KissMeGoodnight
Beauty Guide: Anti-Aging
Secrets To Looking Young,
Feeling Young and Being Young
(
17 page online guide )
Retirement
The absolute worst
problem people face regarding retirement is waiting too long
to plan for it. Waiting until you are 60 will have horrendous
repercussions on the quality of life for your remaining years.
It’s almost like
the ostrich effect. If you place your head in the sand you
believe the problem will go away. Well, we’ve got news for
you. . .it won’t. And the longer you wait before facing the
problem the tougher it’s going to get.
If you have already
planned for your retirement you needn’t read these last few
pages. However, if you are one of millions of Americans who
have suddenly awakened to the fact that time is slipping
away and your retirement is right around the corner. . .take
heed because we are going to cover a few last minute strategies
to help you prepare.
We can’t give
you a quick fix for years and years of neglect, but we can
explore some things you can do now that will help under funded
50 odd year olds prepare for a somewhat comfortable retirement.
First thing is
to examine the numbers to find out just how large a shortfall
you will experience. Here are two free online calculators
you can use to accomplish this:
American Savings
Education Council’s Ballpark Estimate
http://www.asec.org/ballpark/index.htm
Smart Money’s
Retirement Worksheet
http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/index.cfm
Either keep or
begin saving. If you don’t already know, find out what the
maximum amount you are allowed to contribute to your company
sponsored retirement plan, then increase your contribution.
This is especially beneficial if your employer matches your
contributions.
The maximum 401(k),
403(b) or 457 plan contribution allowed in 2002 was only
$11,000 with allowable increases in 2005 of $14,000 and $15,000
in 2006.
If you are age
50 or older you can contribute an additional amount of $4,000
in 2005 and $5,000 in 2006.
If you are self-employed
you can contribute as much as $40,000 a year to a qualified
retirement plan account and since the contribution is tax-deductible,
the government actually subsidizes about one-third or more
dependent upon your tax bracket.
Cut down large
expenditures. Clothing, restaurant meals, fancy vacations
and other non-essentials can easily save some people as much
as $1,000 a month. If that $1,000 is invested at 8% per year
at the end of 10 years it will have reached a nice nest egg
of $185,000.
That still won’t
be enough for a “comfortable” retirement.
If you have children
in college have them begin to shoulder some of the expense.
If they have not yet begun college, have them attend a local
school and live at home for two years. After than they can
transfer to a private university and take out student loans
to pay for it. This alone can save you over $100,000 per
child over four years.
Downsize your
family home. Chances are, if you have lived in your home
for more than five years or so, you have substantial equity.
Selling that home and moving to something smaller will release
that equity that could be used to help finance your retirement.
Using the same figure of 8%, if you realize $150,000 in equity
invested over ten years you’ll end up with $333,000.
Whatever you do,
create a diversified portfolio and don’t chase rainbows!
The time for conservative investment is now. An allocation
for someone who is close to retirement is 70% stocks for
future growth and 30% bonds for current stability. Divide
the stock portion between large, mid and small cap funds.
It’s not too late
to start!
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