Here's a very simple tool, just five questions to help you make a retirement projection.   Fidelity provides this on their website for anyone to use. 

You don't need to log in or have an account with Fidelity.  The tool does factor in some estimated Social Security income and uses Monte Carlo to simulate different market conditions.  However, it doesn't allow you to input pension or other projected income. I just tried it- very good starting point for calculating your "number".

Fidelity myPlan tool.

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Please vote tomorrow November 7th!

This congress will have a huge impact on all the retirement issues we talk about on this website.  I hope each of you have a geat day at the polls!

One of our readers pointed us to a online calculator that may be extremely helpful if you're considering taking Social Security at age 62.  Remember, many financial planners suggest delaying those benefits until your "full retirement age" or age 70, especially if you're healthy and have longevity in your family.  I know it's tough to forecast.

Here's the Social Security Break-Even calculator.   We'll be adding this to our calculators, links and tools page.

We may have to create a separate section on our site for all the companies freezing their pensions.  Citigroup is the latest to make benefit changes that will impact 140,000 employees.  They will freeze their pension plan in 2008.  Several articles mentioned employee's had requested the change. 

Here's the MSN article.

Among the changes unveiled Friday is an improved 401(k) plan that gives most U.S. employees the chance to receive a company contribution of as much as 8 percent of their annual pay, up from the current 3 percent matching contribution. The 8 percent contribution consists of a matching contribution of up to 6 percent and a 2 percent fixed contribution for employees with salaries up to $100,000 a year.

Do you have a family member in assisted living?

You've probably seen these facilities springing up in your community.  They generally provide room, board, 24-hour supervision and some limited medical services.  Most residents probably use their savings, retirement accounts or possibly long-term care policies to pay for the costs.  And, like most health care costs-they keep going up. 

The 2006 MetLife survey reports assisted living in the US costs an average of $2,968 per month.  The highest monthly average base cost was reported in Bridgewater, New Jersey, at $5,197, while the lowest was North Dakota, at $1,742.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has created an "insurance university,"  I'm going to visit and see if I need to make any changes.  Here's the link.

The Pension Protection Act passed in August will make some significant improvements in retirement plans including automatic enrollment and the ability for a non-spouse to rollover an inherited plan into an IRA.

The new act  will also have have a big impact on lump sum distributions and may actually reduce the amount you'll be allowed to move to an IRA from your defined benefit pension plan.  This act has actually changed the calculation of this lump sum.

Companies calculate this by taking the monthly payment the retiree is entitled to. They then figure how much this is worth as a lump sum in today’s dollars, making certain assumptions about life spans and future investment returns.

Under the new law, companies starting in 2008 will be able to assume a higher investment return, using a corporate bond interest rate instead of the lower Treasury bond rate previously used. This change produces a smaller lump sum payment. That’s because the higher rate represents the return an employee would have to earn to generate the same retirement income as if he were receiving the pension as a monthly paycheck.

This change will be phased in gradually over five years, and people who retire in the next year will see little impact on their payout.

The Kansas City Star explains.

At some point in retirement, most of us will start to withdraw assets from our investment accounts.  Generally we'll start with our taxable accounts, then IRA funds and finally our Roth IRA.   IRA accounts are tapped last in order to take advantage of tax deferral and Roth accounts don't have the mandatory 701/2 rule.  However, this approach may have substantial tax costs.

Humberto Cruz explains we may want to do a "mixture" of withdrawals from our IRA accounts and our Roth IRA accounts to try to minimize taxes on our Social Security.  Remember your Social Security will be taxable if your income is above $25,000 for an individual and $32,000 for a couple filing jointly.

In one scenario in the report, for example, a middle class couple retiring at age 65 reduced their annual tax bill from $5,346 to a mere $260 by mixing withdrawals from both the husband's deductible rollover IRA and the wife's tax-exempt Roth IRA, rather than taking them all from the rollover IRA. The reason: Roth IRA withdrawals do not count as income when determining how much of Social Security benefits are taxable, but withdrawals from traditional IRAs do.

The contribution limits are changing, but not by very much.  You'll be allowed to put an extra $500.00 into your employer plan next year. 

Last week the Internal Revenue Service announced changes for 401k, 403b and 457 plans.

The limits are $15,500 and the catch-up contribution for workers over age 50 will remain at $5,000.

IRA contribution limits won't change: It will remain at $4,000 or, if you are age 50 or older, $5,000.

More from the SFgate.com

Vanguard provides 401k and 403b plans to over 2.8 million participants and recently released their annual report on plans they manage.   How America Saves provides an analysis of retirement trends and activity.  For example:

• The average account balance for Vanguard particpants was nearly $68,000 in 2005. 
• Savings rates were lowest for particpants under age 25.  This group saved 4.8% of income.  Savings rates for particpants age 55-64 averaged 9.13%
• Women are saving at higher rates than men.
• During 2005 only about 11% of employees saved the maximum dollar amount of $14,000.  ($18,00 above age 50)

If you receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) you'll be getting a raise in January.  Beneficiaries will receive a 3.3% cost of living adjustment for 2007.

Here's some average monthly benefits for 2007:

All Retired Workers                        $1,044

Aged Couple, Both Benefits           $1,713

Widowed Mother Two Children       $2,167

Aged Widow(er) Alone                    $1,008

Disabled Worker, Spouse,Child      $1,646

All Disabled Workers                       $979

The cost of living adjustment announced Wednesday by the Social Security Administration will go to more than 53 million people. Nearly 49 million receive Social Security benefits and the rest Supplemental Security Income payments.                                                           

Roth IRA's tend to have their own jargon.  Here's 10 common questions courtesy of the Motley Fool.

Q. I've heard from a friend that the AGI limitation for a Roth IRA is $100,000. I've heard from other friends that the actual AGI limitation is much higher. Which is it?

A. It depends on whether you're talking about a "conversion" or a "contribution."

If you're talking about converting your regular IRA to a Roth IRA, then the AGI limitation is $100,000 for all filing categories, except for married folks filing separately. They're effectively prohibited from making a conversion regardless of their AGI, unless the couple is separated and has lived apart for the entire tax year.

But, if you're talking about making a contribution to a Roth IRA, then the rules are a bit different. The AGI limitations depend on your filing status. If you're single and your modified AGI less than $110,000 (or married with modified AGI of less than $160,000) you'll be eligible for at least a partial Roth IRA contribution.