How to find a retirement saving plan that works for you
Posted: February 14, 2012 at 1:03 am
Everyone has a different idea for how they want to spend their retirement. Given how varied people's goals are, why is it reasonable to think that everyone should have the same retirement saving plan?
My parents and Sarah’s parents are roughly the same age. Their retirement-age experieces are much different than each other.
Skip to next paragraph Trent Hamm
The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds – we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.
Recent posts
My parents are both retired in the traditional sense. They have a limited fixed income made up of Social Security and some pension money. Their house and vehicles are long since paid for, and since their house is relatively small and older, insurance and property taxes are low.
Sarah’s parents are a completely different story. Her father will probably work until he can’t, partially for income reasons and partially because I think he deeply enjoys his work on many levels. Her mother had a “pseudo-retirement” but couldn’t stand it, so she returned to work. Thus, their income level is significantly higher, but their expenses are higher, too. They have nicer cars and travel regularly.
My own “retirement” plans involve a mixture of working on my own side projects and doing volunteer work. Much like my in-laws, I don’t feel happy unless I’m working on large projects. When I find myself without such large projects, I tend to drift and feel depressed.
As for Sarah, I expect her to very oriented toward volunteerism and any grandchildren we might have to take care of.
It’s pretty clear from just a simple survey of my own life that everyone has a different life plan for their 60s and 70s. Some people intend to enjoy leisure and volunteer work. Other people are wired to be productive in various ways.
Think about it for a minute. What do you plan to be doing in your 60s and 70s? Is it the same thing that you expect all the people around you to be doing?
Given how varied the plans people have for their later life are, why is it reasonable to think that everyone should plan for retirement in the exact same way?
For example, let’s say my dream is to switch to a career path as a novel writer as soon as I possibly can, living off of my investment income starting at the youngest possible age. This means that I’d be choosing to live very lean in my 40s and 50s while I get some novels published, then enjoy more income from the combination of investments and book income in my 60s and 70s.
In that scenario, traditional retirement savings would serve a relatively small role. I might want to fund a Roth IRA or something to guarantee a bit more late-in-life income if needed, but most of my saving for the future wouldn’t be in retirement investments. I would focus instead on investing outside of retirement accounts to fund my dream.
On the other hand, a person like my father-in-law, who fully intends to work until he’s unable to do so, won’t need to live for twenty five years off of his retirement accounts. Much like my earlier scenario, the “traditional” use of a retirement saving plan doesn’t really fit his plans. It’s worthwhile for him to have some money in his retirement savings, but does he need to save for twenty five years of retirement?
I don’t have the ultimate answer as to how the people in the two above scenarios should be saving for retirement. However, it’s pretty clear that these scenarios don’t simply follow the “save 15% for retirement each year” plans that are often simply prescribed for people.
So, what does this mean for you?
First of all, thinking about your plan for your whole life pays off. We don’t always know exactly where our life is going to lead, but I’ll say that the general idea I had for my life when I was in my early twenties is more or less coming to pass. I envisioned having children and having a career that I had creative control over.
Naturally, big unexpected things can always derail those plans. I could get sick. Something else unforeseen could happen. In the vast majority of those scenarios, though, I’m not helped by having a lot of retirement savings, though I am helped by having assets on hand.
Second, understanding how to translate those plans into a financial plan is key. This might involve the aid of a financial planner, but at the very least, it involves some significant time studying investing options and knowing in what situations they’re most useful.
Finally, and this is key, just because you’re not saving for retirement doesn’t mean you’re not saving. If you have a future, it’s valuable to spend less than you earn and save for that future. No matter what your future self will be doing, he or she will be better off if he or she has money in the bank.
Retirement savings, in the form of a 401(k) or a Roth IRA, has certain advantages. However, those advantages only really matter if the direction of your life allows you to take advantage of them. Your life is not dictated by your retirement investment plans. Your retirement investment plans, if they’re needed at all, are dictated by how you live your life.
