Archive for the ‘Retirement’ Category
3 Ways to Prepare for a Healthy Retirement
Posted: February 2, 2012 at 6:42 am
As you prepare for retirement you will make many decisions, such as the suitability of hiring a financial adviser, which asset allocation strategy is best, and how much money to withdraw each year in retirement. But numbers alone do not determine your ability to achieve a comfortable retirement. Try these three strategies that will help maintain your health, so that you will be able to enjoy retirement.
[See The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012.]
1. You should start exercising. There's no question that staying fit will help give you the health to enjoy retirement. The increased energy you get from regular exercise will also help you to feel better, and perhaps waste less money on impulse purchases. Staying healthy has the added bonus of helping you to be more productive at work, which can potentially increase your earnings power over the course of your working life.
[See The Growing Challenge of Funding Retirement.]
2. Carefully spend more frequently. Spending more frequently while saving for retirement initially sounds counterproductive. But always trying to conserve cash could actually cause you to burn out. For some people, the effort required to save can lead to a huge shopping spree, or even spending on a credit card that cannot be quickly repaid.
The key to this strategy is to spend often, but in small amounts each time. Instead of taking an expensive annual vacation, try to go on a few mini trips. Consider a staycation or short road trips. Put everything on the table as long as it's fun. Skip buying a brand new gadget every year, and buy more lattes if that makes you happy. You won't be spending more money this way, but you will feel happier because you aren't depriving yourself as often. This will ultimately allow you to feel good about sustaining your savings plan.
[See How to Finance Life Until 100.]
3. Try to sleep more too. Most people cite not having enough time as the main reason they don't get enough sleep. Yet, there's time for TV, daydreaming, and multiple visits to the coffee machine each and every day. When you have enough sleep, you will feel better, become more productive, and maybe even have fewer arguments with people around you. This doesn't sound like something that's related to your retirement, but getting enough sleep can keep you healthier, help you to perform better at work, and have positive effects on your social life.
So, instead of spending extra time looking through your retirement numbers, start improving your retirement prospects. Financial freedom is definitely achievable, but you need to have good health to enjoy it.
David Ning runs MoneyNing, a personal finance site aimed at helping others change their habits for a better financial future. He suggests that everyone to sign up for an online savings account to get more out of our hard earned money.
View post:
3 Ways to Prepare for a Healthy Retirement
Betty White to Boomers: Consider Life Insurance Policies to Fund Retirement
Posted: February 1, 2012 at 12:53 pm
ATLANTA, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baby boomers appear to be taking a second look at their life insurance policies as an alternative financial solution to paying for retirement. Retirees can sell an unneeded life insurance policy for a portion of the face amount. These transactions, known as life settlements, have become mainstream in the past several years, particularly as baby boomers begin exploring all financial options to paying for retirement, including previously unconventional alternatives.
To view the multimedia assets, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54032-betty-white-boomers-life-insurance-settlements-fund-retirement
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120201/MM42234 😉
Company spokesperson Betty White, appearing in a YouTube music video with over one million hits comments, "It's the hottest program for spicing your golden years." The 90 year "young" star recently celebrated her 90th birthday White and was honored with a SAG Award as "Best Female Actor in a TV Comedy Series."
In a survey conducted by International Communications Research (ICR), an astounding 79 percent of respondents felt that their insurance professional and financial planners should be informing their clients about LIFE SETTLEMENTS as a means to fund their retirement (rather than letting policy's lapse). And, more than half (55 percent) expressed concern they will have to continue working past the age of 65.
Betty White video and research at http://www.thelifeline.com
"Many people didn't know selling their life insurance policy was even an option; however, boomers are demanding more education from their financial advisors, said Wm. Scott Page, president and CEO of The Lifeline Program. The leading life settlement provider commissioned International Communications Research to survey sentiments regarding retirement, life insurance and familiarity with life settlements among baby boomers.
The Lifeline Program survey results echo data the company published last year in a white paper, "How Life Insurance Can Save Your Retirement," which discusses how boomers are ill-prepared for retirement. The new survey also suggests that boomer confidence in being able to retire at age 65 is waning. An Associated Press study last year reported 44 percent lacked confidence in being able to retire while the ICR study pegs that number rising to 55 percent.
Founded in 1989, The Lifeline Program offers life settlements and financial planning options to retirees. The company partners with insurance agents, broker dealers and financial planners to establish life settlement business lines. For more information contact Stephen Terrell of The Lifeline Program at 770-724-7300.
