Retirement Planning is a Civic Responsibilty

I received this headline in my email today from a Financial News Subscription service: "75% of Baby Boomers aren't prepared for retirement." I get this sense that many folks now approaching retirement age are looking over the meltdown of the prior months with a kind of glassy-eyed wonder and disbelief. I also get the feeling that many of this number are in fact part of the group that the news subscription service identifies as not being prepared for retirement.

It is this group that has me worried. A recent study of American workers by the Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that only 13% of retired persons think they will be able to live comfortably on their retirement savings. The reverberative effects of such numbers can be staggering. Consider this:By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will amount to almost 60% of the federal budget . This coverage is a good thing. But there is a tremendous risk that it will put future generations into a national debt and tax situation that is back-breaking. Strong individual investment strategies need to be hammered out now to prevent an untenable financial situation a few decades from now.

It is incumbent on all of us to be our own advocates in the face of difficult economic circumstances. It is important that we be stewards of our own financial security so that we are not simply transferring financial burden onto our heirs. There are sound and safe strategies that can be implemented today, and should be, to maximize retirement savings without sacrificing spending flexibility.

A large part of this discussion is to help people understand, they can still live comfortably throughout their retirement even though they have lost significant amounts of money due to the economic decline. The opportunities available for those approaching retirement have changed drastically over the years. Post and Pre retirees can continue to accumulate wealth for their estate and for themselves without having to experience any significant decrease in their retirement spending; with the correct application of guaranteed income riders available today.

An income rider pays out, without annuitization. This allows for more flexibility and access to emergency funds.

When you annuitize a contract you set a defined amount of income for a chosen duration of time without the ability of change. At the end of the chosen time period your funds have been completely withdrawal at a minimal interest rate. There for the trade-off for receiving this income is the loss of emergency liquidity and control. For instance, the amount of time you draw these funds cannot be adjusted. The amount of payment cannot be modified once annuitized.

Income riders allow you to exert more control over your income stream. You still have enough control to take more then the allotted income if needed. If you were to elect income from most income riders, the majority of your principal would still have the ability to be linked to a guarantee rate, an index or another form of growth potential unlike annuitization.

This alterative allows you to guarantee an income you can not out live as well as give you the opportunity for addition index linked or guaranteed interest rate gains.

Safe Money Representatives and Safe Money Resource Launch "Learn How to Retire" Web Resource

Safe Money Representatives and Safe Money Resource Launch "Learn How to Retire" Web Resource

Burlington City, NJ., 20 April, 2009 - In response to the continuing turmoil in today's financial markets, and the growing sense of unease, Safe Money Representatives announces the launch of their new digital retirement information resource http://www.learnhowtoretire.com. 

"Losing money has become a collective concern among those approaching retirement age. It is important that everyone confronts this concern through education, understanding, communication and planning.” says Brent Meyer, SMR President. 

"All financial objectives need to be put back on the table and evaluated. Our feeling is that now is the perfect time to start planning for your future and making sure the money you need to live on will be there for your retirement. There are amazing new strategies for accumulating wealth while protecting it from losses. We want to make sure every person interested in learning about retirement planning has the resource to understand what is available to them and is aware of their options." 

"More than anything, we want to facilitate conversations between investors and advisors so that every person interested in learning has access to qualified information and qualified advice. This is how LearnHowToRetire.com  will help thousands of people to protect their wealth and plan for a comfortable retirement. We don't disguise who we are or where we come from, but make it clear that LearnHowToRetire.Com is designed to be a research center for individuals looking to be educated on retirement planning, and to be a toolbox for investors reevaluating their investment strategies that are now more interested in Safe Alternatives for their clients. Now is the time for everyone to learn all they can about retirement in terms of financial preparedness and we are excited to be able to contribute.”

“LearnHowToRetire.Com is continually updated with Safe retirement strategies and advice from all over the web, and from our network of certified and trusted experts. We want investors and financial professionals to see all sides of the retirement planning conversation. We will launch a blog shortly to get the conversation going and to keep it going. We will also launch a live chat system to provide real-time answers to investors’ questions. This site is offered as a free service to individuals to learn about retirement from a safe perspective so they can make educated choices that are right for them. We are most concerned for the folks out there who don't have a financial plan in place as they approach retirement, and who could very shortly find themselves faced with having to select from a small set of very bad choices. Simply put: It is never to early or to late to learn how to retire."

Safe Money Resource, located in Burlington City NJ, is the resource hub for a network of qualified financial representatives who meet the highest standards of ethical conduct and have proven records of integrity, knowledge and respect for helping people make the right decisions in planning for their retirement. Safe Money Rep is an online tool that allows individuals to find certified, local financial professionals who can help walk them through different safe income planning and retirement planning options.

For more information about LearnHowToRetire.com, Safe Money Representatives or Safe Money Resource call (800)790-7791 or leave message at: 1-800-787-2406

Contact:

Brent Meyer

Safe Money Resource

351 High Street

Suite #201

Burlington City, NJ 08016

Phone:(800)790-7791

Fax:(609)747-0277

http://www.LearnHowToRetire.com

http://www.SafeMoneyResource.com

http://www.SafeMoneyRep.com

Never More Important Than Now: Learn How To Retire

Yesterday marked the official release of LearnHowtoRetire.com and we don't think it happened a moment too soon.  Given the economic climate today, everyone, young and old, should be giving careful consideration to retirement planning.  See this article posted last week by the AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hWfCM1tcJYNZv4Sq4t1uALg__bmgD97I1GS82 Economy dampens hope of a comfortable retirement, by David Pitt. Since this constitutes our first official bog entry, an evaluation of this article seems like a good place to start. The subject of the article is a recent study performed by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute, which has provided some very sobering insights into the role many American workers are taking in their own retirement planning process.  Here are some of the key takeaways cited in the article:

• 13% of US workers say they will be able to live comfortably in retirement.
• 20% of retired people surveyed believe they will be financially secure, down 50% from 1 year ago.
• Less than half of the workers surveyed have tried to calculate how much retirement savings they will need.
  
• Only 7 percent say they have used an Internet calculator
• Less than one fifth say they have checked with an advisor
• 41% of workers that don't have defined benefit retirement plan at work believe they have one

These are only a few of the statistics provided by the study. I urge you to read the article to get the full import of it's contents.  To me it is very concerning all around, but specifically from these three angles:

1. While only 13% of workers polled believe they will be able to live comfortably in retirement, less than 20% of those polled have discussed the matter with an advisor.
2. Many people believe they have a defined benefit plan at work, when in fact they have a defined contribution plan, or worse, no plan at all.
3. Only 44 percent of workers say they have tried to calculate how much money they'll need to have saved for retirement. Another 44% is just guessing.
   

This underscores the fact that individual investors aren't taking the appropriate action to educate themselves on retirement planning or haven't contacted a financial advisor to begin the process of calculating how much they will need in retirement.

I wonder if data like this indirectly points to a kind of distrust individual investors have developed for financial counselors given the financial upheaval over the last year.

One thing is for sure: Individuals, most importantly those of retirement age or appraoching it, cannot simply keep their fingers crossed and hope for the best.