Yet, we have the responsibility and obligation to provide a secure retirement for ourselves and our spouses. The companies our parents worked for had an obligation to fund their pension plan to take care of all company employees through their retirement years. Unions were created for the same reason and pensions were their #1 concern. Social Security was the ”back-up plan” as a supplement, NOT as the primary source of revenue. When the FDR administration introduced the Social Security system, life expectancy was approximately 67 years old; where people were expected to collect for a few years and die. Last year the life insurance industry created annuity and actuarial tables to age 120 and expect millions alive today to live well beyond age 100. Of course the tables do not reflect the quality of life, health or financial status of these people, just that they will be here to ages once thought to be only Biblical in scope.

Today, American businesses have virtually eliminated the Defined Benefit Plan – a traditional pension plan, and replaced it with a Defined Contribution Plan – the 401k or the 403b. In essence, the companies have skirted a direct obligation to their employees and replaced it with a direct participation program, with no obligation to match funds, whatsoever. Now, the employee will ”get out” of the plan in direct proportion to what he/she ”puts in” to their plan. Problem is; no one has been taught what the required contributions are to ”guarantee” a comfortable retirement income and lifestyle, factoring in the effects of inflation and a lifespan possibly exceeding age 100. Without proper planning, most Americans will outlive their retirement portfolios, creating a generation of poverty-stricken extremely senior, Senior Citizens.

The government is ”charging” us with the responsibility to fund our own retirement with what’s left over after paying our income taxes (both state and federal), the high cost of living and the expenses of raising and educating our kids. The Government demands of us fiscal responsibility while they have none! They just print more money or increase revenue by increasing taxes or by eliminating deductions, a back-door tax increase. Don’t fool yourself by depending on Social Security either! There is no guarantee that you will receive it, as they just might make the eligible retirement age 80 to receive a full check; based on the mortality tables mentioned earlier, or eliminate it all together if your income or assets are above a certain percentage. They might even cut the benefits in half or scale it back based on need, need I say, as determined by them.

It is obvious, to this Retirement and Estate Planning Specialist, that the only sure way to ”make it” financially is… to fund it yourself, in savings and investment vehicles that are guaranteed* to be worth more tomorrow than yesterday and are guaranteed* to provide an income for life in a tax-advantaged environment. In addition, plans need to be implemented that will allow you to protect your portfolio from what I call the five forces of portfolio demise: Liability, Expense of Health Care, Expense of Long-Term-Care, Taxes at Death and Market Losses.

There is a solution to this inevitable situation and that is to acquire a pension plan, one that is guaranteed* to provide an income stream for the rest of the pensioner’s life! Since companies are basically sending those types of plans the way of the dinosaur, where can a person create and fund a plan that will provide a monthly check for the rest of their life and even their spouse’s lifetime too, just like the pensions of the ”old days”? And, since we might live to age 100 and beyond, the perfect pension-like plan would also have the opportunity to provide an increasing income to keep pace with inflation while also providing a way to cancel the income stream in lieu of a lump-sum withdrawal at anytime we choose. I am thrilled and proud to report that there are savings and investment vehicles available, through age 90, that when combined, may accomplish all of these retirement and estate planning goals.

Interested in learning how? Great! All you need to do is: 1st Keep reading my column and tell others to do the same. 2nd Attend my workshops when you see them advertised in local papers. 3rd Visit our website frequently for current information. 4th If not fast enough for you, call my office for a non-obligatory, absolutely no-cost consultation to discuss your particular needs and questions, where I will share with you the techniques and strategies I believe will best accomplish your financial goals and objectives – it’s that simple.

In closing, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my column and I hope you will avail yourself of the opportunity to meet with me, one on one; to join our American Prosperity Group family of clients and enjoy the Peace of Mind that comes with Professional Retirement, Estate and Long-Term-Care Planning!

Retirement is a subject that you cannot afford to postpone for long. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with sooner, rather than left for later. Pre-retirement planning online seminars can prove to be beneficial to not only those who are nearing the age of retirement, but also in the case of those who would like to start early preparations in order to secure their future. These seminars provide all the useful information on how to create a financially stable plan that can be executed in order to yield a sustained retirement income. These cater to every individual phase of a career, irrespective of whether you are just in the initial stages or at the peak of it. In these seminars, you get an opportunity to avail of some sound advice from some of the well known professionals from different walks of life. In short, online pre-retirement planning seminars are a feasible solution to help you to financially secure your life after retirement.

