You have to guess what investment return you might get so that you don’t run out of money.

You have to hope and pray that Congress doesn’t mess with Social Security to shore up a coming shortfall.

In this newsletter, week after week, I hope to help you get answers to your retirement questions.

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Robert Fishbein, vice president and corporate counsel for Prudential Financial, joined me last week on my regular online chat to answer reader questions about retirement. Here are some we didn’t get to during the chat:

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I’m 52 and need advice on mortgage payoff vs. Roth savings

Q: I don’t have enough saved. I want to start guerrilla savings tactics for the next 13 years. I have only saved the minimum to get the match so I have only about $150,000 in tax-free accounts. I make $113,000 a year and the balance on my mortgage is about $200,000. Should I pay off my mortgage? I never considered that I’d be living there post-retirement and its location may make it hard to sell. I’m leaning toward the Roth account but want to know pros/cons of both?

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Fishbein: First, whether you should pay down your mortgage. This is really a question of personal comfort, but the goal should be to have your mortgage paid off by retirement.

You may or may not be living there, but odds are even if you move you will end up with a house that is as expensive as the one you have now. Frequently I hear that the retirement plan is to downsize and use the savings to support retirement, but the reality is that when the time comes the move usually does not result in any real savings. Therefore, keep in mind the goal of paying down your mortgage by retirement.

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Second, on whether you should fund a Roth (which sounds like it is in an employer plan since you mention a match) or pay down your mortgage. Here you need to balance your goal to have your mortgage paid off by retirement with your desire to save as much as possible. The more conservative path would be to prioritize your mortgage pre-payment over savings beyond the employer match, but this is a personal risk tolerance decision.

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Finally, if your question has to do with whether to fund a Roth or non-Roth employer plan, this really depends your current and future tax rates as well as your expected mix of taxable, tax deferred and tax free assets in retirement. I expect you will have taxable assets such as Social Security or a pension, and you may have tax deferred assets such as a traditional IRA or 401(k), so having some tax free assets like a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) can diversify the tax position of your retirement portfolio and allow you to minimize your tax liability in retirement.

Roth vs. something else

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Q: I contribute the maximum to my 401(k), and am debt free other than mortgage payment. My wife is grad student, and is about to pay off her student loans in the next two to three months. With no car payments, and a decent three-month emergency fund, I was wondering if I should think about opening an IRA to stash away money. However, if and when my wife gets a job in a year or two, it won’t take much for me to hit the maximum limits. I’m wondering in that case whether I should open a Roth IRA or traditional IRA or something else that will give me some flexibility of using that money in the future (kids college fund or unforeseen circumstance?).

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Fishbein: Your question about funding an IRA suggests you might share a common misunderstanding about the IRA income limits. Those only serve to limit whether you can make a pre-tax contribution, not whether you can make the contribution. If your income is too high you will simply have made an after-tax contribution. But please understand that everyone with income can make an annual IRA contribution regardless of income level.

As for whether a Roth or traditional IRA is best, this really depends on other factors such as your current and future tax rate and other considerations. But, as a general rule funding a Roth IRA provides some advantages such as (1) no required distributions at age 70 ½, (2) a more tax diversified retirement portfolio to allow you better manage your tax liabilities in retirement, (3) a hedge against future tax rate increases, and (4) better treatment in terms of not triggering the 3.8 percent investment tax surcharge or Medicare Part B premium surcharges.

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The question is whether to save for college or fund an IRA or Roth IRA is complicated, but here are some considerations.

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A 529 plan is a single purposes vehicle and must be used for qualified education costs and it is possible you won’t need such funds for college (scholarship or a child who chooses not to attend).

Funding your 401(k) and IRA are annual tax favored savings opportunities that if not used are lost forever. Also, you can frequently borrow from a 401(k) or withdraw penalty free from an IRA to pay for college costs (your IRA withdrawal will be subject to income tax). Some of this really comes down to personal preference, and some individuals simply feel better knowing they have the college money set aside while others want to maximize retirement savings and figure out other ways to pay for college.

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The critical action step is your savings behavior and both paths allow you to build your asset base for the future! Good luck.

