How much can you save for retirement without investing in stocks?

What would happen if you didn’t put any of your retirement investment money in stocks, and instead stuck with more conservative investments? How might that influence your financial outcome at retirement?

We put that question to investment firm T Rowe Price as we were putting together research for an interview this weekend on Marketplace Money with Mark Miller, the author of the Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security. This is what T Rowe Price came back to us with:

This simulation for young investors makes several assumptions. It assumes you’re about 30 years old. You earn an annual salary of $40,000. You have a savings rate of 15 percent. You’re starting from scratch with your retirement saving. And you plan to retire at age 65 and live another 30 years (keep doing that yoga).

Financial Calculators

Here are a series of online tools and calculators to figure out asset allocation and risk tolerance.

• Asset allocation calculator

• Investment return financial calculator

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Beginners’ Guide to Asset Allocation, Diversification, and Rebalancing

• Asset Allocation calculator from Money-Zine.com

• American Funds: Retirement Planning Center (they developed four models of retirement, based on age and asset allocation to see what would happen).