Organizing Your Retirement Plans
by: Janet L. Hall
No matter what your age or years of work, it's almost never
too late to start planning for your retirement. As a matter of
fact, the younger you are, the less chance you will have of
becoming destitute, or a * bag * person. I'm not trying to be
funny, it can happen to you if you don't watch what you are
doing and PLAN for the future.
Ponder for a minute on the questions below:
~~ What kind of life do you want in your * golden years *?
~~ How will you use your retirement time, meaning, what activities, interests, or travel might you want to pursue?
~~ Will you need or want to change your housing and lifestyle completely or do you hope you can * stay where you
are, doing the same things you've always done *? |
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~~ If you are planning on living in a different area, what are
the standards of living in that area OR what are the chances
of the standard of living increasing or decreasing where you
are currently living?
~~ How might your health affect your retirement?
~~ Will you need to continue to work part-time after
retirement to * make ends meet *? How will that affect your
benefits?
~~ Do you want to start your own business, many people do
after retirement, and how will that affect your benefits?
~~ What * support * systems do you have or need to have in
place?
If a company employs you, you need to FIND OUT:
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~~ if they have a retirement plan (benefits), such as a pension or 401(k)
~~ what your TOTAL monthly or lump sum disbursement will be
~~ how much you can contribute
~~ length of service required to be eligible to collect benefits
~~ age required to be eligible to collect benefits
~~ if the plan will meet your needs/lifestyle after retirement
Take the time and schedule an appointment with your
employer's * benefits person * and discuss YOUR retirement
plan. Ask them about YOUR Statement Of Accrued Benefits
(SAB). This is YOUR personal account and will tell you the
benefits you can expect based on your salary and retirement time. |
If you're self-employed, as many of us are, you need to
establish your own retirement plan. The easiest plan is an
IRA at which you can only contribute $2,000 yearly. If you're
young (years away from retirement) check out a non-
deductible Roth IRA. Other plans include SIMPLE, SEP-
IRA, and Keogh Plan. If you want to learn more about these
plans, check our Reviews section at the end of this article.
Please don't think you can live on Social Security (in the
USA) alone! If you have no idea what you MIGHT have
already accumulated into Social Security, FIND OUT! (Link
for SSA in Reviews section)
WARNING and a TIP: Just when you thought you were
covered! One thing that can zap you financially is a divorce
(I hope this never happens to you) and your pension plan
could be one of your largest assets to be DIVIDED up (I've
seen this happen). SO, if you're married, I sincerely hope
you stay so happily and forever after!
Review Section:
~~ Self-employed Retirement Plans explained
http://www.isquare.com/retire.htm
by James E. Cheeks, Esq.
~~ Social Security Administration http://www.ssa.gov
~~ On-line request for your Social Security Statement at
http://www.ssa.gov/transactions.html
~~ FREE Retirement Planner. No matter what your age,
ORP provides a FREE application for planning and
evaluating your retirement at http://www.i-orp.com
~~ AARP (American Association for Retired Persons)
http://www.aarp.org
==============
Janet Hall, The Person/Place Energy Mover,
can help you regain control of your life, your time, your
stuff, and your environment. FREE newsletter, OverHall IT! at
http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm
Copyright (c) 1999-2006 OverHall Consulting
P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676
All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or
distribute so long as this copyright notice and full information about
contacting the author is attached. |
