Sobering Questions For Baby Boomers — Retirement Or Life Sentence?

Posted @ 2:10 pm - Filed under Financial Planning, Check This Out, Sez Me, Weekend Thoughts

If you think your retirement is in the bag because of everything you’re doing — put it to the test. Take the following questions as seriously as if you’d have to spend your retirement living on what your current plan will produce.

Take your age now, and at what age you plan to retire. Then extrapolate what you’re doing to ensure that retirement will be what you want it to be financially.

Is the income you’re expecting taxable? Or is it tax sheltered or tax free?

Have you realistically defined what financially comfortable will actually look like at retirement — and for the next 20-40 years?

Does part of your plan include an IRA or 401(k)? If so, are you aware the government tells you how much you must take out each year, at least as a minimum? Are you aware you’re avoiding taxes now when it’s relatively more affordable to pay them, so you can experience the pleasure of paying income taxes for life at retirement?

Are you sitting on San Diego real estate investments stranded in the quicksand of the local market? Yes? Why? Is moldy capital appealing to you?

The number one problem for Baby Boomers in the coming years is going to be the realization that they underestimated what it would take to retire well — and are now stuck with the bitter fruits of their efforts.

Pay attention — your kids will thank you.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Financial Planning, Check This Out, Sez Me, Weekend Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.