Friday, August 18, 2006

My Delusions, Savings & Retirement

When it comes to saving for retirement, I'm as deluded as charged. After years as a relatively well-paid financial journalist, I cashed out of a 401 K plan, (several years ago) to launch a free lance career. (Not my smartest fiscal move!)

My new plan involves these options:

1) Save, Save, Save

2)Work until I'm 120 years (G-d willing) (Wanted: position at an upscale bookstore with health benefits)

3)Write a bestseller, that produces a constant stream of passive income

or

4)All of the above.

I'm too young to retire now, but the news release (below) from Kiplinger has made me think. Check out the link below to the retirement calculator.

Here is the piece:

"A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY!

KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE FINDS SIX IN TEN FEEL “ON TRACK”
FOR RETIREMENT BUT FAR FEWER REALIZE WHAT IT WILL TAKE


In a [2006] survey of American adults conducted by Roper Public Affairs, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine discovered that six in ten (63%) feel they are “on track” for their retirement, with almost as many (62%) confident that it will not be necessary to work when they retire.

However, when queried about how much money will fully prepare them for retirement, nearly four in ten (37%) say they will only need $500,000 saved, and 24 percent say they will need $1 million. Almost one quarter (23%) reported they don’t know how much they will need for retirement.

“Most Americans feel like they are headed in the right direction, but they aren’t certain where the finish line lies,” says Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Editor Fred W. Frailey. “Successful retirement preparation requires a well-defined goal and a disciplined plan for reaching it. We estimate that a retiree would need to have $1 million saved to achieve $50,000 of annual income, at a 5% withdrawal rate.”

Individuals looking to learn more about their unique retirement situation are invited to consult the free target retirement calculators.

Here is a link to other Kiplinger retirement resources.

Your retirement target
• Your social security benefits
• How bigger contributions to retirement accounts add up
• Which IRA option is the best

"Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has been providing millions of Americans with down-to-earth advice on managing their money and achieving financial security since 1947. Along with Kiplinger.com it is a source of advice and information on saving and investing, taxes, credit, homeownership, paying for college, retirement planning, car buying and many other personal finance topics."

2 comments:

Kira said...

I think many people just get overwhelmed with the sums they are talking about - I mean half a million dollars, come on, that's HUGE! But we are thinking about it as icing on the cake because we already have jobs that pay the necessities. We can't really wrap our heads around the idea of not having a real income anymore.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Our retirement plans are very similar. If I can just get out three best-sellers that are ALSO quality, critically acclaimed pieces. . . . (Hmmm.)

I don't see a way to email you on here, but you can email me at sally dot parrott at gmail dot com