by Active Retirements Team on January 25, 2009
When is the right time to retire? Should you relocate, and if so, where? How can you make sure your money will last as long as you do? What kind of lifestyle will best suit your retirement years? Two million Americans reach retirement age each year, and they urgently need reliable information and guidance as they plan for the second half of their lives.
Drawing on the expertise of the authors-who conduct retirement seminars and have traveled extensively investigating places to retire and talking to prospective retirees and those who have taken the plunge-as well as the insights of contributing experts in various fields, Retire Right is designed to be a comprehensive, all-inclusive resource.
- Provides detailed information about particular locales, financial planning and tax considerations, lifelong learning opportunities, leisure and volunteer activities, and working after retirement
- Includes interactive surveys, questionnaires, and worksheets to involve readers in the rewarding process of planning their ideal retirement
- Delves into the psychological issues surrounding retirement
Filled with practical information and advice, anecdotes, resources, and a healthy dose of humor, Retire Right is the one and only guide retirees will ever need.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 24, 2009
by Active Retirements Team on January 24, 2009
There is a major social and cultural message in the current economic collapse for the future retirees of America: Forget retirement.
That’s right. The recession is making clear what we’ve suspected for a long time. The concept of not working and embracing leisure for the last third of one’s life isn’t practical for most people.
Put it this way: Survey after survey has shown that a majority of aging baby boomers plan on working in retirement. Well, that plan is coming true.
Financial safety net
Economic downturns often accelerate change. For instance, in the latter part of the 19th century, the country moved from a rural, farm economy to an urban, industrial one. The wealthy associated old age with leisure, but for everyone else it usually meant involuntary unemployment and a humiliating dependence upon family, charity or community organizations for shelter and food. Policy reformers agitated for some kind of a financial safety net for the nation’s impoverished and isolated elderly.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 24, 2009
1. Save as much as you can as early as you can.
Though it’s never too late to start, the sooner you begin saving, the more time your money has to grow. Gains each year build on the prior year’s – that’s the power of compounding, and the best way to accumulate wealth.
2. Set realistic goals.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 23, 2009
Many of the old rules for retirement investing no longer apply. Facing longer life spans, increasing healthcare costs, and a market in crisis, retirees will need more growth in their portfolios during the coming years and decades. At the same time, they need the assurance that a 37 percent market drop–as we saw in 2008–won’t completely devastate their remaining nest egg.
A growing number of financial planners are rethinking the conventional wisdom. (Remember the old adage that you should subtract your age from 100, and devote that percentage of your portfolio to stocks?) Here are five new rules to consider:
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by Active Retirements Team on January 23, 2009
Don’t miss many new rules for individual retirement accounts
Save the market’s decline, 2008 might seem like any other year for individual retirement accounts. But that’s not so.
There were many new laws, court decisions, IRS notices and other rule changes affecting the retirement plan of choice for millions of Americans, according to Ed Slott, the nation’s preeminent IRA expert.
Here’s a snapshot of the top IRA changes in 2008.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 21, 2009
There are three fundamental retirement planning questions, that are universal to everyone, no matter their age, income, or wealth. More than investments, asset allocation, or tax strategy, people want to know the answer to the following three questions:
- When can I retire?
- How much savings do I need for retirement?
- How much can I spend in retirement?
The most important of the three questions, from a retirement planning perspective, is the last one – How much can I spend in retirement?
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by Active Retirements Team on January 21, 2009
A retirement calculator is one of the most useful things you can use when planning your retirement savings. You see most people plan for retirement without any idea of how much they need to save, or how much they want in retirement. A retirement calculator provides the answers.
A retirement calculator shows you how much to need to save to get the income you need when you retire. Or it may be how much you want! That depends how much you are making, and how young you are. Either way do use a retirement calculator.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 21, 2009
Investing for retirement is not something everyone does ahead of time. Many people do not get started because they feel that their retirement is several decades away and they can get to it in good time. Almost everyone under estimates the resources, mainly cash, that are required to retire with a certain quality of life. With better health management and medical technology, many people are beginning to live beyond the previous general estimates for human life spans. The result is that many people run the risk of running out of money before their time is up.
Since few people are motivated in investing for retirement early enough, it has become a serious issue for governments in many developed countries. In some of these countries their welfare systems are straining from the demands put on them by the growing numbers of elderly living beyond the estimates of previous human longevity models. In these countries governments have warned their citizens that their social security systems may not have enough funds to go around.
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by Active Retirements Team on January 21, 2009
Are you one of the lucky few whose employer provides a retirement plan? If yes, go ahead and embrace it wholeheartedly. Workplace retirement plans are one of the most effective means to save for the future. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, low-to-moderate income workers are 20 times more likely to save when covered by an employer-based retirement plan. Not only do you save, but you also benefit from the tax advantages.
There are two basic types of employer-based retirement plans – Defined benefit (DB) plans and Defined Contribution (DC) plans.
Defined Benefit (DB) plan
A Defined Benefit pension plan comes with an employer guarantee that you will receive a specific amount of money at retirement. The pension amount is related to the number of years you have worked at the organization and your highest earnings on the job. This amount is handed over at retirement in the form of a lump sum or monthly checks as long as you live. The Federal Government protects your DB pension benefits. Even if your employer goes bankrupt, you receive your benefits.
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