Personal finance plan key to retirement planning
In the Social Security privatization debate, the conservative argument is that they want to turn America into an "ownership society" (Related article: Bush's real agenda for privatizing Social Security). Some conservative think tanks eventually want to push for private health insurance. But as even a six-year old will tell you, an "ownership society" means that we have to become more responsible about personal finances and also face a riskier future.
How to minimize risk of lower income during retirement?
Just ask those Americans whose 401(K) accounts turned into 201(K), as they joked about the value of their account becoming half within a matter of days/weeks? They were cheated by companies that basically cooked their books.
While personal retirement savings accounts, in theory, will allow us to become owners of our destiny (and probably wealthier, if we get lucky), there is a very strong chance that many Americans will either have close to zero retirement income or at least highly unstable income at a time in their lives when they are most susceptible to falling into poverty.
Here are a few things that you can do to protect yourself from lower retirement income:
As any rich person will tell you, no one ever got rich by working, and only a few get rich by saving, though both are important steps on a path to create wealth.
To create personal wealth, you have to make your money work for you. And you do not make your money work for you if you put it in a savings account. Real gains come when you make strategic investments (buy low, sell high). This is true for real estate as it is true for stocks.
Chances are that this seems like rocket science to you. But that should not scare you since it is way too important now that we are entering a period in our history that we are refusing to take care of our seniors and the younger Americans are refusing to take care of us. So do some research, learn what you can, and even hire a personal financial advisor if you can afford to.
Recommended article: Retirement planning for those who hate planning
How to minimize risk of lower income during retirement?
Just ask those Americans whose 401(K) accounts turned into 201(K), as they joked about the value of their account becoming half within a matter of days/weeks? They were cheated by companies that basically cooked their books.
While personal retirement savings accounts, in theory, will allow us to become owners of our destiny (and probably wealthier, if we get lucky), there is a very strong chance that many Americans will either have close to zero retirement income or at least highly unstable income at a time in their lives when they are most susceptible to falling into poverty.
Here are a few things that you can do to protect yourself from lower retirement income:
- Learn something about personal finance and retirement planning.
- Use what you learn to put together a plan for personal financial management.
- Be disciplined about saving and investing.
As any rich person will tell you, no one ever got rich by working, and only a few get rich by saving, though both are important steps on a path to create wealth.
To create personal wealth, you have to make your money work for you. And you do not make your money work for you if you put it in a savings account. Real gains come when you make strategic investments (buy low, sell high). This is true for real estate as it is true for stocks.
Chances are that this seems like rocket science to you. But that should not scare you since it is way too important now that we are entering a period in our history that we are refusing to take care of our seniors and the younger Americans are refusing to take care of us. So do some research, learn what you can, and even hire a personal financial advisor if you can afford to.
Recommended article: Retirement planning for those who hate planning
posted by eCreativa Media @ 3:02 PM
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