I've assembled a simple spreadsheet to help me with retirement planning. I'd really appreciate help in catching any fatal flaws in the calculations or approach as I do intend to make some fairly serious decisions based on its high level projections.
I know there are many complex tools out there but it seems to me that this spreadsheet distills things down in a reasonable manner and makes it easy to tweak things and see the impact. I've considered the option of using a professional financial planner but I'm not convinced it is necessary (nor do I have any great personal recommendations for one that I could trust).
Here's how the spreadsheet is structured (I've attached the actual spreadsheet to this post):
- Year -- based on start of school year
- In China -- either "Y" or "N" as input because I plan to be an expat living in China but am planning when and how long will result in what kind of impact
- Percent Spending -- Less or more than base expenses column (for US or China)
- Annual Savings/Withdrawal -- Resulting contribution to savings or withdrawal from savings
- Net Worth -- Total net worth (I do not have property or other assets, only IRA and ETFs
- Monthly 4% -- Just for reference
- Monthly SS Income -- starting withdrawal at age 62 using estimate calculated by ssa.gov
- Monthly Spending -- Resulting monthly spending required based on us/china budget and percent spending adjustment
- US/China Expenses -- budget calculated for inflation in us/china respectively
I have included adjustment for investment return rate, inflation, income tax, IRA withdrawal tax, social security and income tax.
In conclusion, I realize some of these formulas are crude but I'm still thinking they are close enough to actuals that they serve the purpose of helping me determine things like what happens in the long run if I become an expat sooner, or for longer periods before returning to US.
Much appreciate everyone's feedback! Brutal honesty is welcome. :-)