What could be the best thing that could happen to a retiree? A handful of savings, spouse and grand kids around, a healthy body and of course, a financially stable lifestyle. That’s it! If you’re a smart individual, you would be thinking about your retirement from an early age.

But if you’re not, don’t worry because today we are going to discuss some of the best habits of smart retirees that you can also adopt in your life. Read on… and learn more about them.

1. Smart Retirees are Great Planners

First and foremost, smart retirees are absolutely great planners. They plan their future when they are in their mid-thirties and mid-forties or even earlier than that. Obviously, not every part of the plans become successful but they ensure that the most important aspects of their plan are fulfilled.

So, what do we learn from them?

Well, in order to be a smart retiree and to have a secure life even after you stop work, you need to start planning. Consider a goal in different aspects of your life such as wealth, health, family, charity, post-retirement activities and start working on these plans one after the other.

To create a proper plan of your financial security, take help from your family, friends and even financial advisors. Remember, since this is going to determine how well you would live your life after retirement, don’t make any hasty decisions.

Usually seeking help from elders who have managed to create a successful retirement life for themselves also help in great ways. Ask them how exactly they planned, what challenges did they face and how did they overcome it.

Put your entire plan about your retirement on a piece of paper; results have shown that plans on paper get 60% more results than plans that are not on paper. Don’t just plan well but stick to that plan until you meet them.

2. Smart Retirees Are Health-Conscious

What separates people of same group (60+) and similar financial conditions? It’s their health of course. Smart retirees are always conscious about their health. They not only indulge themselves in physical activities but also take care of their diet.

You know, good savings and being financially stable would mean nothing if you require to spend that money on improving your health. Most insurance companies, unfortunately, don’t pay a major portion of the healthcare bill. So, savings that go into your treatment wouldn’t get you any benefits.

Of course, you can get well with it but being healthy saves that too. This is what smart retirees focus on.

Don’t worry if you’re in your mid 40s or your mid 50s; it’s never late to start taking care of your health. Start any physical activity today; recent research has shown the morning jog can increase lifespan up to 5 years and it’s an incredible fact. Or begin with walking 30 minutes per day.

These small steps can help you improve your health drastically. Along with a physical activity, also start maintaining your diet. Stop eating junk food that can spoil your health in the long run.

Over a period of time, when you find yourself, more energized, healthier and physically active, you can lead a comfortable and healthy lifestyle.

3. Smart Retirees Are Family Oriented

The mistake that most people make is – when they think of retirement, they only think of financial stability. But, in reality, there are plenty of things that make the post-retirement life perfect. And, family is one of the most important aspects of it. With the money, with health if you’re alone with nobody to talk to, then it would all look worthless to you.

Smart retirees are surrounded by their family members, friends, ex-colleagues, etc. They go to parties and travel around with their families. So, in other words, smart people are very social and have the art of dealing with people around.

They not only keep themselves happy but people around them also happy. They value relationships and ensure that work doesn’t affect relationships and relationships don’t affect work.

So, being an aspirant of successful post-retirement time, you need to start working on balancing your work/life and valuing relationships.

In order to become a socially active individual, start talking and listening to people that matter to you. Take out separate time that can help you create a lasting impression in their hearts and minds.

So, if you want to be among smart retirees who enjoy every comfort of life after their retirement, you need to start getting more family oriented. The sooner you get, the better!

4. Smart Retirees Are Inspiration to Youngsters

Although, not necessary, one great aspect of smart retirees is that they are an inspiration to youngsters. What most people fail to realize is that – while it is significant to be healthy, wealthy and socially active, smart retirees have a sense of responsibility upon them and they make their best efforts to help the younger generations.

They are wise, knowledgeable, and support their children from wrong-doings. They help their children from making the same mistakes that they made. In other words, they mentor them and guide through different aspects of life.

Therefore, you as an individual should start preparing your children for the hardships they will face in life.

The point we’re trying to make here is – if you only think about yourself and don’t educate your children about different aspects of life, then they won’t be happy. And, when they are not happy, you would also not be satisfied with your life.

Plus, when you act as a role model for your children, they would look up to you and they’ll respect you. When you fall ill, they will be there for you and support you through that phase.

5. Smart Retirees Are Never Idle

Another key trait of smart people is that, they always choose a post-retirement activity that can keep them engaged. It doesn’t have to be a 10-6 job but it can be anything like, conducting 1-2 hours classes for youngsters in your field. You can train them and help them have better career.

