Is Retirement Just a Convenient Invention?
January 29, 2008
Retirement is just a convenient invention created years ago as an avenue to clear the work place for new blood. Retirement is a stage of life that could, for some, last anywhere from 5 to as many as 20 years. The sooner you realize that retirement is just an extension of living, the better equipped you will be to plan for this event. Even though retirement is seen as a time to stop working, you might want to continue working well into your retirement years.
Money is important when planning for your retirement but you should also plan for the free time you will have once you retire. Many people say they do not have a lot of money; but the enjoyment they are getting from life is more than worth it.
Baby boomer retirees will place enormous demands on already strained Social Security resources – in fact, some suggest it will begin running cash deficits in 2018. In the future, fewer and fewer workers will receive regular pension checks, and Social Security simply won’t keep pace with inflation, especially health care inflation. After all, the headlines suggest that corporate America is chipping away at its leg of the proverbial retirement stool just as the personal savings rate hits all-time lows and Social Security’s long-term imbalances loom larger.
Since traditional pensions are rapidly disappearing, American workers increasingly need to take responsibility for their own retirement savings, usually through a 401k, an IRA or a similar tax-preferred investment. As a result, fewer retirees will receive the regular monthly pension checks that many employers once paid.
Benefits are based on the age at which the worker retires, and his/her average annual earnings. You also may be entitled to benefits based on the Social Security-covered earnings of your spouse or former spouse. Currently, even when you receive full benefits, Social Security only provides roughly 40 percent of pre-retirement income.
The cost of health care in retirement is large, because people tend to be ill more frequently in later life. Your retirement plans should go well beyond finances because a happy retirement is about much more than money. Even though retirement is seen as a time to stop working, you might want to continue working well into your retirement years.
I hope you will be one of those who can say “Retirement is better than I thought it was going to be”.
Peter Fisher is an expert Author and Publisherof Ready for Retirement? where you will finds tons of Retirement Facts to help you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Fisher
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