Sensible Retirement Planning - Spending Today For Retirement Income Tomorrow

By Robert C Eldridge Jr

Do you often end up buying things, and then wonder, do I really need it? If yes then read on. No we are not talking about shopaholic tendencies here. The fact that you frequent the market and buy stuff surplus of your need shows that you do have disposable income. Often find yourself confused as to what do I do with it. Invest it? Secure my future with it? Donate it to get tax rebates? Well, you can have all of it together, in the form of 'annuities'.

With annuities, you keep aside a portion of your income for your retirement planning. On this income, you are deferred your tax by the government. You can also invest this amount and avail compound interest benefit too. Astounding proposition?

Let's understand in further detail. The insurance companies offer a specialized product called an annuity. It is has the potential to create a steady income. While you are paying out a premium to the give the insurance company, it is feeding it into investments. Depending on your need, the insurance company can provide you with a supplement income or a retirement income as desired by you, either monthly, quarterly or annually.

The Insurance company follows certain discreet guidelines to arrive at a payment figure that you shall receive. If your age is towards the older curve when you start receiving your payments first, then the amount would be more. The more aged you are, the more money would you need for your daily requirements, and hence more the payment you receive. One can delay the starting time of their payment of retirement income as late as the age 70 and keep accumulating tax-deferred income till then.

But even this amount is sometimes affected on the basis of whether your policy is for a life time or is it for a stated short period. So, if your period is 10 years, for example, then they can dole out payments accordingly with help of accurate calculations. But if you opt for a life time plan, then they can only assume your lifespan and stretch it longer. And to be on the safe side and not run out of money while they are still liable to pay, they instead give smaller payments to you. So shorter the period, more will the amount of payment be.

There is also a kind of annuity called as immediate annuity. In it you have the provision to start getting your money as soon as you desire. You can also have them delayed up to a year with some companies, but not later. In fact it is recommended that you should avail them as soon as possible. You can also convert your regular annuity into an immediate one if you want also. This process has come to be called as annuitization.

Annuities are indeed the right option for you to invest your money in for your retirement days. Instead of shopping for irrelevant stuff, spend on what you need or will definitely need in the future - your retirement income.

Visit http://www.annuitycampus.com for more Annuity and Life Insurance Tips and Tricks.

Call Robert Eldridge directly at 800-643-7544.

Robert Eldridge holds over a decade of experience as a multiline agent in multiple states and currently serves on the membership council of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

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Ernst & Young's Retirement Planning Guide

By Lam Seina

Retirement is an unavoidable phase in life; but with proper and systematic planning, it does not have to be a dreaded phase, but one to look forward to! Fortunately, quality and affordable resources are now widely available to guide you as you prepare for this phase of your life. Yes, gone are the days when one has to pay expensive retainers and consultants for advice-because retirement planning soft wares and books, financial planning calculators, and other tools are now the newest trend in financial planning for retirement. One of the best, most practical books available on this subject area is Ernst & Young's Retirement Planning Guide

From respected authors whose names connote expertise in the field of tax and financial planning, the book outlines simple yet practical and achievable guide to attain one's "dream retirement stage". The book presents detailed hands-on tools and techniques that can help you plan your retirement well, the issues that need to be addressed, and factors that might affect your plans.

Most customers who read this book have been impressed by the information presented in the book, specifically on the insights and suggestions to attain a financially secure life before or after retirement. Readers have commended the detailed analysis on the use of a financial planning calculator to determine what amount of money needs to be saved at certain points in the retirement phase-considering several factors like life-expectancy, inflation rates and its impact on income, among others.

Also, the book includes detailed discussions on topics like 401k, insurance issues, social security, and others- focusing on how these items bear on financial planning for retirement. Hands-on worksheets, quizzes, and links to other resources related to building financial security from pre-retirement to post-retirement phase, are also provided in the book. Equally handy are the suggestions and discussions presented on strategies to build-up a retirement fund, and to address issues and concerns that may adversely affect the plan at hand. The ideas presented as to how to increase retirement income and retirement savings are based on actual economic scenarios, and are easy to understand. At the end of each chapter, "Action Items" are also included, which further maximizes the book's usefulness. Furthermore, the simplified presentation of each topic allows ease in understanding concepts even for the non-accountants.

Truly a prized catch for people who are in the dark as to how to go about planning their retirement, Ernst & Young had provided this worthy and valuable guide. No wonder most of those who have read the book have rated it to be excellent in terms of usefulness and practicality... "Easy to read", "useful", "detailed guide", "comprehensive", "highly recommended"...these are just some of the comments made by people about this book... A must-buy not only for people who are nearing retirement age, but also for people who want to build-up their retirement savings early-and help their loved ones do the same as well. Make the move to realize that dream retirement!

Lam Seina is an Author living in Sydney, Australia. He is interested in reading and creating websites. His latest website is about 3 Stone Engagement Rings and finding the best Beautiful engagement Rings on the web today.

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Best Retirement Planning Advice - Top Tips

By Jaskarn Pawar

I was recently asked by someone in the media for my top retirement planning tip. In truth there are many 'top tips' but none of them are relevant until you've had a conversation about what you want to do in retirement.