Read more from the original source:
Betty White to Boomers: Consider Life Insurance Policies to Fund Retirement
All I Want to do is Retire – 20 Years on Wall Street – Video
Posted: at 11:44 am
See the rest here:
All I Want to do is Retire - 20 Years on Wall Street - Video
Money Matters: FAQs About Retiring – Video
Posted: at 11:44 am
More here:
Money Matters: FAQs About Retiring - Video
Prudential Retirement starts year strong with three new plan sponsor clients
Posted: at 11:44 am
NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Prudential Retirement, a business unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News), today announced three new plan sponsor clients.
“Securing these new clients demonstrates Prudential Retirement is offering solutions that deliver results and optimal outcomes for participants,” said George Castineiras, senior vice president, Total Retirement Solutions, Prudential Retirement. “We are pleased to announce these three clients as the newest members of the Prudential family and we look forward to delivering a personalized approach to each of these plans sponsors.”
U.S. Epperson Underwriting Company, a commercial property and casualty insurance management company, has signed on for a full service retirement solution. Prudential Retirement will record keep the Boca Raton, Fla. headquartered company’s defined contribution (DC), defined benefit (DB) and deferred compensation plans. Prudential will service $67 million in total combined plan assets and will deliver retirement planning services to more than 329 DC participants and 787 DB participants.
The deal became official on Dec. 1, 2011. “We are excited to form a partnership with Prudential as our new full service retirement plan provider,” said Mary Moore, associate vice president, Human Resources, U.S. Epperson. “We selected Prudential based on the firm’s passion, expertise, and commitment to helping our employees not only get to retirement – but through retirement.”
“While Prudential’s brand got them in the door, it was the service team’s ability to translate U.S. Epperson’s unique needs into a solution exceeding the client’s expectations that, ultimately, won them a new relationship,” said Jeffrey Medici, vice president and financial advisor at Dallas, Texas-based CAPTRUST Financial Advisors and advisor to the U.S. Epperson deal. “That, combined with a world-class service team with the expertise necessary to manage a complex TRO solution, allowed them to rise to the top of the class.”
Prudential has also assumed recordkeeping responsibility for Garden City, New York-based The Auto Club of New York. "We selected Prudential Retirement as our 401(k) provider based on their expertise with employee plans, their commitment to quality client service and their reputation as an industry leader," said Robert Walters, Chief Financial Officer, AAA New York. "We were very pleased with Prudential’s guidance throughout the transition from our former provider and together, we are improving the assistance our employees receive for their retirement planning." William Peragine, advisor in the Retirement Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney was the advisor with the deal. The defined contribution plan has more than 580 participants and $18 million in plan assets.
New Orleans, Louisiana-based Energy Partners has also signed on. The 401(k) plan has more than 250 plan participants and roughly $10.4 million in plan assets.
Prudential Retirement delivers retirement plan solutions for public, private, and non-profit organizations. Services include state-of-the-art record keeping, administrative services, investment management, comprehensive employee investment education and communications, and trustee services. With over 85 years of retirement experience, Prudential Retirement helps meet the needs of over 3.6 million participants and annuitants. Prudential Retirement has $214.7 billion in retirement account values as of September 30, 2011.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News), a financial services leader with approximately $871 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2011, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.
0217747-00001-00
View original post here:
Prudential Retirement starts year strong with three new plan sponsor clients
After 17 Seasons, Posada Announces Retirement – Video
Posted: January 31, 2012 at 1:25 am
Original post:
After 17 Seasons, Posada Announces Retirement - Video
Retirement on the edge
Posted: at 1:25 am
I heard a retirement planning horror story this morning, and I'll share it with you.
Because the law changed this year, making it simpler and more financially advantageous, more companies with frozen defined benefit retirement plans are offering employees and former employees a lump-sum payout. If you decide to accept their offer -- you don't have to; they can't force you -- think hard about what you're going to do with this pot of money. Here's why.
I was talking with the maintenance man at the building where I'm living this winter. He does a great job, and I've been very appreciative. But I thought he was working much too hard, and I told him so.
He told me that he's 66 and working seven days a week because he needs the money to live on and to replenish his savings. The reason, he says, was the illness of his late wife. He was an engineer who took early retirement from a company where he had worked for 30 years. He received his pension in a lump sum. Neither he nor his wife were old enough to qualify for Medicare. After their eligibility for his company insurance ran out, they didn't buy private insurance. Instead, they went without, hoping to get by until Medicare kicked in. It was a bad bet. His wife became seriously ill. Before she died, they spent their entire nest egg on medical care.
Stories like that are scary -- and not all that uncommon. If you opt for a lump sum, get help investing it safely -- maybe put some of it in a private annuity -- and buy long-term care insurance to protect yourself from medical disasters that can wipe you out.
Don't let that pot of money slip away. Unless you win the lottery, it's probably all you're going to get.
