A financial calculator, such as the HP 10bII I have sitting on my desk, can do the calculation, and there are several easy - to - use
online bond calculators as well.
If your Social Security payments are large enough to cover all or nearly all of your essential retirement expenses — which you can estimate by going to one of the
online budget
calculators listed in RealDealRetirement.com's Retirement Toolbox — then you may be able to get by quite nicely on Social Security plus periodic withdrawals from your diversified portfolio of stocks,
bonds and mutual funds to cover any excess expenses as well as emergencies and occasional splurges.