Retirement Knowledge Center

403b Savings Calculator

What Can You Do With a 403b Savings Calculator?

Those individuals who work for a variety of non-profit agencies, colleges and universities and local governments often have an employer sponsored 403b account rather than a more common 401k. Just as with a 401k, those who have 403b accounts may find that their contributions are matched by their employers or not. Likewise, those who have a 403b account are given choices about how they want to invest, how much they want to invest and whether or not to open additional savings and investment accounts to help them prepare for retirement.

A 403b savings calculator, at its most basic, is a tool that enables those of you with 403b accounts to see how much the money that you've put into the account is earning for you. A 403b savings calculator lets you take a closer look at your investments than you are able to do simply by looking at the statement that you receive that's meant to tell you how your account is doing.

However, a 403b savings calculator should do more than just let you see what is there in your account and provide you with some idea about how your money will continue to grow over time. With the right 403b savings calculator, you should be able to:

1. Look at the amount that you are contributing and determine how much of a difference a greater contribution per pay period would make in your retirement saving;
   
2. Look at the different mutual funds and stock options that you have for investing to see whether or not you would benefit by investing your 403b savings differently;
   
3. Experiment with your savings and investment strategy to see whether or not you are investing as well as you could be;
   
4. Consider the past and projected performance of the stocks and mutual funds that are available to you;
   
5. Better understand the risk that you are taking when you choose one investment over another.
   

   Additionally, if not all of your retirement planning is being done with your 403b, you're probably going to want something more than a basic 403b savings calculator - something like the retirement calculator you can download on this page that will allow you to do everything that you need to in order to understand your 403b savings as well as all of your other retirement savings and investment accounts.

   Not only does the retirement calculator allow you to get a feel for your accounts on your own, but when you download it your contact information will be forwarded to a financial advisor in your area who will call to follow up and answer any questions that you have. In other words, you won't just get a 403b savings calculator or a retirement calculator, you will also get the chance to talk about your goals and options with someone who can help you to develop a better strategy - a plan for reaching all of your goals, whatever they may be.

   Does the 403b savings calculator you've been using do all of that?

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