Bible Money Matters

Christian personal finance

Menu
    • About
    • Archives
    • Contact
    • Close
  • Making Money
      • Popular Articles

        • 50 Ways To Make Money: Maximizing, Creating And Increasing Your Income
        • 10 Weird And Unconventional Ways To Make Money
        • Making Money With A Blog (e-Book)
        • 10 Places To Sell Or Trade Your Unused (Or Broken) Electronics
        • Ways To Make Extra Money Series: 20 More Income Generating Ideas From Our Readers
        • Making Side Income Can Help Blunt The Impact Of Becoming A One Income Family
        • Earn Cash Back With Discover it® Credit Card
      • Recent Articles – Making Money

        • Best Sites Like Fiverr To Make Money As A Freelancer
        • 13 Of The Best Independent Contractor Jobs
        • 25 Of The Best Gig Economy Jobs
        • How To Make Money Blogging: Turn A Blog Into A Business
      • Categories

        • Making Money
        • Investing
        • Retirement
        • Jobs & Work LIfe
        • Money
        • Income
    • Close
  • Saving Money
      • Popular Articles

        • 50 Easy Ways To Save Money Every Month
        • 10 Weird And Unconventional Ways To Save Money
        • 10 Practical Ways To Save Money And Increase Your Net Worth
        • How To Save Money On Just About All Of Your Regular Monthly Bills
        • Ways To Watch TV Without Paying An Arm And A Leg For Cable TV
        • Save Money On Your Hospital Bill - Just By Asking
      • Recent Articles – Saving Money

        • How To Save $100k In 7 Practical Steps
        • Stairs App Review: Save And Invest To Earn 4-6% Interest
        • Honey Review: Save Money Automatically When You Shop Online
        • 9 Convincing Reasons Why You Need An Emergency Fund
      • Categories

        • Saving Money
        • Frugality
        • Planning
        • Finance
        • Saving For Retirement
        • Savings Accounts
    • Close
  • Banking
      • Best Rates For 2019

        • Best Credit Cards
        • Best Savings Accounts
        • Best Mortgage Rates
        • Best CD Rates
        • Best Brokerages
        • Free Credit Scores
      • Recent Reviews

        • TradeStation Review: Commission Free Stock And ETF Trades
        • Firstrade Review: Commission Free Trades on Stocks, Crypto, And Options
        • Cadre Real Estate Investing Review: Commercial Real Estate Investing
        • Axos Self Directed Trading Review: Invest, Trade Stocks For Free
      • Categories

        • Bank & Software Reviews
        • Investing
        • Credit
        • Banking
        • Mortgage
        • Insurance
        • Family Budget
    • Close
  • Recommended
  • Video
    • Close

Are You On Track For Retirement? Betterment RetireGuide™ Will Help You Figure It Out

By Peter Anderson Leave a Comment - The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited November 18, 2021.

Share17
Pin100
Tweet24
Share2
143 Shares

Betterment was launched on May 25th, 2010 on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York City. Eventually, they became a “Battlefield Finalist” and were named as “NYC’s Best Startup” at that conference, but it was only the beginning.

In the intervening 1829 days, they’ve become the premier automated investing service.

They were the first to reach 50,000, and then 75,000 customers. They are now closing in on over 260,000 happy customers and $9 Billion in assets under management! They’ve continually improved their product offerings and during their 5 years, they’ve dropped the costs for using the service substantially.

This week I received an email from Betterment thanking me for being a customer for 1512 of their 1829 days. In other words, I’ve been a customer for just over 4 of their 5 years.

Betterment logo

Why did I sign up for Betterment 1500+ days ago? I saw the potential that the site had for the average investor, for people who know they need to be in the markets but don’t want to spend a lot of time and resources to do it. By investing with Betterment you’re able to invest in a highly diversified portfolio of ETF index funds that should give you proven long-term returns, while at the same time having your account regularly rebalanced and having dividends reinvested to ensure your account runs as efficiently as possible.

