual fund investors stayed the course during this volatile period? Perhaps it's because they appreciate the advantages that mutual funds have to offer.
A Look at Mutual Fund Categories
Growth, income, tax-exempt? This article looks at the different types of mutual fund categories and what they mean in terms of risk and potential return.
Choosing the Right Benchmarks for Your Mutual Fund
The right benchmark can help you measure performance and assess risk characteristics of your mutual fund.
Company Size -- Why Market Capitalization Matters
Different-size companies provide investors with different risk/reward opportunities. This article explains market capitalization and the potential diversification benefits of wearing several market caps.
Focus on Time in the Market, Not Market Timing
Market timing is the practice of moving in and out of the market in an attempt to boost returns. This article looks at the potential risks of market timing versus a buy-and-hold investment strategy.
Growth vs. Value: Two Approaches to Stock Investing
Two fundamentally different methods of choosing stocks can help add diversity to your portfolio.
How Many Funds Do You Need?
Randomly selecting funds can work against your portfolio. This article outlines a framework for deciding how many funds you really need for your portfolio to be truly diversified.
A Primer on International Investments
With the globalization of the world economy has come a dramatic increase in international investing. This article looks at the different ways of investing internationally and how international investing can offer opportunities for portfolio diversification and performance enhancement.
Money Market Funds Can Add Stability and Liquidity
What are money market funds and how do they fit in your portfolio?
Understanding Bonds and Their Risks
What are bonds? This report explains the many different types of bond investments available, their risks, and the tax consequences of investing.
Longevity Risk and Retirement Income
Outliving one’s assets is a major risk that retirees face. Determining a sustainable annual asset withdrawal rate and strategic use of taxable investments can help lessen that risk, as discussed in this article.
Calculators
InR Projected Retirement Income CalculatorHow much retirement income may my 401k provide?
How much will I need to save for retirement?
How does inflation impact my retirement income needs?
What is the impact of increasing my 401(k) contribution?
What may my 401(k) be worth?
What Will My Qualified Plan(s) Be Worth At Retirement?
What is the impact of borrowing from my 401(k) plan?
What Are My Lump Sum Distribution Options?
What is the impact of early withdrawal from my 401(k)?
Tutorials
This tutorial acquaints — or reacquaints — investors with the crucial concept of asset allocation, which is the term used to describe a portfolio’s strategic mix of investments. The lesson describes the role of stocks, bonds, and cash in an asset allocation; how to identify and calculate your financial goals; how to gauge your risk tolerance; and how to manage your asset allocation over time. It also includes sample allocations for conservative, moderate, and aggressive investors.
Make the Most of Your Retirement Plan
This tutorial seeks to educate current and prospective plan participants on 401(k)s and other company-sponsored retirement plans. The module covers how to determine how much you will need in retirement; features of company sponsored retirement plans; tax benefits of such plans; and employer matching. It then goes on to coach users on choosing investments within their plans; how different asset allocations suit different needs; and how to gauge one’s risk tolerance level.
Understanding Mutual Funds
In recent years, mutual funds have become the investment of choice for millions of Americans. If you are still mystified by these vehicles, learn how they work, how they are managed, and how they can fit into your financial plan.
Diversifying Your Investments
Did you know you may be able to reduce risk in your investment portfolio by spreading your money among different types of securities? Learn more about the potential benefit of not having all your eggs in one basket with this insightful animated chart.
Investment Volatility and Your Retirement Income Potential
Investors approaching or in retirement may need to rethink the way they approach market volatility and its potential impact on their ability to generate a stream of income. Using hypothetical scenarios, this iChart shows how the specific timing of market ups and downs can affect long-term financial security in retirement.
Retirement Savings: The Big Difference a Little Bit Extra Could Make
When it comes to retirement savings, a little bit extra could potentially go a long way toward helping you achieve a more financially secure future. That’s why you may want to consider contributing as much as possible to your account for as long as possible. This analytical chart shows how increasing your retirement account contribution by as little as an additional one percentage point each year could potentially boost your account balance by tens of thousands of dollars over the long term.
Retirement is Just Around the Corner.
Though you are close to retirement, you may still have investment and planning questions. ASPire will help you retire on your own terms.
Below is a selection of tutorials, articles and calculators that can help guide you through your retirement options.
Articles
Changing Jobs or Retiring? Don’t Forget Your Retirement Savings! Choosing a distribution method from your retirement plan when you change jobs or retire can have significant tax implications. This article shows how to keep more of what you’ve saved.
How Much Do You Need to Retire?
Uncertainty over the future of Social Security, longer life expectancy, and inflation all factor into how much you'll need to save for a comfortable retirement.
Now That You're Retired, Maximize Your Retirement Income
Retirees will find tips on investing to get the most income out of their investments.
Retirement Account Distributions After Age 701/2
Minimum distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs are required to begin at age 701/2. However, a special law passed at the end of 2008 waives the requirement for most mandatory distributions in 2009. This article examines the options as well as the rules for required minimum distributions.
Social Security and You: What Does the Future Hold?
A look at Social Security and tips on when and how to apply for benefits.
Your Social Security Statement Explained
Knowing how much you can expect to receive in Social Security benefits can be a big help as you analyze your retirement income needs. This report walks you through your Social Security Statement and how you can use it as you plan for the future.
Refiguring Retirement
Retirement planning involves two core tasks: estimating how much money will be needed and identifying where it will come from. Surveys show that most workers have been unable to do this very accurately, and that they actually spend more and have less income in retirement than they expected.
Retirement Spending Strategies
Nearly 80 percent of workers aged 45 and older have thought about how they will manage their money in retirement so they don’t outlive their savings. Considering that most people plan to live 20 to 30 years in retirement, their concern is a valid one.
Calculators
InR Projected Retirement Income CalculatorHow will retirement impact my living expenses?
Are my current retirement savings sufficient?
Social Security retirement income estimator
I'm retired, how long will my savings last?
What is my current year required minimum distribution?
What is my projected required minimum distributions?
Tutorials
What you choose to do with the money from your employer-sponsored retirement plan could have a significant impact on your ability to meet your long-term financial goals. Targeted at retirees and job changers, this tutorial carefully weighs the merits of each option — leaving the money in the plan, cashing out, opening a rollover IRA, etc. — to help you make the best selection for your assets.
Making Your Nest Egg Last
Your retirement account distribution (withdrawal) strategy is directly related to how long you’ll be able to provide yourself with income after leaving the workforce. As you approach retirement, therefore, it’s important to give serious consideration to exactly how much income you’ll need each year. This authoritative chart illustrates how long your money might last under various distribution scenarios.
Investing in Retirement
This tutorial examines the risks, strategies and other unique considerations of investors who are in or nearing retirement.