The Financial Literacy Initiative at Dartmouth College
Saving for Retirement
Saving For Retirement (so your parents do not have to move in with you)
According to this 2011 U.S. Department of Labor report, fewer than half of Americans have calculated how much they need to save for retirement, although the average American currently spends 20 years retired. 13% of Americans with access to a defined contribution plan (such as a 401k) through their employer do not make use of it. And yet social security will only provide a portion of the expenses needed in retirement.
This module asks and answers a simple question. If you want to have a certain amount of money in a certain number of years, how much do you have to invest every year? And how does it depend on the rate of return of your investments?
We suggest that instructors open the instructor notes for this module, save them as a PDF file, and print them for reference.
This module also includes assessment tools (pre and post test) and a case study for deeper investigation of this topic. These resources are available by contacting Audrey Brown .
Contributors:
Clyde Martin, Texas Tech University, Eric Gaze, Bowdoin College,
Dorothy Wallace, Dartmouth College, Kim Rheinlander, Dartmouth College, Caren Diefenderfer, Hollins University