Or it can also be contributing in charities (of course, only when you have good savings) or even traveling once a quarter to a new destination. The key here is not to sit idle at home and do nothing.

Rather than doing nothing, it is always great to engage in things that you couldn’t do in your pre-retirement time. A lot of people say, “let me first build a career and I’ll do it post-retirement” or things like “I always want to travel but never have enough time.”

You know, life always takes unexpected turns and a lot of times, you don’t get to accomplish what you dream of. But although, you don’t work on that one particular desire at times because of your daily life, you can work on it post-retirement.

These are things that you can do once you’re done with your day-to-day life. And, smart retirees always pursue their undone tasks, dreams and wishes. And, if you do that, you’ll also be counted among them.

To conclude, there are several smart and intelligent people around our lives that aspire to be. For people on the verge of retirement, it’s about how they can lead a successful post-retirement life. If you’re also among them, then you need to have the above 5 traits of smart retirees. As simple as that!

Almost all of us start saving money when we start earning so that we can accumulate a handsome amount and use it to live our post retirement life in a lavish manner. If you are a government worker, you will have an automated monthly pension.

But, if you do not want to be all idle in your retirement years then you can generate income in a way which is not hectic, is enjoyable and can complement your savings. As a freelancer, you have a treasure chest full of opportunities. We’ll look at six of those.

1. Be a Freelance Consultant

The reach of experience is farther than your office work. The experience you gain throughout your professional life can be used after your retirement. You can convert this experience and be a freelance consultant.

You can consult businesses, students, young entrepreneurs and entry seekers into your field of work by inviting them to your recreational activities to obtain these connections and resources. You can either open up a firm or start online consulting. This post retirement work will give you and others much content of heart and will be good for all persons.

2. Be an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is an easy skill. In this your work will be to help companies gain profit by bringing customers to them. You will be paid a commission every time a customer buys the company’s product or uses their service through your reference.

With all those years of knowing people and making connections, you can have an easy task of affiliate marketing. There also is an option of opening up an online store or directory. This will earn you money through companies of the products you have listed and through online advertisements.

3. Real Estate and Stock Investment

From the retirement money that you have accumulated, you can invest in the real estate business. The real estate market has good opportunities and once again, through your experience, you can get contacts for this.

Stock investment is another good financial investment idea. All you need to do is buy a share in the stock market – a small share. Over time this small share’s value will increase and you will have earned much profit from it.
A good amount of time spent in researching the stock market will give you a better idea of how it works and you can invest in the best and most promising stocks.

4. Blogging

Web blogging is one way of earning from anything you love. You sure do have a lot of hobbies, talents and skills. You’d have much knowledge upon areas of public interest like politics, literature, myths, science, art, etc. You can write on these and many subjects or make video blogs and post them on your blogs.

Blogs generate income through online advertisement among many other ways. In this world of international web network, you have endless post retirement blogging opportunities. Once again, your experience is of much help.

5. Start Your Own Franchise

This, for most cases, is not about opening up a million dollar franchise. There are many areas where you can start your own thing. If you have a knack for cooking and you’re good at it, you can start your own restaurant.

If you are good at fashion designing, you can start a brand of clothing, if you love making small or big sculptures or love collecting artifacts, you can start an antique shop.

Depending upon your interest and skills, you can start any type of franchise. You have all the time, money, space and of course experience to start one.

6. Total Freelancing

Freelancing is the best option for anyone who retires. You can merge the above to do easy multitasking. Let us look at an example using your talent as a chef. You can open up a restaurant.

You can make a website of your restaurant, write blogs on how to make dishes and the dishes you invent, along with the blog you can sell your dishes online and can sell your recipes to huge food enthusiasts.

From the income generated, you can invest in the stock market and real estate. From the profit made in the stock market, you can expand your franchise.

With your experience and by establishing your name in this new franchise, you can raise your status and if you are very good at it, you can be a judge in cooking shows or can start a cooking class. The options are plenty.

The Choice is Yours!

Post retirement life is all about using your years of hard work, and experience to earn money through something you love and which doesn’t interrupt in your retirement enjoyment activities. You are a free bird who can travel in any direction. The choice is yours. You can either idle away your retirement or spice it up and make it far better than your entire life has been!

