Hello, I have done these retirement calculators before and realize I'm not sure if I am using them correctly.
I am not aiming for early retirement but retirement at 62, when ss kicks in.
For example there is one available through my workplace (gov via tsp) and here are some questions...
a) it asks you to enter expected return, anywhere from 0=?% I've been putting in 5 or 6 %, given that I have a 65/35 stock/bond mix. However, I don't know if they are referring to total return, or net/adjusted after inflation return. That would make a difference. What are people putting in for this? And what is a reasonable expectation given that some say returns on average will be lower in the future?
b) Social security estimates real dollar or will be inflation adjusted. Then enter the expected social security amount one would expect. I have looked up on soc sec and enter that number. Now is that number the actual number amount, or will it be inflation adjusted (larger) when receiving it?
c) inflation adjustment future expenses. Once I do that, I compare that to my current living expenses, and what percent it would cover my living expenses. However, while I do agree with MMM that some aspects of inflation can be controlled by how much and what spend on, there will be others that will not (property taxes, other sales taxes, also food, base prices in general) so I think that I should calculate some inflation adjustment for 15 years in the future, but not sure how to do this.