When they first launched Betterment’s pricing was decent, but not great – with investors having to pay anywhere from .3%-.9%. in annual fees for the service.  Just over 3 years ago the fees for the service were slashed across the board, all the way down to .15%-.35% in annual fees – a much more cost-effective number.  In investing one of the keys is to keep your costs low, right?

After the annual fees were slashed I jumped in and started investing more with the service, maxing out my Roth IRA in 2012, and continually adding it to where I have over $10,000 invested with Betterment currently.

With all that said, I think it goes without saying that I am a Betterment believer.

Release Of The New Betterment RetireGuide™ Advice Engine

A couple of weeks ago Betterment released a new tool for investors to give them recommendations for their retirement accounts, called RetireGuide™. It will take you through planning scenarios to see what you might expect in any number of situations. You can look at scenarios where Social Security exists – is reduced or not available at all. It will show you what kind of income you can draw down in retirement depending on how much you contribute, and considering certain growth and inflation rates. Finally, it will give recommendations for how to proceed and allow you put those suggestions into action through your Betterment account if you so choose.

Getting Started With RetireGuide™

To get started with RetireGuide™ just log in to your Betterment account, and click on the “Advice” tab in your account. Once you arrive on the page you’ll see a blue box at the top that says “RetireGuide”. Click on the “See Plan” button to begin.

betterment-retire-guide

Once you click the button the RetireGuide™ will take you through a question and answer process to get some of your basic details down.

It will ask for marriage status, and if you’re married, for your spouse’s name and age.

retire-guide-question

Next, it will ask for:

  • Your income.
  • Your spouse’s income.
  • Your retirement age.
  • Your spouse’s retirement age.
  • How much you already have saved (in Betterment and elsewhere).
  • How much you contribute to your retirement accounts annually already.
  • How much you plan to spend in retirement. You can enter your own number or it will give you a suggestion if you want. The recommendation is based on spending 75% of pre-retirement income, assuming average costs of someone in your zip code.  It will then show you much that amount will be after inflation in the year of your retirement.
retire-guide-question-saved

Retirement Projection

After you have entered all of your information RetireGuide™ will give you a full summary based on what you’ve entered.

First, it will show you a projection of how much you’ll have to spend in retirement, based on your current saving trends, amounts already saved and Social Security. It will give you a recommended and updated saving amount in order to reach your preferred annual spending amount in your retirement versus what you currently save.

For example, here’s a scenario I entered in my account based on some made-up numbers:

retire-guide-projection

Since the account believes I’m only putting in $1320/year into retirement savings (the amount I’m currently doing only with Betterment), it shows me as being pretty far off track for reaching my retirement goal.  By updating the projection to include outside retirement plan contributions and amounts saved it’ll give me a more accurate number.

Once you are shown the projection and how much you’ll need to save every year in order to reach your retirement goal, it will give you an idea of how you could save to reach that number.

How To Save

retire-guide-savings

The “How To Save” tab will give you a rundown of Betterment’s recommendation for how to save for your retirement.

On my account, it recommended that we save $12,370/year. To do that it said we should save the maximum allowed amount in a Roth IRA for my wife and I ($5500 each – $11,000 total).

Then it recommended saving the additional amount, $1,370/year, in a taxable investment account.

Take Action

In the last step of the RetireGuide™ it suggests taking action right away and setting up your existing accounts to fully fund the needed amount for retirement.

In my case, it gave me a button that I could click in order to change my funding and automatic contribution amounts for my Roth IRA and taxable Betterment accounts. It also instructed me to work on fully funding my wife’s Roth IRA.

RetireGuide™ Can Be Eye Opening

One thing that Betterment does well is making investing simple and efficient. With their new RetireGuide™ tool they’ve made it simple and efficient to see just how much you’re going to need to save for retirement.