If you don’t save money for your retirement, you could end up helpless and dependent on other people in your old age. Fortunately, there is a simple way to figure out how much money you need to save for retirement that does not require a lot of complex formulas or assumptions on your part.

First, add up all of your current expenses and financial liabilities. Next, add up all of your future expected liabilities. For example, if you expect to take care of your spouse in her old age, then you would need to adjust your liabilities to assume that you will be the only one drawing an income. If you expect to travel when you retire, this would be another expense to figure in.

Since it’s difficult to know exactly how much future expenses will be, assume that all future expenses in today’s dollars. In other words, assume that you’re going to retire tomorrow, and you need to provide for all of your retirement needs right now. Subtract any other income you expect to receive from the total amount of your expenses. For example, if your expenses total $40,000 for the year, but you expect to receive a $12,000 annual Social Security income benefit, then subtract $12,000 from $40,000 since Social Security will pay for part of your total expenses.

Next, write down the age at which you want to retire. Calculate this in terms of how many years you must save. For example, if you’re 35 and you want to retire at 65, then you have 30 years of saving ahead of you.

Think about how much you can realistically earn through investing. For most people, the interest rate you should assume will be a fixed rate and not a variable rate. Investing in the stock market does come with potentially higher returns than investing in bond-based investments. However, it also adds a level of uncertainty about how much you ultimately need to save over the long-term. Since a stock market correction can dramatically increase your savings needs, assume you will invest in a fixed-interest investment over the long-term.

For example, if you think you can reasonably earn 5 percent over the long-term, use this percentage as your long-term investment interest assumption. Then divide your total expenses by the assumed interest rate you think you can achieve.

If your total current and future expenses are $40,000 per year, less $12,000 of Social Security income, then your total expenses would really only be $28,000. Then you would divide this amount by 5 percent (.05). The resulting figure is $560,000. This is the total retirement savings you must have in today’s dollars to generate $40,000 per year of income without touching your principal amount.

It’s easiest to use a simple retirement calculator, like the one available through Bloomberg (bloomberg.com/personal-finance/calculators/retirement), to figure out how much money you should save every month to meet your goal. In this example, you would need to save $8,428.80 per year to meet a retirement goal of $560,000. That translates into $702.40 per month that you need to save. You also need to factor in inflation over the next 30 years. This is simple to do. Just increase the amount of your monthly savings every year by the rate of inflation published by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Post contributed by Elizabeth Goldman, on behalf of Wonga.ca

I’m getting excited for Spring to get here and start enjoying the outdoors in beautiful Colorado. But Summer days aren’t about not having school anymore. I have been thinking and preparing my retirement a lot lately and I need to keep focused on creating income generating assets. I hope you find my research as useful as it is to me.

Have you planned your retirement? Have you tried to assess your financial condition relating to your retirement? Do you have in your mind that retirement planning is to be done even when your retirement age or are at the borderline of it?

If you think so, then you are wrong. Contrary to popular belief, retirement planning must be done at the same time you start to earn. Yes, this is the wisest decision. Everyone has dreams, dreams of post retirement life when they can go around the world or visit places of recreation or buy that very expensive car when they always wanted.

To fulfill these dreams, you need to structure your financial pyramid around a lush and green land of proper retirement thinking instead of around an unplanned and dry desert. For this you need to reassess your financial planning.

Good financial planning for post retirement life will positively affect you, your spouse, your children and your grandchildren. It will reassure them that yes you are not needy and that you are not a burden on anyone. It will assure you that you are independent until your breath ceases or you are in a position to turn your dreams into reality.

Studies show that those who properly plan their retirement are more likely to have a good effect on their children and grandchildren. They feel safe that their parents and grandparents will not go through financial troubles.

There are many factors that determine a good post retirement life. And in the same way there are several ways to make your post retirement life enjoyable.

1. First select the age when you want to retire. The official retirement age is 60-65 and the voluntary retirement age is 50-55 years. The advantages of early retirement plan are that you get more youthful time to enjoy your retirement.

By retiring early you can work harder, accumulate more amount of money for retirement purposes and spend at least ten years of youthful life.

The disadvantage is you need to work a lot more than you usually do to make up for the ten years early retirement. Moreover, due to retiring before the allotted retirement age, you will lose upon a horde of benefits set for those choose official age of retirement. And your pension will also be decreased significantly.

