12 Things You Must Do If You Want To Retire With Your Present Income Intact

Baby boomers are that large segment of the population born between 1946 and 1964. Often called the me generation because of their desire for instant gratification, they are barreling full speed ahead toward retirement with one big difference...

Their instant gratification lifestyle got them the new car, the new home, the new high definition TV when they wanted it, but they have saved a much smaller percentage of their income than previous generations.

Now what do they do since they have a big elephant in the room with them called "Retirement Planning?"

1. Baby Boomers Have Neglected Retirement Planning

There is a "Purple Elephant" in the room that the majority of Baby-Boomers have been ignoring, it's called "Retirement Planning," and Baby-Boomers are heading for a shock as they hit retirement; primarily because of vanishing pnesions and inadequate 401(k) savings. But is it too late and what can they do?

2. The Government Will Take Care of My Retirement Needs

After all, Congress passed The Pension Protection Act of 2006. But, as we are all familiar with the results when the Government decides to "Fix" a Problem-right? So will they fix it or make it worse.

3. So did you see the Frontline Special: Can You Afford To Retire?

Here is What You Need to Set Aside...(40) million Americans now have 401(k) plans and many advisors are now saying that you need 15 times your active income.

Frontline Correspondent Hedrick Smith talked with experts about how people are handling this new do-it-yourself retirement saving systems and the common mistakes they're making.

Interesting Sidebar:

Correspondent was talking to an upper-level manager of a major corporation and a secretarial-administrative-assitant type came in the room to serve them coffee. When she left Hedrick asked: "Tell me, Mr. Big, would you let Suzy-Secretary handle your retirement-pension plan and handle your finances for the future?

Mr. Big huffed, and puffed and said: "Certainly not, she's not qualified nor experienced in such intricate financial matters."

Well, said Correspondent Hedrick, you are asking her to do that for her own retirement program.

My fellow baby-boomer, did you get the point?

4. The End of Lifetime Pensions?

Do you know that none of the major airlines have intact pension plans for their pilots?

Troubled companies have dumped their underfunded pension plans, leaving the federal pension insurance system holding the bag. Hedrick Smith talked with experts about whether the private pension system can be protected.

5. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Strategy is the Answer...

Chapter 11 Strategies have become a strategic tool for troubled companies. Hedrick talked with industry insiders about how it worked in the case of United Airlines, and whether it's time for reforms to protect workers' benefits.

Find out who got protected and who didn't and why....very, very interesting and revealing as to how all this works.

6. Public Pensions-Is there More Trouble Ahead?

Cities and States are facing the same red ink with their pension trust funds as are private companies and corporations.

7. What's It Really All About-What Do You Really Need?

In the beginning of the Frontline segment it interviewed an individual who had the wisdom to set up his retirement, with professional advisors, and thought he had "covered all his bases."

He was receiving monthly retirement checks of $3,000 per month, and this-He and His wife thought-will be our retirement income. Then the unmentionable happened...his company cut his checks by 30%. The result-he had to go back to work and is now driving trucks to make up the difference.

8. An Alternative Solution...

What we all need is a check every month. We need cash-flow, we need money to pay our expenses, our insurance, and an income that will grow in the event of catastrophic health expenses in the future.

9. At Age 55 I Woke Up One Day...

Shortly after I turned (55) I had a wake-up call:

I got sick...fortunately, I had my Veterans Administration Benefits to fall back on; but it made me start thinking. Then the kiss death came. Social Security mailed me an estimation of what I would receive if I took an early retirement at (62.5)...A Whopping $937 per month.

Sure, I can live on this, if I start living under a bridge somewhere, and start panhandling for my living.

Not an acceptable alternative for me...

10. So What do You do if you are +55 And Haven't Saved a Dime

Don't feel alone-there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who have little to show for their efforts.

You may have had the burden of college tuition, unexpected medical expenses, job loss, bad investments, a bad divorce, or maybe like me, you really didn't land your first "Good-Job" until you were after 55.

There can be any number of other events that either drained your assets or prevented you from building that nest egg in the first place. Or, like so many baby-boomers, [aka the "Me Generation"] you may have just been leading the good life until you had your own personal "Wake-Up Call."

But don't throw up your hands and say, "It's too late-why bother?"

Wouldn't you rather end up with some assets than none at all?

11. So What Do We Do Now?

* Figure out what you will have and what you will need

* Put every possible dollar you can dedicate into a tax-deductible retirement plan...this includes any plans your employer sponsors, as well as your IRAs.

* Make a zero-based budget...meaning you start with the absolute essential expenses, and then add expenses from there until you run out of money.

* Take a hard look at your current work situation...could you be getting paid more elsewhere, or be working for a company that has better retirement benefits.

* MY FAVORITE-AND THE PATHWAY I HAVE CHOSEN-start a small business on the site. There are many benefits to this, especially if you are close to retirement. First, you can usually contribute up to 25% of your self-employment income to a tax-dedubtible Keogh plan even if you are already putting money into another plan.

The second benefit of starting a business on the side is that your new knowledge and experience makes you more valuable to your current employer.

Third, if you are laid off or experience job discrimination in terms of pay raise, you have another income.

* Forget the standard retirement age of 65-68. The longer you work the more money you can save, and the fewer non-income producing retirement years you will need to finance.

* Plan to sell your house and buyh a smaller one or get out of the real estate market altogether; especially if you are planning to move to a retirement community with liftetime services.

* Be realistic in your projections and your dreams. Look at each of the above items and use retirement calculators to calculate "what-if" circumstances.

Remember this: There is nothing worse than being retired and broke. And remember this statistic, at age 65, less than 2% of the population has $20,000 in cash. It's too late to start your life over again and save all that money you spent on things that didn't really matter.

Author Credit: Giner Applegarth, 12/13/01 http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/retire/invest/1210.asp

12. But Which Business?

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When the boomers - about a third of today's workforce - reach traditional retirement age in five years, there won't be enough young workers poised to replace them.

Such labor shortages already are forcing employers to rethink how they will recruit and retain older workers and deal with ' their ultimate retirement.

Aging baby boomers present both an opportunity and a challenge for employers interested in topnotch people, particularly with a labor shortage looming.

Clifford Wall is an independent Internet Saftety Advocate (ISA) with Invisus Direct. He is not a financial planner, attorney, or any other type of financial professional. However, he is a pre-baby-boomer, having been born in 1944. Technically, I guess you could say he was a World War II era baby.

For baby-boomers that have come to Retirement-Shock-Experience that he has, he is recommending that any baby-boomer facing ther same dilemma to give very serious consideration to starting a Single-Office/ Home-Office business with INVISUS.

http://myinvisusdirect.com/ponyhunter/

Clifford Wall is an independent Internet Saftety Advocate (ISA) with Invisus Direct. He is not a financial planner, attorney, or any other type of financial professional. However, he is a pre-baby-boomer, having been born in 1944. Technically, I guess you could say he was a World War II era baby. Angie Blog95831
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