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The idea of retiring early is a dream many people hold. While you might love your job, you also want to see the world and spend quality time with your family while you still feel good and vital. You can retire early and how early, depends on how well you plan. Early retirement planning for retirement that starts before your reach 62, when you can start a lower Social Security payment, requires even more planning and more money.

Decide first how you want to live in retirement. Early retirement planning is different for each person. If you simply want the pleasures of home and time to garden or just relax, you won’t need as much as if you want to travel the world and spend time in luxury accommodations. Remember, retirement is often more expensive than living as you are today because of ever increasing prices and taxes. If you have health insurance through an employer, you’ll also have to purchase your own and by retirement age it’s very salty. Calculate the amount in today’s dollars. Since the average inflation rate is three percent, use the rule of 72 to find how inflation affects your living standards. Divide three into 72 and the answer is 24. That’s the number of years it takes for prices to double. Divide 24 into the number of years until retirement and multiply that times the amount you need each year. Continue reading ‘Early Retirement Planning – How to Achieve Your Dream’ »

There are basically four areas of corporate policy which relate to DEATH, DISABILITY, MEDICAL/DENTAL and RETIREMENT. For most Canadian employers, the corporate policy (i.e. a group insurance plan) covers the first three.

Retirement is something that each of us cannot avoid. How we live when we retire depends on what we do today. In any form of retirement plan, all contributions will accumulate tax-sheltered to eventually provide a monthly income at retirement. Currently, “normal retirement” is age 65, however, for those who plan ahead and contribute over and above that of the employer, the employee can then have the option to retire at age 55 or earlier in some cases.

When any employer is considering a retirement program that will provide long service employees with a future retirement income, the question is now raised as to “what type of plan will best suit our needs?” First, we must define two key words that are used extensively in the retirement arena; vesting – the amount of time after which an employee is entitled to the employers contributions, and locked-in – the amount of time after which employee and employer monies cannot be withdrawn in cash.

What are the alternatives? Continue reading ‘Retirement Planning in the New Millennium’ »

There are so many productive ways to spend our money: saving for retirement, paying off the house, paying down consumer debt, and don’t forget about reasonable spending to make life more enjoyable. So what should take priority? Here are some things to consider.

401(k)

First, determine whether your employer’s 401(k) has a match. For instance, many 401(k)s match your contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 4% of your salary. A match like this is simply too beneficial to resist. Think of it this way — we hope to obtain a rate of return of 8 to 10 percent on our investment portfolio, but if our employer offers the match described above, we are guaranteeing ourselves an immediate 100% return on our investment.

However, depending on circumstances, it may or may not be wise to contribute more to your 401(k) than your employer will match, and if your employer offers no match, there are other factors that need to be considered.

Consumer Debt

I frequently see individuals with credit card debt with interest rates between 20 and 30 percent. If we are not getting an additional match from an employer on retirement savings, does it make sense to invest in the market where we hope to obtain a 10 percent return when we can essentially guarantee ourselves a rate of return of 20 to 30 percent by paying off these debts? One would be better off paying down debt with these high interest rates before investing elsewhere. Continue reading ‘The Best Use of Your Money’ »

Your pension is probably the most important asset you have, hopefully enabling you to enjoy your retirement in the comfort and security that you enjoyed during your working life. The way a pension works is simple, the contributions you make during your working lifetime along with any employer contributions are invested in one or more of a range of professionally managed funds. Any UK resident under the age of 75 is eligible to receive income tax relief at their highest marginal rate on annual contributions to private and occupational pension schemes, up to 100% of UK earning with an annual allowance limit of £255,000 for 2010/11. Because of the favourable tax advantages, pensions have traditionally been seen as an ideal means of providing income in retirement, however, for millions of savers, their retirement plans have been ruined by years of poorly performing pension funds. With the current single state pension in 2010/11 being a maximum of £97.65 and some people receiving less than this, it is important that you are aware of the kind of income you can expect in retirement. According to the annuity specialist Partnership, between 2004 and 2009, 9 out of 10 people who retired had amassed a pension pot of less than £50,000 while 77% of people had less than £30,000, the group saying that a £30,000 annuity in today’s rates would provide an income of just £2000 a year. Continue reading ‘Why you should review your pension before it’s too late’ »

In view of what has been happening with the economy worldwide. Concern has risen over how individuals pensions are performing. Rightly so after all it is their money and their future that may be at risk. At the moment there’s nothing to suggest that pensions are at any greater risk. However any concerns should be discussed with your financial advisor

What is a pension plan?

It is an investment in to your future retirement and if you decide to take one out then you will need to ensure that you not only find the right one to suit your needs and your family. When reaching this choice you want to behappy that you are being given the right information to make an informed decision. It is not advisable to setup a pension plan with the first person you speak to, it would be like many things be better to shop around a little first and compare what they have to offer. Continue reading ‘5 Pension Performance Questions Answered’ »

Personal Financial statement forms as financial advisor can help you develop personal financial planning by helping you track income and expenses, cash inflow and cash outflow, obligations and dues in addition to that you can determine your overall net worth. Financial planning can help you save for child’s education, wedding, vacations, buying a house or car, retirement planning, plan to reduce taxes, avoid financial crisis and more and more.

Personal financial statements is considered an essential tool for effective financial planning.

The benefits and advantages can be summarized as follows:

* Help you achieving your financial objectives
* Monitor all house running expenses
* Plan for buying durable goods
* Manage your banks accounts in a professional manner
* Plan for taxes and other governmental fees
* Plan for special activities and events
* Plan for retirement
* Plan for health care issues
* Awareness of upcoming crisis so that you will act accordingly

Continue reading ‘Personal Financial Statements’ »