Picture what your retirement looks like and the rest will quickly fall into place. After all, funding retirement is merely a means to an end. So if you have no idea what the end looks like how could you possibly find the means to fund it?

A Personal Pension, or employer equivalent, an ISA or perhaps less so property are arguably the most popular forms of retirement provision. How much you put towards these during your working life, again, entirely depends on how much you want to get out at the other end.

Putting 'something', a nominal figure, towards retirement is unlikely to yield the rewards you would wish for come retirement age. Start with a figure in mind, what level of income would you like to receive through retirement that could afford you the lifestyle you want? Then you can work backwards to determine how much you need to be contributing now to achieve that. Affordability, of course comes into the equation. It's not always possible to commit the level one might wish to due to present circumstances. But at least you will have a focus that was not there before.

The same is true for what is called 'at retirement' planning. That is, people that have reached retirement and need advice on what to do next with their pension. The thought process really needs to start with what your objectives are. Wealth preservation? A higher income stream now? Flexibility? Once you know more about what you want you can be in a better position to choose the right retirement option.

So my top retirement planning tip? Have a dream.

Jaskarn Pawar
Director, Investor Profile

Investor Profile offers retirement planning advice to people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of wealth.

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Starting Late at Retirement Planning Could Have Its Benefits

By Chris Blanchet

Retirement planning is something that is always best started at a younger age. Between the power of compounding, the greater number of potential market and economic cycles and the fact that younger folks can get started with less money, age really works to the investor's benefit if planning starts earlier rather than later.

In reality, however, most people will only start saving for their retirement needs later in life, normally around the 40-year mark. By this time, people have established themselves in their careers, they have their mortgage under control (or paid out in some rare cases), their children are a little older and the spending on children has become financially tolerable and, usually, they are earning close to their peak earnings.

As well, in mid life, the idea of retirement is not only a lot more appealing, but it is much more tangible, a goal that must be taken a lot more seriously. This process can become more "real" thanks to the realization that the first half of one's life really has hurried past; the realization that many "wasted" years has also resulted in wasted gains and opportunities, and so on. Regardless, time often has something of a wake-up call for a lot of late-starting investors.

But starting out later when it comes to your retirement does not mean having to settle for less of a retirement. By this age of life, a lot of people know better what they will want and/or need in retirement, allowing for more-realistic goal planning. And, again, at this age, there may also be additional discretionary income to allow for more aggressive savings.

The biggest downfall with starting late has got to be the lost compounding periods. This can often be "made up" through more aggressive investment tactics, such as shifting more assets into higher growth investments like equities or specialty asset classes. Over the long run (5-10 years) these assets tend to perform better than more conservative investments like bonds, so it may often make more sense to keep a more-aggressive investment approach rather than staying the course in more conservative vehicles.

With this in mind, older investors who are just starting out with their retirement planning should understand their risk tolerance and investment objectives. If retirement involves abundance, then it will mean greater risk or greater savings, which is not always possible. But for the investor who can only start saving later on, these will be the primary focal points.

--> Consider the inclusion of Small Cap Funds like the Marshall Small Cap Growth fund in your portfolio. Find out more at MutualFundSite.org.

Chris has more than 17 years of financial services experience. He currently manages a website about Novaform Mattress Sale opportunities at NovaformMattressSale.com.

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Retirement Planning - Avoid Being Swamped by Options and Information

By Barry Milton

You have decided to get serious about your retirement planning efforts. You've started reading up on the subject and now are quickly becoming confused. Why? There is simply far too much information out there and deciding which direction to take can be nearly impossible. Instead of making progress on your retirement efforts, you end up frozen in place which is never a good thing.

The key to avoiding such counter productive behavior is to sit down with an independent financial planning professional. Independence is vital because you want to be sure that the person is not beholden to any particular company and their products. Locating such a person can be a matter of reading articles written by people like myself or asking around for referrals from friends and family. Regardless of how you find them, there are going to be certain things you need to communicate to the planner so he or she can put together a plan to meet your goals.

The first thing to discuss with the planner is your retirement goal. No, I don't mean that you want to retire. Instead, I mean what you want to do while you are retired. If your goal is to retire and sail the world, the plan is going to have to be tailored to probably hold and grow money since you will need little while out on the boat unless you plan on buying things from the sharks. Conversely, the desire to travel while staying in luxury hotels each night is going to require a highly monthly income and probably an investment in dividends.

Then there are issues like your business. Most business owners surprisingly never seem to really think about what they are going to do with their business later in life. Do you want to sell it? Do you want to leave it your kids? Each question involves a host of tax and planning issues that have to be dealt with in your plan.

What about choosing between life insurance, 401ks, IRAs and the like? These are planning tools. They are not a plan. Yes, some or all of them will be incorporated into your plan to get you where you want to go, but they are only part of a bigger puzzle. Without an overall plan, they really will not help you reach your goals.

Barry Milton writes about retirement planning and other financial subjects for UFCAmerica.com.

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