One of the most over looked tools everyone can use is the availability and many variations of financial calculators  – For free.

Whatever your needs are.  Whatever level of sophistication you think you are.  There are online calculators for you.

Everyone should be thinking about basic financial issues such as budgeting, saving money, investing money, managing debt and credit and many other basic needs.

Here is an example of a simple savings plan that tells you how much you need to save to reach a specific goal at a specific age.  In this case, we outlined a plan for a 35 year old person to reach $1 Million by the time they were 65 years old.  The starting point was current savings of $75,000.

millionaire calculator

All these calculators available walk you right through what to input based on your desired outcome.

Here’s one that’s a little more complex, but so simple at the same time.  How many times have people called their accountant to ask how much tax benefit there would be if they gave money to their favorite charity.  How about getting an idea for yourself without getting a bill from your accountant.  It looks just like this:

charitable giving calculator

One of the best resources I’ve found is dinkytown which is a website that has over 100 calculators.  The main topics include mortgages, savings, investments, taxes, retirement, auto, credit cards, insurance and many more.

Everyone should take the time to look through and find the calculators that are important to you and begin to plan your financial future properly.