Spend less than you earn. Use retirement plans to help you for whatever you’ve got planned for your 60s, 70s, and later. Don’t assume that’s enough, particularly if you have a plan for your future.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on http://www.thesimpledollar.com.
Read more:
How to find a retirement saving plan that works for you
Adele 54th Grammys 2012 performance – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
Read the original post:
Adele 54th Grammys 2012 performance - Video
1998 – PIXIELAND PART 1 – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
More here:
1998 - PIXIELAND PART 1 - Video
How to unharmfully speed up windows 7 and increase performance – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
See the original post:
How to unharmfully speed up windows 7 and increase performance - Video
Adele-2012 Grammy Performance – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
More here:
Adele-2012 Grammy Performance - Video
The Body Project – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
Read the original:
The Body Project - Video
Strong commenter opinions on evaluation, salary of two-year college chancellor Freida Hill
Posted: at 1:02 am
Birmingham News reporter Marie Leech reported Sunday that the Alabama Board of Education will discuss two-year college Chancellor Freida Hill's future at an upcoming meeting after an evaluation showed the board is sharply divided over her performance.
Of the nine board members, four -- Ella Bell, Stephanie Bell, Betty Peters and Dr. Charles Elliott -- gave Hill many low marks on an evaluation that rates her in dozens of categories grouped into four sections: goals, personal qualities, performance and key job responsibilities, and relations with the public.
Hill began the job in December 2009, and her three-year contract expires Nov. 30. According to her contract, Hill receives an annual salary of $289,900, as well as the use of a car and a housing allowance of $24,000 a year. She also can earn up to $15,000 a year in performance bonuses, but has not received any bonuses since joining the system.
Go here to read the board's evaluation and the full story.
Here are some reader comments on the story:
doddfrank:
Those giving her low grades are probably just parroting what some of the two-year college presidents have been saying. The presidents want it to go back to the way it was before when they had more control and had some money to spread around at their discretion.
testerman:
Surely there are more qualified individuals who would be willing to work for half she is paid. What on earth has she done to deserve that much public money ? If she is getting exceptional results by all means give her big bucks, but it looks like she is mediocre at best.
sixpetdad:
Look at who ranked her lower and you get a good picture of what is going on. Stephanie Bell and Ella Peters consistently oppose efforts to move education forward in this state. Hill should highlight their disapproval as a bullet point on her resume. The fact they don't like her raises her several notches in my estimation.
5000Names:
I disagree with you 100%. If Ella Bell and Stephanie Bell both gave her a low performance, that should tell us VOLUMES about her work performance.
And personally I believe that if she can't afford a house payment out of $289,000 a year why is she in charge of ANYTHING? Cut the housing allowance. Now.
RIALgal:
I don't know anything about Chancellor Hill, her qualifications, or her job performance so I have no opinion about the evaluation. What I do know, however, is that (according to this article) she is the sixth person to hold this position in as many years. Something's wrong somewhere for that kind of turnover. Whatever that problem is needs to be fixed before anyone will have success.
John:
I know Dr. Hill to be an outstanding person who has only the best interests of the Alabama System at heart. I have known her for many years and those of you that are commenting negatively absolutely do not know what you are talking about. Alabama's system can never go back to the days of old. No one should want that. This person is a professional and I am sure that some of the decisions that she makes do not satisfy people who are used to the old corrupt system. These folks should check their ego and if they cannot be loyal they should do the honorable thing and resign. Local politicians should reach out and try to not take every little thing as a slight. After all you are the representative of the people and not the king or queen of the area you represent. Alabama is fortunate to have this person.
Join the conversation by adding a comment below.