If you retire at the proper age of retirement that is the age of 60-65 years, you will get the proper pension allotted by the government. You can work even more and have a bonus of plus 10 years of income to add up to your retirement plans. You will be benefited with the many normal retirement age benefits too.

2. You can plan for automatic earning. This can be done by buying a piece of land which is in demand, and over the years the value of this piece of land will increase significantly. When you retire, or before you retire, you can sell this property in that future market price and have yourself benefited with automatic money.

Another way of garnering automatic money is to build a home and give it for rent. You can accumulate this rent along with your monthly office earning and use this additional money for your post retirement plans.

3. Meet a good retirement planner. Retirement planners look after your tax issues, mortgage issues, guide you in better saving and investing options, etc.

4. You can choose between saving and investing money. You can either save money from your monthly income, keeping aside a particular amount of income and accumulating it for your retirement plans.

5. You can invest money in the stock market. Stock market investments are legal jackpots in a way. You may buy a very small share of a particular firm and over the years, when this company’s value significantly increases, your eyes will feast upon a lot of money to fulfill your post retirements plans or even plan an early retirement.

But proper and detailed research must be conducted regarding the stock market, the differences between stocks, the condition of the company, a background check of the company, and its potential it truly has.

6. If you possess a particular talent which you haven’t professionally utilized, then you can make use of it to earn extra income for your post retirement.

If you are a hobby artist or a casual blogger and you are good at this, you can utilize them, apart from your original job and if your talent is recognized, it is all the better for you!

Retirement plans are to be made at a very early age. Following the above tips, I can say that your post retirement dreams have a good chance of being turned into beautiful reality. The only thing left is to put the initiative into motion.

If you are part of Generation Y, you still have over thirty years until you are close to retirement age and if you have been paying attention, even a little bit, you will have heard that it is going to be harder for your generation than any other of the modern age.

The sad truth is that Generation Y’ers are going to get less help from the government and their employers than the generations of the past. This puts more of the retirement pressure on your shoulders. You have to invest smartly now in order to see the returns that will allow you to stop working as you get older.

Generation Y people will still need to have the IRA’s, 401k’s, CD’s and Money Market accounts for retirement, but at this point you need to put your focus, and your money, into riskier investments that have the potential to build your net worth faster. It’s even more important for Generation Y’ers to have a good balance of safe accounts and high risk accounts than ever before.

The retirement goal of a Generation Y’er should be between at least $1 to 2 million and this is shooting for a retirement age of 70. What that really means is a 25 year old will need to put away at least $7,000 annually with an 8 percent annual return. Does that feel a little daunting?

There are some things that you can, and should, be doing now to start getting you ready for that retirement down the road. It might seem far away, but the more you can do now to prepare, the easier it will be for you when the time does come.

• Employer Help – If you have the opportunity to have an employer sponsored retirement plan you should be taking advantage of it, and now. Every penny that your employer puts into your retirement account, is a penny that you don’t have to. With their help you can reach your retirement goals sooner.

• Get a Roth IRA – Most Generation Y’ers are in a lower income tax bracket. By putting money into a Roth IRA now, you are helping yourself with tax costs in the future. Every post-tax dollar you put into an IRA is tax money saved down the road when you start to withdrawal from that account.

• Deposit Accounts – These accounts are safe, which means that they don’t pay very high returns. Most deposit accounts interest rates are so low that they’re not really worth it. But every so often a bank will offer a special rate for a CD or Money Market account that makes it worthwhile. These are longer term investment opportunities that can help you to boost your savings along the way. You have to make sure to research the banks in your area and get the best rate you can find.

• Stocks – As a Gen Y’er you have a ways to go until you hit retirement age, which means you can take higher risks with your stock investments. If you don’t want to deal with stocks yourself work with someone that can help you. Keep in mind that this is still a risky business, but since you have a longer time to recover from any economic downturns you also have the potential to earn big too.

Overall you need to determine how much money you need to have and at what age you want to retire. By creating an end goal you can more easily see how you are going to get there. You can find many retirement calculators online to help you crunch the numbers and help you get on your way to a comfortable retirement.

Retirement is often met with apprehension but everyone has to retire at some point in their lives and the process of doing so has indeed altered over the last few years. It is always best to start saving for retirement early in order to build up interest. Given the current economic climate you will earn as much by saving for ten years between the ages of 25-35 and ‘sitting on it’ as you would by saving at the same rate from 35-retiring as it would be earning for longer. Whether you are just starting to enter the work force or rounding the corner towards the end of it, you will want to consider the following factors before you retire.