While their goal is obviously to get you to invest more through their accounts (the more you invest, the more they collect via their annual fees, right?), the tool is helpful regardless of where you decide to invest. The whole process can be eye-opening.  You might have thought you were saving enough, but invariably you’ll likely need to save more.  The tool makes it easy to find out just where you are, and where you need to be in order to reach your goals.

So the question is this, are you on track or off track for retirement? Have you given the RetireGuide™ tool a test drive?  If you don’t have an account, you can sign up for one through the link below – and then give it a test drive!

Sign Up For Betterment & Test Drive RetireGuide™

  • Full Betterment Review

Related Posts

  • Online Retirement Calculators: More Harm Than Help?

    People often ask me to point them to a decent online retirement planning calculator. I never do. You see, I don't trust such calculators. It's…

  • betterment review
    Betterment.com Gets A New More Streamlined Look

    Earlier this year I happened upon a new online brokerage called Betterment.com that was advertised as an easier way to invest for people who are…

  • Betterment's New SmartDeposit Feature Can Make Saving Automatic

    Betterment's new SmartDeposit automated saving functionality can be a great way to increase your savings. How? By making investing automatic.

Share17
Pin100
Tweet24
Share2
143 Shares
Last Edited: 18th November 2021 The content of biblemoneymatters.com is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Visitors to biblemoneymatters.com should not act upon the content or information without first seeking appropriate professional advice. In accordance with the latest FTC guidelines, we declare that we have a financial relationship with every company mentioned on this site.

This article is about: Investing, Retirement

About Peter Anderson

Peter Anderson is a Christian, husband to his beautiful wife Maria, and father to his 2 children. He loves reading and writing about personal finance, and also enjoys a good board game every now and again. You can find out more about him on the about page. Don't forget to say hi on Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook!

Share Your Thoughts: Cancel reply

Previous Post: Sharing The Full Faith Story Of Louis Zamperini
Next Post: Does Facebook Change The Way You Give And How You Feel About Giving?
Discover Investment Platforms

Popular Posts

  • 21 Easy Ways To Earn Free Amazon Gift Cards
  • 10 Best Free Tax Filing Services And Software Online
  • 21 Apps That Pay You Real Money Fast
  • 17 TV Apps And Live TV Streaming Services To Watch TV Free
  • 30 Legit Online Jobs That Pay Well
  • 37 Easy Ways To Get Free Gift Cards
  • How To Get Free Stock
  • 40 Easy Ways To Get Free Money Fast
  • 21 Places To Read Free Books Online
  • 24 Legit Online Jobs
  • 17 Best Work From Home Jobs: A List Of Legit Online Jobs That Pay Well

Recent Posts

  • How To Save $100k In 7 Practical Steps
  • How to Save Money When Remodeling A Home
  • How To Hire A Contractor For Your Remodeling Project
  • Remembering 9/11 Years Later: Where Were You On That Fateful Day?
  • TradeStation Review: Commission Free Stock And ETF Trades
  • Firstrade Review: Commission Free Trades on Stocks, Crypto, And Options
  • Cadre Real Estate Investing Review: Commercial Real Estate Investing
  • Best Sites Like Fiverr To Make Money As A Freelancer
  • Axos Self Directed Trading Review: Invest, Trade Stocks For Free
  • 30 Quotes About Easter And Resurrection: He Is Risen!

Disclaimer

The information contained in BibleMoneyMatters.com is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice. Please contact an independent financial professional for advice regarding your specific situation.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we have a financial relationship with some of the companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.

Any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. We do our best to maintain current information, but due to the rapidly changing environment, some information may have changed since it was published. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers.

Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

We respect your privacy: Privacy Policy.

Thanks for visiting!

Bible Money Matters - Seen On These Sites and more..
Bible Money Matters is a personal finance, entrepreneurship and investing community. Give more, save more and live more.

Copyright © 2023 · Bible Money Matters | Sitemap | Advertise | Privacy Policy