Retirement – It's Sooner Than You Think (honestly)

Many people hear "retirement" and think— what? 401K? Roth vs. Traditional IRA? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds? Do they?

Or do many people put money away according to the suggested amount and then simply hope that when retirement comes all will work out?

One report I read estimated that 66 million Americans have put away a Whopping $0 towards retirement.

Many people are still thinking there might be a thing called Social Security around when they retire. Social Security: as of 2004, the average annual Social Security retirement benefit is approximately $11,000. That is not a lot to live on folks. Plus, we all hear the news periodically that there might not be any Social Security around when we get older and need it.

And as a further WAKE UP call, I found a calculator which estimated (without Social Security):

• a couple at 40
• bringing in $90k a year (together)
• with very modest investments

would need to save an additional $2,690,000.00 ( yes 2 million +) in order to retire at 65-- OR – plan on working an additional 29 years!!

Now before you get overwhelmed and click over to another article—lets put our heads together and simply cover a few very very basic start up basics.

1) Standard Of Living: You need to know at what standard of living you will want to live during retirement.

2) Basic Living Expenses: You will need to calculate the cost of basic living expenses (at that level) i.e. electric bill now of $200 = what in 2030?

3) Hobbies and Leisure Activities: Know what type of hobbies, and leisure activities you will keep busy with and what their cost might be then.

4) Family Visiting / Travel: Realize that more and more children move away when grown. So while they work out of state—YOU may need to do the traveling to see them. Plan for these costs.

5) Convalescent Care (nursing home costs) provincially run about $100/day median. You will need to multiply that times the same 4% inflation rate. Then multiply that times the number of years before you may need it—to approximate how much you may need to afford for your housing when you need assistance. Truth be known—WE need to plan to handle that cost ourselves, rather than think our children will be able to take on that kind of additional cost.

You will need to total yearly amounts. You will need the approximate yearly cost to live (at your desired level) during regular healthy retirement. And, you will need the total yearly amount of costs to live in assisted or full care living facilities ( for each – you and mate).

Multiply each yearly amount by the number of years you might be living in that circumstance. Example: Retire at 65. Live healthy retirement- 15 years (so 15 x yearly cost of healthy living) . Live assisted – 8 years ( so 8 x yearly cost of living in care).

You now have two totals that when added together equal your estimation of the total dollar amount you will need to draw from in order to live after retiring. NOW you are ready to begin planning your investments in such a way that you can achieve that TOTAL number by the time you retire.

Here are some tools to help you now that you are ready to take that first step:

USA Today retirement cost calculator: http://www.calcbuilder.com/cgi-bin/calcs/RET2.cgi/usatoday

Motley Fool’s retirement area http://www.fool.com/retirement.htm?source=PFinAg

Metlife’s retirement area http://www.metlife.com/Applications/Corporate/WPS/CDA/PageGenerator/0,1674,P1946,00.html

About.com’s HUGE retirement resource area: http://www.retireplan.about.com/

Until next time—all the best,

Kate

Pressed for cash, many people will take money out of their individual
retirement account (IRA) as a means to get quick access to capital.
They do this even though they have to pay taxes and generally
if they are younger than 59 ½, also pay a 10% penalty on the money
they withdraw.

Only as a last resort should one touch their retirement savings
for anything other than retirement expenses. But, in those cases
when you need to tap into your retirement savings, a way to get money
out of your retirement account without paying the penalty and deferring
the tax was just made available beginning in 2002, as a result
of a tax law change.

Under the new law, those with a small business and no employees
or only a spouse as an employee can establish Solo-Owner 401(k) plans
and take a loan from those plans. The loan from the Solo-Owner 401(k)
is not treated as a withdrawal. As such it is not subject to tax
and the 10% penalty for early withdrawal as long as you repay the loan
on time.

You can roll over or transfer the funds you have in your IRAs, 401(k),
403(b), or other qualified retirement funds into your Solo-Owner 401(k)
and then borrow from the balance in your Solo-Owner 401(k) plan.

Employees of large corporations for the most part always had
the ability to borrow from their 401(k). Now small business owners,
such as freelancers, consultants, and entrepreneurs, who have left
the corporate world also have that choice. They can borrow up to the
lesser of $50,000 or 50% of the balance in their 401(k).
A Solo-Owner 401(k) plan gives small business owners the opportunity
to defer up to $40,000 per year in a tax deferred retirement plan
and the flexibility, should they ever need it, to borrow from their
retirement funds.

The Solo-Owner 401(k) plan goes under different names depending on
the provider of the plan. Make sure you are aware in advance of
the fees that may be associated with rolling over or transferring
your money into or out of your Solo-Owner 401(k) plan.
For more information on the Solo-Owner 401(k) plan and other ways
to get money out of your retirement plan while minimizing the taxes
and penalties visit www.InvestSafe.com