Category: Planning
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
As too many people have learned in recent years, a faltering economy can wreak havoc on your retirement plan. But starting early and investing wisely provides assurance that while you may not end up with as large a nest egg as you had hoped, you will have enough money to sustain you when you retire. More often than not, retirement plans are derailed by our own mistakes rather than economic disaster.
You don’t have to be an investment guru to ensure a comfortable retirement. Some basic financial knowledge and a little common sense go a long way toward keeping your...
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Tags: retirement advice, retirement mistakes, retirement planning
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Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
The face of retirement is changing. People are working longer. The future of social security is being questioned. And the present economy may be adversely impacting your investments and savings. According to the United States Department of Labor; Less than half of Americans have calculated how much they need to save for retirement. In 2009, 13 percent of private industry workers with access to a defined contribution plan (such as a 401(k) plan) did not participate. The average American spends 20 years in retirement.
These are shocking statistics to be sure. Whether you’re facing impending retirement or you have decades...
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Tags: retirement advice, retirement planning, saving money
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Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
Retirement is a relatively new concept. It was all but unheard of prior to the 20th century, and it didn’t become common in the United States until the advent of Social Security in 1935. Since then, retirement has changed and evolved in a number of ways.
Up until a few years ago, most workers expected to retire by age 65 and enjoy a life of leisure. But the economic turmoil of recent years has led to numerous changes in retirement trends.
Here is some retirement advice to consider about the changing trends of planning your retirement.
People are waiting longer to...Read More »
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Tags: retirement advice, retirement planning, social security
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
Retiring is something that most of us plan to do someday. But relatively few of us understand what we need to do to retire comfortably. Lots of workers who are approaching retirement age have only a fraction of the money they’ll need to get through the years after they stop working.
Too many people learn the things they need to know about retirement too late. This can result in running out of money when you need it the most, and possibly the loss of non-monetary assets.
Here is some retirement advice on five myths about retirement and why they aren’t...
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Tags: retirement advice, retirement planning, social security
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Wednesday, August 24th, 2011
One of the most important features of an IRA or 401(k) is its tax benefits. With an IRA, investment gains are not taxed until they are withdrawn. The same is true for a 401(k), and contributions also come from pre-tax dollars.
Once you retire, it’s smart to keep as much of your money in your retirement account as possible while still having enough to live on. But even if you’re working part-time and have sufficient income from other sources, you won’t be able to avoid taxes forever. The IRS eventually wants you to withdraw some funds and pay taxes on...
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Tags: required minimum distributions, retirement advice, RMD
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Monday, June 27th, 2011
As any financial advisor will tell you, it’s important to have some savings set aside just for emergencies. But what if an emergency happens before you’re able to get adequate savings together? Or what if you have an emergency fund, but your emergency turns out to be bigger than your fund is?
If you have a retirement fund, you can withdraw money from it. But this should only be done in the event of a true emergency, because it depletes your retirement savings and may expose you to tax penalties. Still, it’s good to know that those funds are available...
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Tags: emergency fund, retirement advice, retirement planning
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Monday, June 13th, 2011
In the movies, retirement is a carefree time, filled with vacations and leisure activities. In real life, it’s not always that simple. Financial problems are quite common among retirees, because they usually have substantially less income to work with. For those who retire in debt, making ends meet can be very difficult.
Retiring debt-free can make your retirement years less stressful and more enjoyable. It will leave you with more disposable income, allowing you to do more of the things you looked forward to doing when you no longer had to work.
If you like the idea of eliminating your...
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Tags: pay off debt, retire debt, retirement advice, retirement planning
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Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Once upon a time, workers who spent many years employed by one company could count on a nice pension once they retired. The longer they stayed at their jobs, the bigger their pension check would be. But these days, pension plans that guarantee a set amount per month upon retirement (known as defined benefit plans) are becoming quite rare, and the more common benefit is now the 401(k) plan. And many of the pension plans that still exist are on shaky ground.
Pension plans can go south in a couple of ways. Many companies have frozen their pension plans, which...
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Tags: pension, pension plan, retirement advice, retirement planning
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Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
We all know the importance of starting to save for retirement while we’re young. In a perfect world, everyone would start a retirement savings account the day they started their first job. But it’s not a perfect world, and many workers are in their 40s or 50s before the reality of retirement sinks in.
If you haven’t started saving for retirement by the time you’re 40, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. And if you haven’t started by 50, you’ll need to catch up even more. But if you make a commitment to save up enough to...
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Monday, May 9th, 2011
Retirement is supposed to be something to look forward to. Yet some baby boomers that are approaching retirement age are doing so with a sense of uncertainty. Do they have enough saved up to make it through their retirement years? How will they keep themselves occupied? What happens if they need long term care?
Even if you’re excited about retiring, it’s crucial that you plan for it properly. Failure to do so could leave you scrambling to make ends meet at a time when going back to work is not an option.
Here is some advice and tips that will...
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Tags: baby boomer, baby boomer retirement, retirement advice, retirement planning
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Thursday, April 14th, 2011
The average retiree doesn’t have nearly enough money in his retirement fund to make it all the way through retirement. Even above-average retirees often have trouble making ends meet at some point. So unless you’re independently wealthy with no worries except for who to leave your money to when you’re gone, you’ll probably want to stretch your retirement dollars as far as possible.
Most retirees have already paid off their mortgages, which substantially lowers their monthly expenses. But estimates of how much money you’ll need to retire on usually account for that, so don’t count on it to make too...
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Tags: retirement advice, retirement planning, retirement savings
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