How Do You Want to Spend Your Retirement?
In such times it’s good to plan anything and retirement is no exception. It’s good to have an idea of where you would like to go and what you would like to do when you retire. Once you have an idea in place, put together a financial plan to support your retirement dreams. It’s easier to achieve your target if you have you have one and adhere to it, so that you will be able to live a quality of life without being financially strapped. It is always best to pay off any debts you may have before entering retirement. However in today’s economic climate that may be extremely difficult, so doing our utmost to minimise them where possible is vital. You then need to plan your future finances by putting together a budget for your future & retirement living expenses and bills. Make sure to consider a rise in the cost of living, gifts, emergency-funds and taxes. It might be wise to consult with a financial planner to ensure you are prepared.

Your mortgage and Estate Planning
It may be a difficult subject to think about but it’s necessary to have this in order to protect your assets. Review your estate plan and update your will. It’s extremely helpful to know who will get what when you leave this earth. If you don’t have a will or trust, have an attorney draw one up while you are still alive. This makes it easier on those you leave behind.

When thinking of retiring, take a look at your mortgage situation. Are you still paying off your home? Are you going to sell? Do you need to refinance? Before you retire is a great time to look at your financing needs as it may be more difficult to obtain a loan once you’re retired. If, however, you are lucky enough to own your own home then your options are plenty. You may wish to consider downsizing or moving to a holiday home and cashing in on the difference. Another option, if the house has been a mainstay in your life full, of memories and you don’t wish to move out of it, is to consider equity release, again you may wish to see a financial planner before doing this.

Physical and Mental Health
Another factor to consider before you retire is your health. Being physically and mentally sound will be detrimental in how you experience your golden years. Make sure to exercise, eat right and find mentally stimulating activities to do every day. Health care costs are on the rise and it could be financially debilitating if you don’t have a reserve in place for emergencies. It’s important to make sure you have health care costs factored into your monthly budget when you retire.

Retirement should be an exciting time in your life, yes it is a big transition and a big change in your lifestyle, but you’ve earned it. It’s a way to start another chapter and find creative things to do with your time. Some people travel, go back to school and golf. Whatever you do, make sure you are financially prepared to enjoy your retirement with peace of mind.

This article was written by Jem Mosley. He is enthusiastic about both health and finance issues and has focused on equity release as a specific area given the economic climate. You can follow Jem now on twitter at @writerjem to find out more.

There is no such thing as too early or too late to start saving for retirement. Of course, the earlier you start, the better off you will be in the long run, but any hesitancy right now is completely unjustified. You should start saving for your retirement right now if you are not saving already. While nobody likes to think about it, a day will come when you do not want to work or you can’t work anymore. When we think about saving for retirement, most of us imagine living a life free of responsibilities – something that only the wealthy can afford to do or only older people have to worry about. But everyone should be worried about what they will do when they can no longer bring in a steady income.

What is retirement, really? We’re all getting older all the time, and there’s no way to stop that process. Retirement is the way we talk about what we will do when we are no longer working. In the United States, there is no way to live cheaply enough to survive on Social Security alone, so you have to have a secondary source of income. Many people ensure they can live cheaply by focusing on paying off a mortgage. If you own your home you will not need to make those monthly payments.

But you still need to find a way to buy food and do the things you enjoy doing, like go to the movies, buy books or whole seasons of your favorite TV shows, or travel and spend time with your loved ones. Everything you do costs money, and people take for granted how much money they will need to retire happily. Yes, one day you will need that money more than you think you need it now.

There are many routes to ensuring that you have enough money to retire whether you want to or need to retire. If you are employed full-time, it is likely that you have the option to invest in a 401(k) plan. Some employers offer matching, which is free money and you should maximize that benefit. Even without matching a 401(k) plan is a great way to put away money for the future. Your contributions to your 401(k) will come out of your paycheck before taxes are taken out, which means you pay no tax on income that you save for retirement.

Alternatively, anyone can open an IRA. IRAs are designed for people who want to save for retirement and get a tax benefit, but do not have the option of a 401(k). If you open an IRA, you can contribute as much as $5,000 per year (depending on your age) and then you can claim that savings on your tax return. There is a maximum amount that you can claim as a tax write-off, so find out what that is if you are hoping to get a bigger write-off than is legally available.

