According to Wharton School of Business, you can increase your monthly retirement income from your retirement funds money up to 25% to 40% by using a special type of annuity product with an insurance company as opposed to other retirement investment strategies. Imagine having 25% or more income to help create a “worry-free” retirement.
On Page 5 of this report, the authors of this report (Babbel & Merrill) make the following remarks: Click Here To View The Entire Report Continue reading
The Debate is on for health care reform and especially for those in their retirement years. Let’s face it. Older people use the “Lion’s Share” of health care in this country… expensive care I might ad. The debate is “what do we do about it?”
This is particularly problematic for retirees. On the one hand, most haven’t saved enough to fund a worry free retirement let alone finance increasing health care cost associated with aging. According to HealthView Service, Inc of Danvers, MA, 30% of retirees income will go for traditional medical expenses. That’s not counting the “Grandaddy of the All” Long Term Nursing services. By the time you consider that most retirees retire on a fraction of what they were making when working, I think you can begin to see why so many struggle during their retirement years. For some, it comes down to choosing between buying prescription medications or food. So many need help, yet most fall just short of federal guidelines in receiving that assistance. Continue reading
According to a study which is based on U.S. Census Bureau data, retirees today and in the future are Nine Times more likely to retire in poverty if their primary source of retirement is a 401K, IRA or other forms of Defined Contribution Retirement plan as opposed to those retiring with a pension. (Defined Benefit Plan) see
http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/future-retirees-poverty-pensions-2726687-1.html#Login
For a refresher on what Defined Benefit Plans Are go to http://legaciesbydesign.com/94/%catagory%/%post-name%/
For a refresher on what Defined Contributions Plans are go to http://legaciesbydesign.com/100/%catagory%/%post-name%/
It’s all happening because of the erosion in Social Security, the housing crash where Americans saw 1/3 of their home values decline as well as the deep and lengthy recession our country has faced for the last 4 years. This is the longest recession that our country has seen since before the Great Depression in the late 1920′s. Even following World War II, our country only saw 8 months of a recession and in the late 1970 when Jimmy Carter was president and we saw 21% interest rates, we only saw a 16 month period of recession. Continue reading
Retirement planning can be difficult. You work for 30 or 40 years to retire on less than you were making when you were working. You may have heard that you don’t need as much income after your retire. 
That’s easy to say… doing it’s quite a different thing after you retire.
One of the things you may be able to do is to cut living expenses. Look for things you are paying for that perhaps you don’t need. One of those expenses you may be able to eliminate is life insurance premiums. You may have an option to do that without canceling your policy. Continue reading
Your 401K, TSP and IRA funds money is for your retirement years… so what is important is how much monthly income it will produce and will it continue all of your retirement years that you live. The number one worry that retirees have is this question: “will my retirement funds money last as long as I do?” Indexed Annuities offer a second benefit with the use of an income options that these special annuities offer. Guaranteed Lifetime Income.
So how does that work? Continue reading
If you were investing in the market with your 401k, TSP or IRA back in the mid-90′s, you know all you had to do was to “show-up” to you make money… lots of it. The 
mid-90′s saw 20% plus gain. Fast forward to the turn of the century, however, we saw declined in a three year period of around 50%. Imagine seeing your retirement savings cut in half in three years and undoing all that gains that you had realized just a couple of years earlier. How can you get ahead if you are going backwards, right?
Indexed Annuities do not suffer declines in their account. Continue reading
Managing 401k money during retirement is a challenge that Indexed Annuities may well offer the best solution. There are two things we know about the market.
1) it will go up
2) It will go down.
The Dow Jones is predicted to lose approximately 9% by the end of December 2012 according to Financial Forecast Center http://www.forecasts.org/djia.htm a 15 years online forecasting service with a 97.5% accuracy rate.
According to their prediction, The Down Jones Industrial Index is slated to lose over 1,110 points reflecting a lost of almost 9% during that 6 month period. You will note from the chart to your left, the lowest point is in November. Not too surprising as that is the month that voters go to the polls to cast their ballot for President of the United States. I think it is very clear that this is probably the single greatest factor creating this downward cycle. America is not too confident of those results. Continue reading
There is much concern about the implementation of the ObamaCare Health Bill, also know as the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as to how it may affect retirees covered by Medicare. There has been a significant difference in the way this was presented to the public as penalizing individuals who chose not to buy required health insurance coverage to where it was ruled a tax by the Supreme Court of the United Stats. 
As one could imagine, the vast segment of the population are concerned about how it may impact them, their employees, their business and our nation as a whole. There are many unanswered questions looming… and this is quite possibly the worst part of this whole process because it deters business investment, creation of jobs and spur on economic recovery. Continue reading
Solutions to “shore up” retirement incomes:
With all the changes in our economy, investment uncertainty, and bankrupt pension plans, what retirees need is solid solutions to solving their retirement income woes. Consideration must be give to all possible solutions including those that fall “outside of the box“. Creativity can pay off big in solving these retirement problems. Continue reading