Retirement Planning

Planning for Retirement

Retirement, so you think you are ready or close to the magic age. Be prepared. Make sure you haven't any bills to pay out, like a car or house payments. Do you have your second insurance to cover you and your spouse when you see a doctor, or be rushed to the hospital? Medicare will take out $96.50 per month from your S.S. check. Even without car or house payments, you still have to pay for water, gas, and/or an electric bill. Also, you have to maintain your car. You will need to buy a health coverage for your medications.

Take stock for what you have to pay out each month and how much you can put back for travel or trips that may come up that weren't planned. You will get a retirement check, but if you owe money you can get hurt. You will live on what you get for one month before another check arrives.

Spend wisely. Grow some of your food, even if it's grown in big flowers pots. Take this from someone who has lived on retirement for three years. Be sure in save some money before you have that last day at work.

God Bless.

By Shonda (A Retired Grandma) from Grand Rivers, KY

Retirement Planning Tips

Planning for retirement can be sticky. We have not been in a position to save due to high medical costs. But there are a few things you can do.

• Pay off your home well before retirement, even if it means settling for something smaller than you had planned. Start young. Twenty is not too soon.
• Learn to garden and can. Other than hiring someone to till up your garden each spring, most of the associated tasks are possible for most people. It is a thrill to see all that food lined up in jars, and also in the freezer!
• Keep debt to the absolute minimum. Hold down expenses so you can always pay them off monthly. This includes utilities, credit cards, and car repair bills.
• If you qualify for medical assistance don't be shy about it. You paid into it with your taxes. If you need it, apply and fight for it.
• Keep house, car, etc. in good condition.
• Save money as you are able. It is unnecessary to spend the national average of almost $900 for Christmas, for example. In some cases a card and a current photo of you will be more welcome than a new stereo.

Hope this helps someone.

By Coreen from Rupert, ID

Organizing Retirement Paperwork

As we get ever closer to retirement, I have found it very helpful to create a 3-ring notebook with dividers (home made out of old discarded file folders) for all the retirement accounts, Social Security info sheets, 401K investment reports, etc., for both my husband and myself.

Each divider is carefully labeled and the reports we receive are filed with the most recent one on the top of the appropriate section. Also in this notebook (by section) are all the insurance papers and policies along with contact info for each company, a copy of our living wills, a copy of our personal will, funeral and burial instructions, our lawyer's name, address, telephone number, as well as a section with pertinent bank account numbers, safety deposit box numbers and bank name, etc.

This allows me to track where these important papers are, but even more so, every one of our grown children know that the red notebook on the bottom shelf of the library in my office is the place where they will find every scrap of information they need should they be put into a position to have to handle this information on our behalf. This notebook, in existence for five years now, gives me incredible peace of mind.

By Ronsan from Southwest Missouri

Developing a Budget During Retirement

Until I recently retired I had never worked to a strict budget and although I was well paid I was often caught short of money. Now receiving a fixed income from my Superannuation fund I have my finances under control and actually have more disposable income despite my income now being around 50% of what it previously was.

I did this by paying out the balance of my house loan with a lump sum from my Super payout and I set up a couple of new bank accounts and linked direct debit payments for all my regular payments such as insurance, council rates, health insurance, phone, and SAVINGS! For payments that couldn't be set up this way I have a separate account and a set amount goes directly into the account to cover the payments.

My fortnightly Superannuation payment goes directly into one account and then gets directly debited into the other accounts. The money that is left in the main account is what I have budgeted for food and petrol for my car and a small amount of spending money. This system works well for me, every $ is accounted for, the majority of my regular accounts are automatically paid and there is money in the other account for the few I have to pay myself.

For the first time in my life I am totally debt free, my accounts are all up to date, and I don't have to worry about not having money to pay them. My savings are regularly increasing because I'm not robbing them to pay bills. I am fortunate that my Super fund is a defined benefit which means I receive the same amount plus CPI increases for the rest of my life so I'm not at the mercy of how my Super fund performs in the stock market.

Retirement was something I was financially dreading but with this system in place I have absolutely no money worries, every payment is covered, even unexpected things like emergency repairs. I have money there if I want to treat myself or others and I am still accumulating savings. I don't go without anything. I didn't think it was possible but it does work. I just started by writing down every single thing I spent money on and my regular accounts and went from there. Retirement is great and even better with no financial worries!

By Beadiebug from Qld, Australia