Besides providing all the essential data on how to go about planning for your retirement and preparing you emotionally so that you can make a comfortable switch over, they also focus on the retirement process by teaching you the basics. They address when to retire and various other post-retirement considerations that you need to take into account, before you finally decide to retire. Online pre-retirement seminars are also an ideal source of information on numerous other topics like the 401(k) plan, the social security benefits, and other emotional and financial issues associated with retirement. These online seminars also discuss and teach you how to calculate your retirement income after you have considered a broad range of factors influencing it. These include the ever rising rate of inflation, diversification of your financial resources in different options, investing in insurance policies and retirement programs.

Undoubtedly retirement can be an exciting period in life, but at the same time it can also prove to be very challenging transition. An online pre-retirement planning seminar deals with topics like the eligibility requirements for various payment options that one can avail of after retirement, ways to accumulate your retirement income, making emotional adjustments after retirement, pension plans, learning to maintain legal transparency, planning for health care facilities, tax deferred annuity accounts and assistance with financial planning. These seminars are perfect for employees from all age groups since, they not only address the needs and requirements of employees above 50, but also those under the age of 50. They offer counseling services and are very often provided by the companies that the employees are working for.

Building a Successful Practice: It is estimated that 70-80% of investors who deal with a stockbroker, financial planner or advisor will change advisors before retirement. Some will make the change while in their fifties, others will wait until their early or mid-sixties. The reason for the change is simple: Investors view their financial person as being “growth oriented,” an accumulator who is not an expert when it comes to structuring income. When the change is made, a retirement specialist is sought.

Clients Change Advisors: Over the past couple of years, the brokerage industry has begun to promote retirement income, but the campaign has been limited and met with skepticism by investors. After all, advisory account compensation is based on assets under management–distributions only erode the advisor/broker base. The retirement benefit specialist has a very different agenda: maximizing periodic distributions at an acceptable risk level.

Investors are generally loyal to their broker or advisor, but such a relationship usually ends once the investor gets serious about retirement planning. It is not that they no longer like their advisor, they simply view this person as not having the expertise to help them with the income phase of their life. Enter the retirement plan specialist.

Retirement Specialist: The vast majority of your peers and competitors promote themselves as being able to do everything for the investor. This makes it difficult for any advisor to differentiate themselves. It is always the specialist we seek out when a problem arises (e.g., car mechanics who specialize in foreign cars, the doctor who only does a certain type of eye surgery, etc.). This is a lesson brokers, planners and advisors have still not learned. For example, how often do you see an advisor who advertises as a “retirement plan specialist” or simply a “retirement specialist?”

The specialist makes the most money and has the least complicated life. A retirement benefit specialist can hone his skills by concentrating on a very narrow aspect of the financial services industry, thereby differentiating himself and minimizing concerns.

Even though it appears the retirement specialist is “leaving money on the table,” the reality is quite different. A portion of a client’s portfolio may be in CDs, government securities and fixed-rate annuities, but another part may be in growth-oriented mutual funds that include a systematic withdrawal plan. And, just because someone is in an income mode does not mean she no longer needs insurance or no longer desires to fund a grandchild’s college fund.

Competitive Edge: During a brokerage firm’s annual meeting in a big conference hall, someone from Harley Davidson rides down the aisle in a motorcycle towards the podium. He parks the bike, steps up to the podium, looks at the audience of surprised advisors and says, “What’s your sound?” Harley’s have a special sound but how many brokers do you know have their own “sound?” No one can distinguish the sound between a Honda, Suzuki, BMW or other bike–except a Harley. This is why the company has trademarked their sound.

What makes you different? Why would someone want you to manage their money instead of a neighbor, friend or golfing buddy who does the same thing? Investment products have largely become “commoditized” and offered by everyone. Ed Slott has made a fortune by becoming the IRA-go-to-guy; he is frequently quoted in publications and is considered an expert. Ed has a lucrative practice of advising brokers, and fee-based seminars and referrals. Someone else could have filled such a position, but Ed was first and will probably not be replaced. You could become the retirement plan specialist in your county or the retirement specialist that is referred by accountants and lawyers.

Understand Your Customers and Prospects: People seek out and feel comfortable with a specialist. The first step to becoming an income specialist or retirement specialist is to obtain certification marks that distinguish you from others. Being a designee shows everyone that you have the specialized training necessary to handle their income needs.

Copyright (c) 2010 Cory Bowman

In a broad context, prudence is a virtuous principle that brings to mind careful consideration and foresight-among other things. In terms of economics or accounting, prudence is a fundamental principle that facilitates estimation in an uncertain context. It advocates that you should not overestimate your possessions or underestimate your liabilities and expenses.

