Friday, March 7, 2014

Easy Retire Planning That Actually Works

By Andrew Kraftt


We all know that we're going to have to retire one day. The question remains, what will your retirement be like. Finances and the amount of wealth that you have accumulated throughout your life will determine whether your retirement is everything that you dream of or a nightmare. Without the required retirement savings in place, the dreams of enjoying your retirement can cause you anxiety or even make you fearful of planning your retirement.

Never underestimate the power of fear when it comes to your retirement income. Never allow procrastination to take hold and instead think seriously about what you want your retirement to be like. Do you see yourself financially secure or will you be living with your children? If you don't have children then who is going to take care of you if your health fails or you're unable to work? It can be a cruel world out there and if you expect to live a happy life after you retire then there's no time like the present to start thinking seriously about your retirement income.

Retirement planning is something that most of us put off for another day. If we have financial problems now then looking to the future might seem useless. Avoiding this unpleasant situation isn't going to change things and simply hoping that your life is going to change probably won't bring about that change that you're thinking will come. Without a goal in mind and without taking an honest look at your finances, you will be caught off guard when retirement comes.

If you have ever created a budget then you already know everything necessary to plan your retirement. A retirement plan is simply a budget that you're going to stick to in the future. Making sure that you have the funds in place to fuel that budget is where the financial part of a retirement plan comes into play. If you want you can create a budget for yourself now and then modify that budget to get an idea of what your expenses will be like when you retire. You can also use your present budget to help speed up the process of creating your retirement nest egg.

Saving and wealth creation needs to be the second part of your retirement plan. Generating wealth to help you to meet that financial goal is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to retirement planning. Now that you have a goal, it's time for you to put the wheels in motion to achieve that financial goal.

Going back to your budget and finding areas where you can reduce spending as well as doing some soul searching for ideas to generate more wealth should be your next step. Do you have a lot of credit card debt or are you paying a lot of interest every month on loans? Are you spending small amounts of money every week on things like eating out, entertainment or other luxury items? Eliminating as many things from your budget that might be eating up your income might be a good idea. That money saved can be used to pay off debt and then put towards your retirement savings. Working a part time job or starting a home based business might help you to reach your goal more quickly and both should be considered seriously if you have noticed that you have a lot of debt in your life.

That temptation to treat ourselves or to spend that extra money so we feel wealthy or appear wealthy to those around us is a very real temptation. Wanting to buy a new car or go on a vacation or buy a bigger house will only derail you and put you in worse shape financially. Keep in mind that wealthy people often don't show their wealth. They're willing to drive an older used car for a few years in order to accumulate wealth which then works for them to create more wealth.

Lastly, investing your savings and creating assets that will pay you back throughout your retirement is where true wealth begins to occur. Leveraging your savings and making your money do the heavy lifting that might be required as you approach retirement and throughout your retirement is what will make or break you in your retirement plan. Wise investments will hold their value and generate income. Unwise investments or assets will lose value and become a burden.

An asset that you can use in your retirement plan is anything that is going to help you to generate more money over the long run. It could be a business, an IRA, stocks or a mutual fund. Putting your savings into something that is going to turn a profit and generate more wealth is an asset for you. Real estate that could be used as for monthly rental income or collectibles that will appreciate in value are also assets that you might want to consider. Your goal is to put your money into an investment that will gain value as time passes while securing your wealth and preventing you from spending that money until retirement.

Often the thought of retirement planning is a lot scarier in our mind than it is in reality. Procrastinating and telling yourself that there's plenty of time to deal with planning for retirement is a mistake. Seeing where you are financially as soon as possible so you can make changes to your lifestyle now will pay you big dividends in the future. Finding solutions that will make your retirement even more pleasant than you dream of can be found. The sooner you deal with the problems, the better your life will be financially when you do retire. Some careful planning now very well might help you to even retire early.




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