Both 401(k)s and IRAs are designed to encourage you to save as well as discourage you from taking that money out before you turn 65. If you want to withdraw the money early, you can, but you will pay an incredibly tax to do so. As much as 30% of the total can be withheld as a penalty for early withdrawal.

Retirement savings plans have other benefits as well as pitfalls. If you want, you can invest your retirement contributions in stocks and bonds, and the amount of risk you take depends on you. When you sign up for an IRA or 401(k), you have the option to invest in an array of products. If you choose a risky portfolio, you may lose your retirement funds if that risk turns out to be a bad choice, and it may take a lot of time for you to earn back the total and earn more on top. If you choose a safe portfolio, you can expect that money to slowly grow over time. Most people choose a portfolio that balances the slow but steady safe investments with a few risky but potentially fast-growing investments.

For most people, the amount of risk they are willing to take depends on the time they have until they retire. We are all expected to retire around age 65, but the fact is that many people retire earlier or even later, depending on their industry, experience, and need. If you don’t save enough for retirement, you may find yourself working into your 70s, which leaves you less time to enjoy life. Retirement should be a time when you can relax and soak up the fruits of yor labor. Saving so that you can go do the things you’ve always wanted to do should be a very high priority, and the sooner you start, the bigger that pot of cash will be when you do retire. So get going! Start saving for retirement right now!

Hi, I am Caroline and I’m a guest blogger. A few years back I noticed that more and more people have started planning an early retirement. Some work very hard in their 20′s in order to be able to retire by 30, others manage to retire by the time they are 40. It leaves them with ample time and money to pursue their dreams, travel the world and live their life to the fullest.

So I did some research and came up with these tips that can help you plan an early retirement as well.

• Plan retirement today – Planning an early retirement starts with being proactive. If you really want to secure your future tomorrow, you must act today. Start with getting rid of any debts you may have accumulated over the years. Keep a close eye on your monthly cash flow and track your major expenditure, recurring expenses and expenses you can do away with. You may be just 25 years old, but getting an early start on making smart investment choices means banking upon an early retirement plan. Also, keep in mind that the earlier you get a life insurance policy and a medical insurance policy, the safer your future will be.

• Put away a retirement budget – When I say put away a retirement budget, what I mean to say is that a part of your monthly salary must go into savings for the future. Create a new account where you deposit whatever extra money you can spare. And guard this money with your life! This is an emergency fund, which you want to see growing over the years. So don’t use it up in a spontaneous moment for a trip to Europe. Even if you can spare just $200 a month, put it in to your retirement fund and watch it grow with all the additional interest money added over the years.

• Make Smart investments – Making smart investments is the key to ensuring an early retirement. There are several ways to invest your money. Savings accounts, fixed deposits, stock market and real estate are all great options. However, at any given point of time do not invest more than 60% of your retirement funds in the volatile market. When you are planning for an early retirement, all your money must never be in the market linked plans. Play it safe and always invest a minimum of 40% of your retirement funds in safe investing methods like fixed deposits, mutual funds, recurring deposits and insurance policies. As you grow older and near your retirement age, reduce exposure to market linked schemes to 20% to ensure more security. However, real estate is a lucrative market that promises big return on investments, so don’t miss out on that opportunity.

• Consider inflation over the years – While you are busy planning your retirement and putting away a chunk of your monthly salary to ensure a secured future, do not forget about future inflation. If you need $3000 a month to run your household today, 10 years down the line it could be $6000 or maybe even more. So make sure that your retirement funds keep growing in the same ratio if you want to continue with your present lifestyle even after you retire. You can easily download a retirement calculator online to get to know the extent of your expected expenses will be post retirement. This will, at least, give you a vague figure to go by.

Planning an early retirement is a great way to keep your finances in check. You could hire a financial advisor to help you plan better, but you could also do the planning yourself by keeping a close eye on the market. Keep in mind that in your 20’s you should go for aggressive and lucrative investment plans but as you hit your 30’s, your investments must be safer, tension free methods to ensure that you can safely retire by the age of 40.

