Posts Tagged ‘retirement’

When Can I Retire?

Posted March 10, 2011 by Bernz

Retirement, and more importantly having enough income to retire comfortably, is an issue that looms large on the minds of many employees.  A good place to start in trying to navigate the changing waters of retirement is to determine how much income you will need in order to retire the way you want.  Once you have a pretty good idea of  what that amount is, you need to consider the income that will be coming in in the form of pensions, Social Security, and other sources.  Once you have all those numbers you can compare and see if your current financial status will allow you to have the kind of retirement you desire.  There are a variety of retirement calculators available online that can help you to get a general picture of your retirement.  What if you note that there are areas for improvement, what should you do then?

One option that most people do not like to hear, but that may be necessary, is delaying the age when you retire.  Traditionally the average employee retires around 65, but in many industries and with the current financial climate, this may not be a viable option.  Not only does retiring later reduce the number of withdrawals you will have to make, it also increases the amount you can afford to take out yearly to cover your expenses.

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Posted in Financial Goals, Retirement Planning, Saving Money | No Comments »

Do I Still Need a 401k?

Posted February 13, 2011 by Bernz

After hearing about the severe financial hit many people have taken with the recent financial turn, and with stories of people losing all their investment in their 401k many people wonder if a 401k is still a sound financial instrument.  From the start let’s point out what a 401k is, an investment strategy designed to help you supplement your income during retirement.  A 401k is not guaranteed, just as stocks are not guaranteed, but this in and of itself does not mean that a 401k is really a risky place to invest your money.

The presumed tax benefits of a 401k are one of the major reasons why people continue to invest at least part of their money in a qualified retirement account.  The amount that you divert into the 401k is not taxed, and over the course of the 30 years or so that a 401k is designed to hold your money you can accrue a relatively large savings on your income tax.

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Posted in 401k, Investing Strategies, Retirement Planning | No Comments »

Retirement: Do You Plan on Working After Age 65?

Posted March 23, 2009 by Bernz

A generation ago, it was taken for granted that people would work hard at their jobs until their 65th birthday, then retire to a life of leisure. Most companies provided their long-term employees with retirement plans that made their post-work years comfortable. retirement

Today, however, workers are navigating a whole new employment landscape. Jobs are more transient than they once were. Workers are changing jobs and employers more often. Retirement packages are not a given any more and employees are lucky to find one that provides fully for the retired life. (more…)

Posted in 401k, Career, Estate Planning, Financial Goals, IRA, Retirement Planning, Roth IRA, Saving Money, Simple IRA, Traditional IRA | 1 Comment »

Cleaning Up Your 401(k)

Posted February 25, 2009 by Bernz

If you are like most employees who have a company-sponsored 401(k) plan, you filled out all the paperwork when you first signed up, chose your investment funds from the list provided, and proceeded to forget it from then on. In the last 12 months, it is likely that every time you take a peek at your plan, it has gone down in value yet again. Best to just not look at it and hope for a miracle, right? Wrong!

401kkWhile there is not much that you can do about the global recession or the sorry state of the stock market, you can take charge of your retirement funds, especially your 401(k). Every 401(k) has an option to buy and sell the underlying investment funds every so often. You may be able to make changes to your plan every three months or even every day. Find out when you will be able to change out your investments and then take some time to know what’s going on with your existing choices.

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Posted in 401k, Index Funds, IRA, Retirement Planning, Roth IRA, Simple IRA, Traditional IRA | No Comments »

A Penny Saved is Worth More Than a Penny Earned

Posted February 9, 2009 by Bernz

When I was young, my grandmother’s favorite saying was, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” At that age, money was an odd, far-away concept for me so I really didn’t understand what that meant until I was older. The old aphorism simply means that money we save is less money that we have to go out and make. It seems like a very simple truth, but, in fact, a penny saved is worth far more than a penny earned.

Consider this example. You make $10 per hour at your job. You have two choices: you can work an extra hour to make an extra $10 or you can save $10 on your grocery bill by cutting coupons for an hour. Each choice takes an hour of your time so, at first glance, they appear to be equal choices. But they are certainly not.

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Posted in Frugality, Misc, Saving Money | 1 Comment »


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