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Getting Serious About Retirement Planning
According to the US Social Security Administration, of 100 college graduates (yes, college!) at age 65, after over 40 years of work: 1 is truly wealthy
3 more are living comfortably and the remaining 96 are either dead or broke - completely and totally dependent upon the state or their family for their needs. With the social security system teetering on the brink of outright collapse, and the politicians building new printing presses (MONEY PRINTING PRESSES) just as fast as the money-printing equipment makers can build them, I remain skeptical that the future is going to be rosy for America's retirees. Many have speculated that their home's value would be their saving grace. Just look at all the "reverse mortgage" deals being bandied about lately. The disaster created by the Fed and a long line of greedy, predatory lenders has called that "home equity" strategy into serious question as well. We could see home prices reduced by HALF before the end of the decade. Or worse. So, what's the answer? How do you avoid all this pain and suffering? If you are approaching retirement age (over 50, for example) and haven't yet started to plan, you have a very big hill to climb. It's possible to create a comfortable retirement within 10 years, but you need to do some serious homework. 1. Make It Your Quest You need to change your priorities drastically if you are going to make this work. You have some very tough decisions ahead. Some maneuvers you may not want to consider but should anyway: * Change where you live (think cheaper housing)
* Change HOW you live (think lower-cost lifestyle)
* Change WHO you live with (think counseling or if that doesn't work: separation)
* Change where you work (think better pay)
* Change the city you live in (this can be tough, but better job opportunities and lower living costs are the goal here)
* Change what you pay in taxes (think retirement plans, getting a good CPA, real estate, etc) 2. Become VERY familiar with Senator Roth In the late 1990's a funny thing happened to the retirement section of the US Internal Revenue Code. A four-letter word that is anything but bad happened. R-O-T-H. This little word must become your favorite word over the next decade. You must engineer funds into a Roth or Roth-related instrument, pull some manuevers so as to be in charge of the account yourself, and then start making some serious money inside that account. If you are facing a short timeframe of a dozen years or less until retirement, (and even if you aren't), you need to think seriously about learning how to make not 5% or 10% on your account balance, but 30% or 50% or higher per year. These types of returns, along with the double advantage of not having to pay taxes on the earnings either in the year you earn them AND when you receive them as distributions when you retire, will lead you to a VERY comfortable retirement. But you need to become a student of the game. You need to go back to work and study like you were trying to get into Harvard Business School. 3. Stick With It Even if you don't reach your comfort zone by the time you expected to retire in style, that's ok. As long as you begin the process, it will get so much easier, the further you get into it. Your financial knowledge and investment strategy five years hence will make your current situation look like you aren't even the same person. Night and Day. But you have to get busy. The clock is ticking, and you aren't getting any younger!
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