While most people get shivers thinking about saving and investing for retirement, it is actually not such of a difficult job. Careful planning is important to save for retirement and if you are ready to take care of that, building up a good volume of retirement funds is definitely feasible. In a research conducted by Employee Benefits Research Institute, the bleak state that retirement funds are in, in US, got clearly revealed – 50% of employees who save and invest for retirement accumulate under $25,000 in their retirement funds and 70% of them who don’t, have even lesser – below $10,000. Yes, this is a sorry state no doubt but if you are smarter, it is perfectly possible to build up a substantial amount of retirement money without investing a lot of effort and sweat in it. How? Read on.

Save early

The sooner you start to save for retirement, the better it is. That not only means that you manage to put away more money but it also implicates that when you use this money to invest for retirement, it gets more time to grow and flourish. For instance, if you begin saving at the age of 30 and save till 65 your invested amount will turn up appearing huge at the end of the term ( $100/month saving at 8% rate of interest annually will get you $216,000 at 65 if you start it at 30).

The policy of Dollar cost averaging

The system of Dollar Cost Averaging is a method which is used to cut down the market risks in the course of regular-interval purchase of stocks, mutual funds and bonds. To read the amount of increased money that you are making, you simply need to invest your money systematically into productive investment funds. If the trends are constantly profitable, your money is likely to gain a steady increase over the estimated period of time.

Invest in tax saving schemes

Look for tax-deferred savings plans and invest in them more. If your employer offers you a defined plan for contribution like 401 (k) or 403 (b), go for it. Your payments will cut down on your taxable income volume and the earnings will also be exempt from taxes. Since most employers provide the workers with a varied fare of mutual fund choices, you can also exercise preference and control over your investments here.

In fact, if you are getting a salary hike, you can channelize some funds towards your savings accounts to pile up your savings, instead of spending the full amount. This is a great way to save for retirement and boost up the volume of your savings.

Branch out when you invest for retirement

Depending upon your investment goals and risk factors, you must take care to diversify your savings in different directions while investing. A mixed bag of cash, bond and stock investments is recommended by experts.

Planning for a smooth retirement is possible and if done properly it can be a breeze! You must take care to review your investment plans on a regular basis and make necessary adjustments to make it work in your favor.

A successful retirement is a dream for most middle aged people, but the truth is that many of these individuals spend a significant fraction of their hard earned salaries and savings by the time they are close to their retirement, as a result of poor retirement planning and improper money management. While discussing retirement plans and money management makes several individuals wary, going through the drill is very advisable and highly recommended by the financial experts. Effective planning and execution in always the key to a successful retirement and the first step begins with looking into ways which enable one to track spending. Making a personal and family budget plan, and tracking your expenditures always helps in better savings, which is essential for one to retire successfully. No one would want to be dependent on their spouse or children post-retirement, thus hurting their self-esteem and respectability.

Ways to track spending

Budget Spreadsheets

The easiest way to track expenditure would be with the help of a budget spreadsheet, which can be done manually or via a software program available on the internet free of cost. This software allows access to one Excelsheet per month in which you can enter all the expenses made by you in detail, like restaurant bills, oil refills, gasoline expenses, amounts spent for household needs and education fee, shopping expenses etc. Separate the needs from wants, and analyze the expenses. Reflect on the areas where you could have spent less, and make a resolution for preventing those expenses.

Monitoring credit card expenses

Credit card is of great use in times of contingencies, but most people misuse the freedom quotient that tags along with credit cards by spending thoughtlessly. People go on swiping their plastic for purchasing all the things they want, and soon they realize that they face serious debt problems, with no cash or credit limit left for purchasing things which they actually need for running their household. Make a detailed of your expenditures through credit card and analyze the spending. You will realize that most of these were for luxuries that you could have avoided.

There is another effective method for one to reduce their expenses through credit cards – just stop using it for a few months! Paying in cash would make you wiser, and you will be a better judge of your needs and expenses.

Switching from credit card to prepaid debit cards

Prepaid debit cards allow you to spend only what you load them with, and hence they contribute towards better savings and a successful retirement plan. Prepaid debit cards offer the same convenience as credit cards, minus the overdraft limit. Switching to this mode of plastic can call for some responsible spending on your end, and hence is highly recommended!

Investment Advice

Calculate your post retirement costs and compare them with your retirement savings. This would give you considerable estimate for the leverage and spending power you would be having. Talking to a financial expert about possible investment modes with low risk and good returns right away is a good idea.