As such, we can understand how prudence plays a significant role in a retirement calculation. A retirement calculation uses the premise that you can use present information for planning purposes. No one can argue that the future is certain. Since a retirement calculation requires you to determine or estimate a number of variables, it is important that you avoid creating a pretty picture by favourably overstating and understating critical variables in the calculation.

==Your salary/ salary increase ==

It is generally easy to use a fair estimate from you salary, especially if your salary or salary increases are consistent and predetermined. However, some persons have variable income and/or variable salary increases. In cases like these, it is important to be prudent. If you are in a commissioned job, you should use an average commission, since using your lowest or highest will skew your retirement calculation. For those who do not have preset salary increases, it is better to use a salary increase rate that is on par with inflation at minimum.

== The rate of inflation ==

The rate of inflation is a critical aspect of the retirement calculation as well. It determines whether you can maintain purchasing power with your retirement income. However, inflation fluctuates regularly, making it necessary to use a projected average for future inflation. According to the principle of prudence, since inflation has a negative effect, it is better to overstate it, so that you can easily adjust to worst-case scenarios.

== Your average accumulation rate ==

Many persons would love to get rates of return of 12% and 14%. Indeed, it is tempting to use such ambitious figures when performing a retirement calculation. However, a sensibly diversified retirement portfolio would do well to return those figures on average over a long period. Therefore, it is actually better to understate your accumulation rate, instead of overplaying it when plugging in your figures.

== Target percentage of pre-retirement income ==

When you retire, you should have an idea of what percentage of your retirement income you wish to receive. For example, if you have ambitious retirement plans, you might wish to retain 100% of your last income before retirement. Since many pre-retirees do not properly consider this aspect of planning, they often call an arbitrary percentage or one that is understated. Since there are many risks of retirement, it is far better to reclaim a higher percentage of your pre-retirement income (closer to 100%). Although some of your retirement expenses may be reduced, you have post-retirement inflation and health risks with which to contend.

Several other instances might require you to apply prudence when performing a retirement calculation. The important thing is to avoid presenting an unrealistically favourable estimate of your financial readiness for retirement and allow you to perceive a realistic worst-case scenario. When doing your retirement calculation, you are free to juggle certain figures, such as your average accumulation rate. You should juggle as many variables as you could to provide a worst-case estimate of your financial readiness for retirement.

Think about all the pre-retirees and retirees who did not make any provisions for the economic downturn of 2007/2008. Those who were prudent would have understood that such things can happen. Even though they were still affected, they would likely have limited their losses by managing their risk carefully. Retirees who were optimistic instead of prudent suffered substantial losses and had no idea how to recover. Establishing prudence in your retirement calculations prevents you from unpleasant surprises arising out of a harsh reality check.

You don’t have to do a lot investigating to find some good retirement planning advice these days. You shouldn’t wait to long on following up on that advice. There will come a day that starting to save up for those golden years is to late. Then you will have to keep working just to keep your head above water. Many people somehow seem to believe that you have to wait until a certain age before you can start saving up for your retirement. That is not true, you can even start saving up for your children if you want to. That may be a strange idea, saving up for your children’s retirement but if you can spare the money why not?

Planning a retirement advice

First thing you need to find out by yourself is what you already know about retirement planning and start from there. Find out how much money you think you will need once you retire. And don’t think about what you need just to get by but imagine how much money you would need to do all the things you want to do when you don’t have to work anymore. Remember you have all the time of the world at that stage so you should do some fun things and those cost money. So think of a larger amount then what you would need when you are still working. Also let’s not forget that pesky thing called inflation take that in to account as well.

Then the next step would be to take that number to a specialist, find yourself a retirement advisor or consultant and show him or her the number you have in mind that you want at the end of you working career. The specialist will tell you if that number is reasonable and how you can accomplish that amount. They can offer you retirement planning advice with things like retirement income stream, savings strategies etc. etc.

Some extra tips

The above is of course very basic advice and without knowing your personal situation it is probably the most anybody can give you. You can never start to soon with saving up for your retirement planning. Always review your benefit statements because these individual statements show the total plan and the invested amount.

Do you know the retirement plan of your spouse? It wouldn’t be the first time that a retirement plan provides a benefit for the spouse and sometime they are not aware of this fact and are thus missing out on a savings opportunity. Take a look at your social security statement, which is another great tip, the administration of the social security will send a statement each year some three months before a person’s birthday.

Preparing for and planning your retirement is an important task, maybe be something you don’t want to think about at this moment but it should not be put off until later. When you pushing it forward the chances are you need to save larger amounts of money just to reach your projected end target. Maybe you need some professional help, and most people do, then don’t be afraid to make an appointment at a financial institution of browse the internet and look for companies specialised in the subject of retirement planning advice.