Can You Afford to Retire?
Although you may have looked forward to your retirement for years, the price of living keeps on going up and the value of your investments seem to be going down. Or there may be things that you really need to purchase, or a trip that you are saving up for. So can you really afford to retire? Perhaps you need to visit your accountant before you decide.
You could also search online and use one of the retirement calculators you will find there. They are quite simple to use, but you will need to put in the correct figures. You may have been offered a lump sum redundancy or retirement package deal that looks sweet, but the trouble with them is that you have all this money at once and it’s very tempting to spend up big in the first few years of your retirement.
Instead, you should be investing it in an effort to make more. Retirement years may well last for quite a long time. At least we hope so. But you need money to live on so don’t spend it all. If you do take a lump sum, be sure to roll it over to avoid a big tax bill. It’s bad enough using your hard-earned money to pay bills, let alone giving it to the taxman when you don’t have to.
Some money professionals believe people need to save 12% of their wage from about their mid-thirties on, to fund their retirement adequately. If you start even younger, then you will have the advantage of compounding to aid you in later years.
About 30% of Americans choose not to have a retirement plan, even though they could have one to which their employers contribute. This type of plan is called a 401k plan. The advantages of it are that you can take it with you from job to job and you are able to invest the money as you choose. A 401k plan also saves your tax bill, since the money goes in before being taxed.
Not such a good idea is that the employee decides how much to save and where to invest it. So if you decide to save only a tiny amount or make a bad investment, you’ll lose out. It is wise to look carefully into saving for your retirement. There is much good advice available on the Internet and there are professionals who can help. Just make sure they don’t take too big a slice as their reward.
If you can’t afford to retire, there are several options. You could do part-time work. This could be in the area of your present work, or it could be something completely different. You may have an absorbing hobby that you could make extra cash from. But remember that you won’t always be able to work, so saving is the name of the game.
“I hope you enjoyed today’s featured article, and thanks for reading!
Before you go, would you be interested in learning more tips and ideas
for your retirment planning? If so, go to
http://retirementplanning.howto-you.com
and check out my book “How to Plan an Enjoyable Retirement.” It contains
many good ideas and suggestions for you.
Thanks again for reading and have a great day!”
