Gear Yourself Up for Creating a Decent Retirement
By Shane Flait © 2011

You’ve moved past 55 years old and fast approaching retirement age. But you’re way behind on savings because of hard times, neglect, or financial catastrophe. What do you do now to salvage some financial security for your later years?  Create a philosophy of success!

First of all, it’s never too late to achieve realistic goals. With the right combination of perseverance, planning, and sacrifice, you can still retire in relative comfort even with a late start. Your strategy and frame of mind are critical to your success. No, we’re not counting on winning the lottery here, just setting up your strategy for success.

Retirement requires some assured income with expenses minimized to allow you to afford reasonable comfort and happiness. So we’ll address income generation first, followed by expense minimization.

Your retirement income will come from your social security, company pension, savings, and some part-time work.  It’s common to have no company pension these days with all the defined contribution plans that have exploded over the last 25 years. You can find out what social security benefits to expect by going to the social security website.

To produce savings for use later in your retirement, you’ll need to be more aggressive at saving. Realize that you’re statistically slated to live several decades more at 55. So there’s plenty of time for savings growth especially under tax-advantaged investments. You’ll maximize your savings for as long as possible.

You can contribute $5,000 per year with and additional $1,000 catch up for those over 50 to Traditional IRA and Roth IRA plans.  With 401(k)s and their Roth version you can contribute a lot more.  If you have your own business, there are more plans that allow you to make large contributions if you can create enough business income.

Maximizing savings may require extra sacrifice but you’re rearranging your life to survive and enjoy yourself - but on less! Start envisioning a philosophy of living on less by discerning what really is important for producing happiness. Shed all the frills and superfluous expenses. Work on your health by doing exercise and eating a healthful diet. This will pay off in later years.

Get out of debt now since it drains your ability to maximize savings. Trade down your auto and house for a healthy reduction in living expense.

If you’re an employee, consider starting a business on the side. One that you can do as you get older and almost anywhere is ideal business. Be sure to pick one you enjoy doing since you’ll probably be working past 65. Picking part-time, enjoyable work keeps you sharper during retirement, too 

Lastly, consider where you might live in the years to come. You may decide to move to a cheaper part of the U.S. or to Central or South America where you can live well on a lot less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Shane Flait is a writer and educator. See more at www.EasyRetirementKnowHow.com