Financial Planning and Resources

By Tina Marie

Retirees today face many challenges. The National Council On Aging (NCOA) say 54% of Seniors are still working due to being afraid of not having enough money for their needs. Some other concerns our aging have are the rising cost of prescription drugs, rising interest rates, inflation, a slowly recovering economy, social security taxation, and even worries about needing long-term health care.

There are many things that have changed in the retirement planning of yesteryear. The decrease of benefit pensions for seniors, and the predicted possible Social Security shortfalls almost assure that there will be changes made to the Social Security system.

Mostly these challenges and changes lead to a need for greater individual responsibility towards retirement planning. This means getting informed using resources, saving more money by making smart choices. This is why qualified retirement plans such as regular IRA’s and 401(K) Plans are becoming a critical tool to financial planning. Self-employed individuals should evaluate their contribution to their SEP-IRA contributions periodically to possibly increase those contributions to meet set goals and cost of living changes. Another good retirement planning vehicle is the Roth IRA. Its tax-free characteristic is a powerful incentive to reach for and obtain your retirement goals.

American’s can take advantage of tax-deferred, tax-advantaged and special government offered programs for seniors and boomers over age 62. There are many investment advisor firms and senior resources for financial planning. Don’t be caught off guard at retirement with our having the security and comfort of knowing your retirement affairs are in order.

Here are a few resources to information about financial planning for retirement:

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml

http://personal.fidelity.com/planning/retirement/retirement_planning.shtml.cvsr?imm_pid=1&immid=00361&imm_eid=e12817686&buf=999999

http://www.smartaboutmoney.org/LifeEventsFinancialDecisions/MajorLifeEvents/PlanningforRetirement/tabid/358/Default.aspx?gclid=CIOLxcW-waACFQtL5wodT1x9Yw