See more here:
Retirement on the edge
The Costliest States for Retirement
Posted: at 1:25 am
Planning to retire in 2012? You could be starting off at a disadvantage – financially, at least – if you live in one of these 10 states.
TopRetirements.com, a guide to retirement destinations and communities, recently published its list of the 10 worst states for retirement, looking primarily at financial considerations. In specific, the site evaluated each state in terms of its fiscal health, property taxes, state income taxes and cost of living. (The survey also included climate as a yardstick, under the assumption that most retirees “have a bias toward places with warmer winters.”)
The results: Retirees in the Northeast and Midwest will likely feel a greater pinch than their counterparts elsewhere in the country. Here are the states where your retirement dollars might not go as far as you wish:
1. Connecticut. Finished first (or last, depending on your perspective). The survey noted that Connecticut has some great towns for retirees and “considerable charm” – but those charms come at a price: steep property and incomes taxes, and a high cost of living.
2. Illinois. Actually, most pensions and Social Security payments aren’t taxed, but Illinois’s economic troubles – including deficit spending, unemployment and foreclosure rates – are “among the worst of any states,” according to the report.
3. Rhode Island. Again, high property taxes, coupled with underfunded pension and health liabilities and budget deficits.
4. Vermont. Residents face “very high” median property and incomes taxes, according to the study, as well as a top 10 cost of living.
5. Massachusetts. The good news: Social Security income and most government pensions are exempt from taxation. The not-so-good news: property taxes that are among the highest in the country.
[Also see: 5 American Cities Nearly Destroyed by the Recession]
Rounding out the bottom 10: New Jersey, Minnesota, New York, Maine and Wisconsin.
This is the second year that TopRetirements.com has ranked states as retirement destinations according to financial factors. The goal, according to the study: “to try to help baby boomers understand where, all other things being equal, they can enjoy their hard-earned retirement without taking on more problems.”
Original post:
The Costliest States for Retirement
Take Your Retirement on the Road
Posted: at 1:25 am
Lee Harrison and Julie Lowrey enjoyed long and successful careers in the nuclear power industry in New York. But as retirement age approached, Harrison began to wonder if he’d have enough money to support the kind of retirement lifestyle he and his wife Julie had long been looking forward to.
[See The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012.]
Harrison made a very good living, but there wasn’t a lot left over after paying for Manhattan living expenses. Then something fortuitous happened. The engineering firm where Harrison and Lowrey were working was bought out by a larger one. Harrison, then age 49, saw the corporate restructuring as a chance for a bigger change.
Just as his company was remaking itself, Harrison began to imagine another approach to retirement. Browsing in a bookstore one afternoon, Harrison discovered a guide to retirement in Costa Rica. This book introduced him to retirement possibilities he’d never before considered.
Costa Rica, and countries like it, offer a desirable retirement lifestyle at a dramatically reduced cost. Retirement aboard also gives you an opportunity for a great adventure, and could allow you to retire years earlier than if you stayed in the U.S.
Harrison and Lowrey eventually decided against moving to Costa Rica. But instead of sticking around to continue moving up the company ladder after the restructuring, they decided to move to Cuenca, Ecuador.
[See The Real Best Places to Retire in 2012.]
But Cuenca was not the last stop in their retirement overseas adventure. After two years in Cuenca, the couple relocated to Uruguay’s Gold Coast. They called Punta del Este home for more than seven years. And now they are in the process of moving to Medellin, Colombia. "Medellin may be the pinnacle of our evolving retire overseas experience,” says Harrison. "I think this may be our last stop. Based on our 10 years of experience living and traveling around both Central and South America, it's hard to imagine somewhere better than here." Harrison and Lowrey have purchased an apartment in central Medellin and are in the process of selling their home in Punta del Este.
Serial retirement isn’t for everyone. There are many challenges associated with moving around to several countries the way Harrison and Lowrey have. But each stage of this journey has contributed to a rich, full, and rewarding retirement experience that continues to unfold.
Perhaps the best part is that Harrison and Lowrey are living what could be called a lifestyle of the rich and famous. They have been moving around from exotic locale to exotic locale, taking in one of the world’s most beautiful coastlines and living in an international jet-set destination.
[See 6 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad in 2012.]
Had they stayed in the U.S., Harrison and Lowrey would be living an average retirement lifestyle at best. They might even still be working. Taking their retirement on the road has allowed them to super-charge their standard of living, while reducing their expenses. They’re discovering some of the best lifestyle options the world has to offer, at a young age, without spending a fortune.
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.
See the original post:
Take Your Retirement on the Road
David Bowie – Retired or ‘Disappeared’? – Video
Posted: January 30, 2012 at 2:14 am
Read the rest here:
David Bowie - Retired or 'Disappeared'? - Video