Retirement Solutions: An Introduction to 401(k) Plans and IRA

401(k) plans and IRAs are two of the most popular ways of building a retirement fund. Here is a brief overview of these two options:

401(k) plans

401(k) plans are primarily employer-sponsored retirement plans for employees. Under these, the company can offer you some investment options to choose from. The 401(k) account is managed by the employer, where they deposit a part of your wage along with a matching contribution from the company. These funds are invested by investment experts, depending on your plan options, into various instruments.
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Assessing Your Post Retirement Financial Needs

Retirement is a time of great uncertainty for most people, especially if little thought has been put into planning for post retirement life. One of the biggest anxieties is whether your finances will see you through this phase of your life comfortably. Although almost everyone invests in retirement savings plans, the fear of running short of cash at this crucial stage in life still persists. One way to get rid of this fear is by evaluating your post retirement finances and saving up towards expected expenses right now.

Outstanding Debts

The first step is to take stock of your financial situation. Calculate the amount of debt, if any, that you will need to pay after retirement. Ideally, all your debts should be paid off well before your retire. See if you can make additional payments now so that you are debt free when retiring. If not, set up a fund that will take care of any outstanding debts once you retire. [Read more…]

Retirement Investment Tips

The one thing certain in the investment world is that there are no certainties. With the stock market crash, investors stopped buying stocks and concentrated on buying bonds. Billions of dollars have been invested in bonds and bond ETFs recently. But if you are thinking of putting all your 401(k) money into a single bond, you could be making a big mistake. [Read more…]

At What Age Should You Retire to Be Financially Independent?

Retirement will be one of the most important events of your life. You should start planning for your retirement in your 20s if you want to have a secure and comfortable post-retirement life. Only after you decide your retirement age will you know how much you should save every month and what other financial aspects you need to look at. Her are some advantages and disadvantages of retiring early and retiring at 65 to help you make this important decision. [Read more…]

Start Cutting Costs Now So You Can Live Comfortably In Retirement

The recent recession has made a huge dent in the savings of most Americans, leaving many people near retirement in a state of panic. Any upheaval in the economy can cause the best laid investment plans to take a nose dive, but it is the retirees and the people who have a few years left to retire who are the most affected. [Read more…]

How Much Money to Keep Aside from Your Monthly Income for Future Planning

It is imperative to plan for emergencies, little luxuries here and there, and irregular expense such as vacations, holidays, buying a car, renovating your home etc. Planned and regular savings will help you lead a more financially secure life. [Read more…]

New Trend With Retirement Plans for 65 and Over

Changing attitudes towards retirement, with senior citizens working even beyond sixty five with as much enthusiasm and energy as they had in their thirties, is an emerging trend across the country.

The arguments for working in full-time or part-time capacity include greater appreciation of disposable income, shielding yourself and your family from risks in an unpredictable economy, or quite simple keeping yourself mentally and physically active. [Read more…]

Balancing Retirement Savings and Children’s College Fund

Parents have to make a difficult choice between saving money for their retirement and providing for their kids’ education. With increasing inflationary pressure and rising expenditure, it is difficult to accomplish even one goal fully, and striking a balance between the two can be very tricky. This has become a major concern among many parents as the cost of higher education is increasing rapidly. [Read more…]

Recession May Actually Help Social Security System

People often wish to retire early in order to enjoy the earnings of their younger times. Many realized during recession that they would not be able to do so any more as their investments had to bite the dust in the bad times. But according to a RAND Corporation study this may actually be a good thing. [Read more…]

Make Your Future Financially Secure by Eliminating Unnecessary Expenses

One of the most important things that you can do for improving your financial condition is reducing your expenditure. You can boost your retirement or emergency funds, increase your savings, or invest more by making some simple reductions in your expenses. [Read more…]

How to Build Your Retirement Savings

When you are young, retirement seems like a distant prospect, which you do not need to worry about. However, before you know, time will fly and you will be close to your retirement age. Instead of being sorry later, it is better you start investing when you still have ample time to build your retirement savings without unnecessary pressure. If you start early, you get more time to earn higher returns on your investment. [Read more…]

The Benefits of Investing Early in Your Life

You might have just started enjoying the freedom of getting a paycheck and would be tempted to spend it all on shopping, traveling and having fun. Studies show that many young Americans are careless with their finances. They do not save money, forget to pay their bills on time and do not bother about starting retirement funds. But remember that lack of investments and spending more than your income can be very harmful in the long run. [Read more…]

Building Your Retirement Kitty Using IRA

Before you retire, you should build some funds that can last your life after retirement. After all those years of hard work, who wouldn’t a comfortable and hassle free life. That is why I highly recommend that you give financial planning for retirement a serious thought and plan well for the sunset years. [Read more…]

Retirement Planning for Late Starters

For those who have ignored the fact that at some point of time they will no longer draw a monthly paycheck, a looming retirement date can give nightmares. While it is certainly not advisable to leave retirement planning until the last, it is also true that it is never ‘too late’ to start doing something about it. After all, some retirement fund is better than none at all. [Read more…]

Financial Considerations for the Most Expensive Years of Your Life

Retirement is inevitable. There will be a time in your life when you wouldn’t be working any longer in your regular job. But did you know that the post retirement period can be quite expensive, especially because of medical costs? [Read more…]

Rethinking Investment of Retirement Savings in Your 401(k) Plan

If you have been investing the money for your retirement savings in a 401(k) plan offered by your employer, then it is time to rethink your strategy. Although, 401(k) is considered almost sacred as far as retirement savings go, its value has been decreasing lately. [Read more…]

How to Choose the Right Age to Retire

Those days when 65 years was a straightforward benchmark for retirement are long gone. People now put in a lot of thought while deciding the right time for retirement and this decision will depend on many factors, particularly the kind of life you wish to lead after retirement. [Read more…]

Managing Your Finances after Retirement

It is often believed that the spending of a person decreases after retirement because people become less active as they grow old. However, bad health and inflation can significantly increase the outflow of money after your retirement, and your financial situation might improve or worsen depending on how well you have planned for these expenses. A new theory divides retirement age into three stages. [Read more…]

Choosing Where to Live After Retirement

You might have often dreamed about your retirement. You would have thought about making enough money to settle down in a beautiful location, in a home that caters to all your needs, and indulging in hobbies that you could not find time for. [Read more…]

Plan Early for Your Retirement

Retirement can bring a lot of changes to your lifestyle. Whether these are pleasant or not largely depends on how much planning has been put in during your years of employment.

Financial stability and independence play a huge role in laying the foundation for peaceful and stress free retired years. Post retirement, you cannot fall back on a regular monthly paycheck to meet expenses, and that is why having a reliable stream of funds coming in from your investments is important. With proper management of your finances during employment, this can be achieved quite effectively. [Read more…]

Be Smart About Your Investment in Real Estate

If you have always dreamed of a retired life full of beach side lazing, carefree holidays, and comfortable living, it is time to wake up. Retired people are finding that many of their post retirement plans will never see the light of day, unless they can miraculously raise enough money overnight to pay off huge liabilities like mortgages. [Read more…]

Preparing to Die and Retirement

More and more groups like International Living, an emailing promoting the merits of living and retiring abroad, are springing up each month to meet the needs of people who less and less see a retirement in Arizona or Florida as a possibility. This comes as no surprise to the thousands of people who travel to Costa Rica each year. [Read more…]

How Much Money Should You be Saving?

It is time to get serious about saving. The silver lining of the recession is that people are starting to finally realize that they cannot constantly get by on borrowed money. The problem is that the more consumers save, the longer it may take to get out of these dark economic times. [Read more…]