This is a handy Excel spreadsheet for calculating the growth or diminishing of your retirement funds. Nobody can predict what the stock market will do, but this spreadsheet gives you an idea of how your investments might do.
There are only four entries you need to change:
Beginning Balance: Enter the total amount of your investment in the first block under "Beginning Balance" on line 4. Do not make any other entries under "Beginning Balance."
Earnings: This is the tricky part because you have to guess at what percentage your fund will earn each year. You can get an idea of how this might run by checking your year-end statement from past years. If you have your money invested in a lot of different funds that have shown great differences in earnings, you might want to figure your accounts separately.
Monthly Withdrawal: If you have arranged to withdraw a set amount each month, enter that amount here.
Year: Make sure the first entry under "Year" (line 4) shows the current year. Don't change any other entries under "year."
If you choose to download this file and you have Excel on your system, the file will probably open, without giving you the option to save to disk. It is probably best to save the file and perform the calculations off-line. Just go up to "File", select "Save As" and save the file to a chosen directory or to a floppy disk.