Reworking Your Retirement Plan

Posted December 30th, 2009 by solterra and filed in Uncategorized
19 Comments

During the last few years, your IRAs and 401ks took quite a beating.  Most likely, you are back to even and need to rethink your future finances.  Stop dwelling on what you’ve lost and start reevaluating your situation.  Take this opportunity to figure out what you want to do when you retire and what kind of lifestyle you want to lead.  By doing this, you can figure out how much money you need to fund that specific lifestyle.   Here are a few questions to get you started:

  • Do I want to travel? If so, can I budget enough to go out of country, or can I explore places within a few hours of my home?
  • What are some activities that I have been putting off that I would like to do now that I am retired?

After you have figured out what you expect to get out of retirement, also consider what your current balance sheet looks like.  What do you own and what do you owe? If you are the only person in your household, create a personal balance sheet, but if not be sure to look at your entire household’s assets and liabilities.  When listing your assets, make sure to include your social security benefits and the discounted value of your future wages.  For your liability, put together your lifestyle needs as well as funds that could be used for other liabilities, such as any unforeseen expenses. 

Additionally, list all of the expenses and income sources you will have in retirement.  Ideally, your social security, annuities, and income from bonds and CDs should all pay for your fixed expenses, which in essence is your standard of living.  By putting a list together such as this, it may make you more aware that the kind of lifestyle you are living now has an impact on what your lifestyle will be like in the future.  The best thing to do would be to always think long term.  Avoid any foreseeable disruptions by budgeting for all predictable liabilities.  

The next step is to assess all your retirement risks and put them into your retirement plan.  For example, health care and inflation are two factors that must be considered.  Once you have identified your risks, find out whether or not the consequences can or cannot be ignored.  Most people fail to think about the long-term and outliving assets.  The good news is that if you can identify the possible risks, you can manage them.   Some solutions may be insurance or even risk free assets.  Put together your portfolio and allocate your percent of assets with your techniques on risk management. 

Overall, the best thing to do is talk to a Financial Adviser and go over what you expect out of retirement and how you need to budget and invest now, to make your retirement as enjoyable as you’ve imagined.

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19 Responses to “Reworking Your Retirement Plan”

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  11. By comparing your Social Security benefit to your retirement expenses, you’ll get a sense of how much of your monthly nut will be covered by this guaranteed government payment. If it covers all or most of your expenses, well, then you probably don’t need much more in the way of guaranteed income.

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