Investment and Financial Services

By Michael Geoffrey

Retirement is definitely a milestone in everyone’s life. It is huge turning point and it is important to be prepared for it. It is sad when people do not think about their retirement until it is staring them in the face and then they are ill prepared. It doesn’t matter what your current financial situation is, everyone needs to plan for their retirement.

There are services available to help you begin planning for your retirement. Retirement is not something that you want to put off or leave up to chance. It is something to be focused on right now. These services are there to help you get focused on what you need to do right now to be prepared to enter retirement later.

Where to go for Help

If you search online you will find calculators that can help you determine what you will have and what you will need for your retirement. These retirement planning calculators take your personal information and through use of certain formulas and equations estimates roughly what your retirement expenses will be and how much income you need to receive during retirement. These figures are based on the information you enter, such as your age, income, retirement savings you currently have, percentage rate of inflation and so forth. You must be sure that you enter the information accurately. With this information a retirement planning calculator can give you projections about your retirement so that you can plan accordingly.

Retirement planning is too important to be left up to chance. That is why as careful as you may be in entering information into the calculator it is a wise to have a financial consultant work with you so that the outcome you receive is as accurate as possible and can give you the best guidance possible.

There are other savings plans where you can use company shares, cash, home loans or mutual funds to save money and also receive tax benefits for your retirement. This is called Registered Retirement Savings Plans or RRSP. This retirement plan is very beneficial.

This can be an account that you hold individually or if you are married or have another person who will contribute to your RRSP you can have a spousal RRSP which will allow another person who possibly earns more than you do to make contributions to your account.

There are many retirement planning options available and the key to all of them is to start early. The hope is that you will live just as comfortably or possibly more comfortable during your retirement years as you do right now.

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Planning for your retirement can be a complicated balancing act to do, but there is a wealth of data found online to help you walk that tight rope. Perhaps one of the most important tools in helping to plan for retirement is the “retirement calculator.” With a retirement calculator, retirees can discover whether or not you will have the money you require set aside to exist the right sort of lifestyle. Poor planning can leave you with retirement savings that are insufficient, hampering your retirement. With a retirement calculator, you can make sure that your savings are sufficient enough to live comfortably.

The majority of retirement calculators work by taking account of your age and earning potential, and matching that against the kind of life that you desire post retirement. One of the best retirement calculators found on the internet can be found at CNNMoney.com. Determining your future financial health is simple, yet thorough enough to get a good reading of your financial condition. The calculator begins by asking your current age, income, desired retirement age, and desired retirement income.

After that data has been accounted for, most retirement calculators go on to take your future earning potential, as well as portfolio investments, into account. Although it’s difficult to truly know how much you will make years down the line, such calculators give you a good picture of how you’re doing on saving for retirement. Some calculators, such as at CNN Money, will even offer advice on how to make up the difference if you fall short of your goals.

Applications like this are a powerful tool in financial planning. It is very simple to lose sight of earning potential, leading to a shortfall in your retirement years. Discovering that that your current plans are unrealistic is a stressful moment, but also saves you from later consequences. If the issue is detected early on, you can possibly set aside more each year, making wise investments. Simply setting aside more money with each paycheck into a 401K or other secure account is an effective way of improving retirement funding.

Other financial institutions such as Bloomberg offer powerful financial planning systems. The calculator on Bloomberg.com is very indepth, taking a range of factors into account. This is a great way to get an accurate picture of retirement income.

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By Melanie C

It is never too early to start retirement planning. The earlier you start to plan for your retirement the better off you will be. When time is on your side, your superannuation or any other investment you make has time to grow, interest has time to compound and real estate has time to appreciate in value. You have time to weather a few downturns in the economy or the share market when you start retirement planning early.

The biggest problem is that the younger you are the less you think about retirement planning. It seems to be a million light years away. You just want to get out there and have fun - and that means spending money, not saving it. And as you get older there are other major purchases such as a car and home that need your attention first. But even then, if you can put aside a small amount every so often to go towards your retirement you will be better off in the long run.

The best time to plan for your retirement is when you start your first job. Even children at school who have part-time jobs should be encouraged to think of retirement planning. If they saved just $500 to invest in a retirement plan and didn’t touch it for the rest of their lives, they would be astonished when they got older by how much it had grown. Children and young people who have no debt, could save a great deal more than they realise. Their trouble is that mostly they want to spend, not save.

You might have found it impossible to save for retirement planning while paying off your mortgage and educating the kids, but now all that is over and paid off, you are looking forward to having money to spend for yourself. You could go for a holiday or do up the house. You might think it’s too late to do any retirement planning now, but this is not so. Even a few years spent in saving towards your retirement will make a big difference to your comfort when you stop working.

So while the best option for retirement planning is to start young, your next best option is now, today, before it gets any later. Knowing that your retirement planning is well under way will give you peace of mind and a feeling of independence.

There is more to retirement planning that meets the eye and you should seek qualified help when considering the retirement planning solution that’s right for you.

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By Fern Alix Larocca

Ready to retire but don’t know how? Here are 5 tips to help you transition out of the rat race. People are living longer and loving it and you can, too, with a little preparation and planning. The time when you got a gold watch and a pension for 30 years of service are long gone. Many people will have more than one career in a lifetime or start a new business at retirement. You are not headed for the rocking chair and coffin but a new and exciting chapter in your life. Keep active and plan ahead with these five tips:

1. The big stress my clients have at retirement concerns medical issues. If you aren’t healthy or have bad genes, make sure that you have adequate health care coverage when you leave. It’s a lot easier at 65 when you qualify for Medicare. Then all you have to do is purchase a Medicare supplemental health insurance, but if you retire earlier, you will need personal coverage which could be pricier. Figure out the right medical plan for you. Don’t scrimp on good medical insurance even if your employer will pay for part of it. That can always change in the future.

2. Another myth at retirement is that you will need at least 70% or more of current income to be comfortable. Not so. Depending on your lifestyle post-retirement, you may be spending more than your current salary because for example, you want to spend a summer in Italy. You could also be spending less by moving to a smaller home or a less expensive region. The point is to target a spending plan that you can afford and that meets your post retirement lifestyle.

3. Don’t wait till 6 months before you retire to figure it all out. Start planning your ideal lifestyle, income needs, and benefits that you will receive at least a year before you walk out. By doing so you will feel more confident and the transition to your new life will be welcomed.

4. Get informed about your social security benefits before you retire. Also check into your withdrawal options for any pension, retirement plan or annuities you may have. Be sure that you understand the taxation on your withdrawal amounts. You may choose income from different accounts in order to keep your tax liability down.

5. Think you will be bored? Think again. Many retirees buy into franchises or try their hands at consulting or opening up their own business that they have dreamed of having for a long time. It can be a very exciting and liberating time for you if you plan for that. Start researching these avenues long before you quit so that you will be fresh and ready to start your new job.

Ways of remaining active come in many guises. Some clients of mine just want to spend the whole summer together with their kids. Many want to travel without the burden of children or an itinerary. Many will continue to work part-time to supplement their income. Others will take classes to learn a new skill or do volunteer work in an industry they enjoy, or engage in a hobby they love. This is an exciting time in your life to either kick back or ramp up and there are plenty of choices no matter what your income. But proper planning and preparation is essential to a smooth transition.

2008© Fern Alix-LaRocca CFP® All Rights Reserved Fern Alix-LaRocca is a Certified Financial PlannerTM and Financial Coach with over 24 years experience as a fee-only Financial Advisor. Stop losing money and increase your net worth by subscribing to her free e-newsletter at - You will get 4 free bonus reports and your information is always confidential.

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