Read more here:
Strong commenter opinions on evaluation, salary of two-year college chancellor Freida Hill
Personal Assets Tst. – Interim Management Statement
Posted: at 1:02 am
Personal Assets Trust plc
Interim Management Statement
For the Three Month Period from 1 November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) 2011 to 31 January 2012
Investment Objective
Personal Assets is an investment trust run expressly for private investors. Its capital (Berlin: 3IF.BE - news) structure is the simplest possible for an investment trust, consisting only of ordinary shares. Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) investment objective is to protect and increase (in that order) the value of shareholders' funds over the long term and to earn as high a total return as is compatible with a risk equivalent to that of the FTSE All-Share Index. Since Personal Assets invests for the long term, the Board assesses performance not annually at the end of each accounting year but over rolling three-year periods.
We aim to pay as high, secure and sustainable a dividend as is compatible with maintaining our investment flexibility. Our policy is for the present dividend rate to grow over the long term in real terms relative to both the Retail Price Index and the Consumer Price Index and never to cut the dividend rate, so shareholders know that each payment will at least equal the previous one.
The Board's policy is to ensure that the shares of Personal Assets always trade at close to NAV.
Performance Summary
As at
31 January
2012
As at
31 October
2011
Movement
Market capitalisation
£434.7m
£393.4m
10.5%
Shareholders' funds
£425.9m
£383.9m
10.9%
Effective liquidity (1)
51.0%
50.4%
-
Share price
£342.10
£336.80
1.6%
Net (Frankfurt: A0Z22E - news) asset value per share
£335.20
£328.67
2.0%
Premium to NAV
2.1%
2.5%
-
FTSE All-Share (FTSE: ^FTAS - news) index
2,932.91
2,860.86
2.5%
(1)Includes holding in physical gold bullion of 14.7% at 31 January 2012 (31 October 2011: 12.9%).
Period Review and Material Events
Economic growth has surprised on the downside in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) , the UK and in a number of emerging economies. The US's performance has been marginally better, although not as good as the consensus had hoped. 2011 was a year of realisation. Investors entered the year full of optimism of a sustained economic recovery which had begun in mid-2009. We have been very sceptical of the recovery as it was based on unsustainable monetary and fiscal stimuli. As fiscal policy reversed, the underlying weakness of the economy was revealed. Gradually there was recognition that 'balance sheet' recessions take far longer to recover from as the drag of deleveraging takes effect.
The New Year's optimism reminds us of that old phrase of the famous baseball coach, Yogi Berra; "Its déjà vu all over again". The start of 2012 feels alarmingly familiar and that's because it is ― 2010 and 2011 began in similar ways with over optimism and renewed faith that policymakers would address the threats of excessive sovereign credit. As we enter 2012, there is renewed expectation of economic recovery. This may be yet another triumph of hope over experience.
Valuations look less than compelling to us with the UK stock market yielding less than 3.3%. Added to this, historic earnings on which these valuations are based may be highly misleading, as they have been flattered by unsustainable credit growth at the government, corporate and consumer levels. The pain of deleveraging, felt first by banks and highly geared companies a few years ago, is now emerging in unfamiliar and supposedly safe places.
The profits warning from Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) in January provided evidence that even the strong were beginning to suffer from lower demand. It may come as a surprise to some that in this case we were guilty of over optimism, when we are well known for our caution. Tesco's challenges are a microcosm of the new economic reality we face in a post 2008 world. Consumer and business demand is re-adjusting, which will be a prolonged and painful process, and as result we will need to tread with even greater care. As noted earlier, our fear at the start of 2012 is that history will repeat itself. We are positioned accordingly.
Our reluctance to be seen doing something for the sake of being seen to do something meant that the portfolio underwent very few changes over the course of the three months under review.
During the period we acquired one new holding. Agnico-Eagle (SES: E2:E04.SI - news) is a gold miner operating in Canada, Finland and Mexico. Until recently it was the darling of the sector, with strong production growth forecast for the next five years. The initial appeal to us was the location of its assets in territories that traditionally respect the rights of private property ownership. However, a high valuation had always put us off. 2011 was an annus horribilis for Agnico. It has suffered material interruptions to production at two of its six operating mines, which has led to the shares more than halving from their 2011 peak. The share price is back to where it was in 2007, when Agnico was producing just 20 per cent of the gold it is mining today.
