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Making Money Into Our Golden Years
By plrprousers | May 6, 2010
Let’s face it: These days, economic uncertainty is higher than ever and our once-safe retirement years may not be so safe, after all. Social Security is going broke, Medicare is projected to go broke by 2017. Add it all up and making money into our golden years might actually be something that is a mandatory requirement and not something to think about as a way of supplementing our retirement on an occasional basis.
Maybe now — while you’re sitting there thinking about how you’ve gradually come to develop leg arthritis from a youthful life spent doing wild and crazy things — is a good time to ponder on your future. Many studies have shown that we’re saving nowhere near the amounts we need to in order fund a nice retirement that reflects the lifestyle that many of us have grown accustomed to in our high-income earning years. Something’s got to give, though.
That’s why planning for a good retirement income NOW — rather than trying to cobble one together the year before one retires — is one of the single smartest things that can be done to ensure one won’t be relying ‘on the kindness of strangers, ‘ to quote the immortal Blanche DuBois of Tennessee Williams ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ fame. Making little changes to savings and investing activities in the present can pay off big time in the future.
And there are the key words; saving and investing. Are we doing any of it, really? And if we’re not, what are we going to do to start? We certainly have no shortage of financial advice available, what with the Internet and the plethora of business shows on the cable networks, so we probably get how stocks, bonds and mutual funds work, at least on a certain level. Even if the markets have been shaky of late, saving and investing is still the way to go.
As an example, take a look at a typical small business owner. He may have founded something like a fine costume jewelry wholesale distributor company, for instance. He has several employees but he’s still looking out for his own finances however he can. Does he have an IRA or two or has he set himself up with a thrift savings plan or a health savings account (good pre-tax advantages to that)? If not, all he’s got to rely on is Social Security, which isn’t good.
Unfortunately, he’s not going to be able to do much if he doesn’t have some savings in the bank, a few IRAs and maybe a 401(k) to help supplement the meager check he’s going to be getting from Social Security — if it even exists at all once he’s old enough to retire. And if he hopes to really enjoy his golden years, not having a concerted savings and investing plan NOW will end up costing him additional pain later, when he can least afford it.
So, then: What to do? Well, above everything else it’s necessary to develop a plan NOW rather than try to come up with one during the last five years of our working lives (though if that’s all the time we have, it’s better than nothing). Don’t sit back and assume that Social Security is going to be much more than a very small chunk of the money you’ll need to survive, in other words. Look to your financial health as you would your personal health.
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