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401(k) investments

Q: I have my investments in bonds, but I want to get back into the market. But with it at an all-time high, if I get in now, does that mean I will lose money when it trends back to normal?

Fishbein: Financial advisers frequently recommend making regular contributions or investments so you do not have to time the market. Market timing is risky business, but regular or periodic purchases allow you to buy in when markets are “low” and “high” and reduce the risk of only buying in at market peaks.

My recommendation would be to determine how much equity risk you can and want to have given your age and retirement plans (as we get closer to retirement the classic investment advice is less equity risk) and then think about a plan to get there over time. I would suggest you work with a financial adviser to help you plan into this, move towards your ultimate goal, and then periodically rebalance your portfolio as you age.

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Behind on retirement saving

Q: I am a little behind with retirement saving with a lot of school and years of training after graduate school before getting a good paying job. When I do my calculations for retirement what income should I consider? Should it be my modest residency income or my significantly higher post-training income? And, should I consider Social Security, or leave that out and treat it like a bonus?

Fishbein: The income you choose to plan to replace in retirement is up to you. Most folks like to live more akin to their higher or highest income level if at all possible. I would include Social Security and any defined benefit plan payment as the foundation of monthly income that you can count on. Then you need to think about your other savings and how much income that can generate. It is critical, though, to translate your accumulated assets into what monthly or annual income you can count on, and then even to think about whether your assets are pre-tax or post-tax and how much you will have in after-tax income to live on. After all, we live on after-tax amounts and we can misunderstand our retirement assets if we don’t take out what we will pay in tax to Uncle Sam (and the state where we live).

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If you are younger and translating assets into monthly or annual income a challenge, then focus on the savings side and try to save at least 10 percent of your gross income and increase that amount over time. Depending on your asset accumulation/retirement income goals, you may need to save more like 15 percent or even 20 percent of your gross income, but make sure you are saving some amount regularly and then try to increase that amount each year. For example, if you get a 3 percent raise you can allocate 1 percent to new retirement savings, 1 percent to increasing your current lifestyle, and 1 percent to taxes.

Of course, I am giving you generally applicable thoughts and you should probably consult a financial adviser to consider your unique situation. But I hope the above considerations give you some food for thought.

Live chat this week

Join me on Thursday, March 9, at noon (ET) for a live discussion about your money.

To participate in the discussion click this link.

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Retirement rants & raves

This is your chance to rant and rave (or both) about any retirement issue. Send your comments to colorofmony@washpost.com. Please include your name, city and state. In the subject line put “Retirement rants & raves.”

Vincent Bradbury of Middletown, N.Y., wanted to rant about President Trump’s decision to revisit the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

Read this if you don’t know what the rule is (and you really should if you are saving for retirement): Labor Department proposes 60-day delay of retirement savings rule

“We are less than 10 years since the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression and which was largely caused by lack of critical oversight on the financial system and their irresponsibility,” Bradbury wrote. “How is lifting or suspending regulations going to insure the integrity and stability of our financial system? You don’t make progress by going backward. We’ve been there and done that and are still rebounding from the consequences. The reforms were instituted for a reason. Leave them in place.”

Tom Uttormark of Roman Forest, Tex., wanted to rant about the same issue, writing, “I was really disappointed (but not surprised) at President Trump’s decision to stomp on the fiduciary rule. He cares about money, not about people. He’s effectively saying, ‘I thinks it’s fine for brokers and financial planners to rip off the retirement accounts of their clients. If the broker can make a bigger commission with a ‘suitable’ investment, she’s entitled to it. It doesn’t matter that the client is the one paying the commission. It’s not necessary to put the needs of the client ahead of those of the broker. Caveat emptor!’ For shame, Donald.”

Newsletter comments policy

Please note it is my personal policy to identify readers who respond to questions I ask in my newsletters. I find it encourages thoughtful and civil conversation. I want my newsletters to be a safe place to express your opinion. On sensitive matters or upon request, I’m happy to include your first name and last initial. But I prefer not to post anonymous comments (I do make exceptions when I’m asking questions that might reveal sensitive information that may cause discourse in a family or marriage).