Over the three months ended 31 January 2012 the Company issued 102,362 Ordinary shares for a total consideration of £34.4 million, representing 8.8% of the Ordinary shares in issue at the beginning of the period.
On 24 November 2011 the Company announced a third interim dividend of £1.40 per share. This was paid to shareholders on 20 January 2012. On 26 January 2012 the Company announced a fourth interim dividend of £1.40 per share. This will be paid to shareholders on 20 April 2012.
Top Ten Equity Holdings as at 31 January 2012
Company
Percentage of shareholders' funds
Percentage of equity exposure
British American Tobacco
4.3
8.8
Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT - news)
4.0
8.2
Coca Cola (NYSE: KO - news)
3.2
6.5
Nestle (BSE: NESTLE.BO - news)
3.2
6.5
Philip Morris International
2.7
5.5
Diageo (Other OTC: DGEAF.PK - news)
2.6
5.3
GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF.PK - news)
2.5
5.1
Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX - news)
2.4
4.9
Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news)
2.3
4.7
Imperial Oil (Toronto: IMO.TO - news)
2.3
4.7
Other equities (11)
19.5
39.8
Total (Other OTC: TTFNF.PK - news)
49.0
100.0
Geographical Analysis as at 31 January 2012
Country
Percentage of shareholders' funds
UK equity exposure
20.3
US equities
20.3
Canadian equities
3.3
European equities
3.2
Australian equities
1.9
Liquidity
51.0
Total
100.0
Sector Distribution as at 31 January 2012
Sector
Percentage of shareholders' funds
Oil ∓ Gas
2.3
Basic Materials (Madrid: ESI500200000.MA - news)
5.0
Consumer Goods
19.8
Health Care
7.1
Consumer Services
3.2
Telecom (Stuttgart: 882336 - news)
2.0
Utilities (Santiago: UTILITIES.SN - news)
2.3
Financials (Euronext: IXEFI.NX - news)
1.7
Technology
5.6
Liquidity
51.0
Total
100.0
Additional Information
Further information regarding the Company, including Quarterly Reports and Investment Plan documents can be obtained from the Company's website http://www.patplc.co.uk or from Steven Budge, Personal Assets Trust plc, 10 St. Colme Street, Edinburgh EH3 6AA. Telephone: 0131 538 6605.
Email: steven.budge@patplc.co.uk
Read the rest here:
Personal Assets Tst. - Interim Management Statement
Dolly Parton Reacts To Jennifer Hudson's 'I Will Always Love You' Performance
Posted: at 1:02 am
Nary was a dry eye left in the house inside Staples Center on Sunday night, when Jennifer Hudson took the stage to perform "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute to Whitney Houston.
But the performance was increasingly personal for one fellow music icon, who has a special connection to that song - Dolly Parton.
PLAY IT NOW: LA Coroner’s Press Conference: What Killed Whitney Houston? (February 13, 2012)
"I was brought to tears again last night, as I'm sure many were, when Jennifer Hudson sang 'I Will Always Love You' on the Grammys in memory of Whitney," Dolly - who originally the song in 1974 - said in a statement to Access Hollywood on Monday.
Although Whitney brought the song to new heights when she recorded it for "The Bodyguard" soundtrack in 1992, with the track spending an astounding 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it was Dolly who originally wrote the song in June 1973 for her longtime partner & mentor Porter Wagoner - achieving her own chart success, hitting #1 twice with the song on the Billboard country charts.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Grammys 2012: Inside The Show
"Like everybody else, I am still in shock. But I know that Whitney will live forever in all the great music that she left behind. I will always have a very special piece of her in the song we shared together and had the good fortune to share with the world," Dolly's statement continued. "Rest in peace, Whitney. Again, we will always love you."
Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read the rest here:
Dolly Parton Reacts To Jennifer Hudson's 'I Will Always Love You' Performance
Personal success comes with a FEA: Have you paid? – Video
Posted: at 1:02 am
Original post:
Personal success comes with a FEA: Have you paid? - Video