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For the Baby Boomers and Midlifers, this October – the Month of The Harvest Moon!: The focus is on Planning for Retirement. We’re talking about finance, and lifestyle choices. Planning for those days when after all your hard work you can “harvest” the rewards – whether that means travel, time, golf, or doing just what you want with your life. Do you have to do this all on your own? When is the right time to get some objective financial advice?

Guest author Mika Hamilton shares some advice

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Should You Hire a Financial Advisor or Go It Alone

By Mika Hamilton

One of the most common questions asked by beginner investors is “Do I need to hire a financial advisor?” Before you can answer that question you need to ask yourself “How much can I improve my financial situation?” You can pay your bills on time, do your own taxes, and you may even have life insurance.

You may feel you are doing a good job handling your personal finances and do not feel you want to spend your time and money on a financial advisor. Financial advisors may not know better than you how to utilized your money in the most appropriate ways. However, they are aware of financial opportunities, tools, and how to use them. They can help you develop a solid well researched financial plan which will create more money for your family, allow you to handle life changes easier, and help protect you against disruptions in the stock market.

Financial investment professionals can help you achieve peace of mind and confirm choices, you feel are correct, in building your investment portfolio. A financial plan helps you to ensure future wealth and comfort. To obtain and maintain your desired lifestyle you must set personal and financial goals which are achievable. People who choose to invest without a financial planner often set impossible goals and get frustrated when they are not meeting them.

You must assess your current financial situation including your assets, income, liabilities, insurance, taxes, and estate. Then you must pin point your financial weaknesses and work to make those areas stronger. Once you have a financial plan you must be able to monitor it regularly. When changes occur in your family (like a new edition), career, or economy – you must adjust your financial plan to continue to meet your established goals.

Can you go it alone? Only you know the answer to that. If the above discussion has made you queasy and overwhelmed then you need to hire a financial planner to help you design and stick to an effective financial plan. However, if you already have a financial plan in motion and it is creating, for you, the financial stability you want – let it keep working for you. As alternative to hiring a financial advisor you can periodically check in with a financial advisor. Most advising companies offer consultations for a moderate price and will help you flesh out and troubleshoot your personally designed financial plan.

Visit the Global Investment Institute and signup for our free Investing For Beginners E-Course at http://www.Global-Investment-Institute.com Investment webmasters or publishers, please feel free to use this article provided this reference is included and all links remain active.

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For the Baby Boomers and Midlifers, this October – the Month of The Harvest Moon!: The focus is on Planning for Retirement. We’re talking about finance, and lifestyle choices. Planning for those days when after all your hard work you can “harvest” the rewards – whether that means travel, time, golf, or doing just what you want with your life.

Guest author Tyrone Charles Solee shares what NOT to do.

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9 Retirement Planning Mistakes

Guest Author: Tyrone Charles Solee

Retirement years are one of the best years in one’s life most especially if you’ve already worked for almost all your entire life. It’s the time to savor the fruits of your labor. It’s time to relax, to free yourself from worries and enjoy the remaining years of your life.

Most people commit mistakes in planning for their retirement years. In the end, they have not successfully retired themselves from work and would either depend on the income of their children to support their needs.

Here are some of the most common retirement planning mistakes people commit:

Depend on the government. The biggest faulty assumption most people commit is that social security and Medicare will take care all of their financial and medical needs in retirement most especially to those citizens of First World Countries that gives huge subsidies to their locals. Definitely, here in our country, you shouldn’t be relying to these government aided benefits as these are not sufficient to sustain your needs during retirement.

Fail to set a goal. If you are serious in planning for your retirement, then set a goal on how to achieve it. A lot of people have never done a calculation to see how much money they will really need to live in retirement. People often overestimate how much annual income their nest egg will provide.

Expect a short retirement. Typically, people underestimate their longevity, how much money they’ll actually need in retirement and at what age they are eligible for full Social Security benefits.

When planning for your retirement, don’t assume that you’ll die soon. I’m not really sure as to what age most men and women die on average but I think nowadays, women have longer life span than men. Possibly, consider living at most up to age 80 for men and 90 for women.

Overlook medical costs. Many people feel that their employer or Medicare will take care of all of their retiree medical needs, including long-term care. The truth is that most of us will be responsible for our own medical care costs after retirement. Unplanned-for medical bills can wipe out a retirement nest egg in a fairly short time.

Forget about inflation. When planning for retirement, don’t forget to consider inflation. Because of inflation, your money will buy less in the future. You must therefore plan saving and investments accordingly.

Underestimate taxes. Don’t underestimate taxes when you retire. It does not mean that when you retire, you can now totally get rid of taxes which used to eat up a portion of your income when you’re still working.

Carry too much debt. Large amounts of debt can torpedo savings efforts. You may earn 6% on your savings, and yet you may pay 10% on your debt.

Expect to keep working. Many people assume they’ll be able to work forever. Yet many retire earlier than planned due to company downsizing or medical problems. So don’t expect that you’ll be able to work forever.

Wait to start saving. The longer you wait to save, the more you will need to save each year. It’s not impossible, but you may need to save a lot more money and retire later than you’d hoped.

So plan your retirement properly and avoid these retirement planning mistakes.

Tyrone Solee is a personal finance blogger with interests on entrepreneurship, personal finance, investments, and self-motivation in order to achieve success and financial goals in life. Visit: http://www.millionaireacts.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyrone_Charles_Solee
http://EzineArticles.com/?9-Retirement-Planning-Mistakes&id=2951018

For the Baby Boomers and Midlifers, this October – the Month of The Harvest Moon!: The focus is on Planning for Retirement. We’re talking about finance, and lifestyle choices. Planning for those days when after all your hard work you can “harvest” the rewards – whether that means travel, time, golf, or doing just what you want with your life.

Guest author Scott Martin suggests a way to begin the plan.

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Retirement Planner Calculator – Top 4 Must Do’s Before You Even Begin

Retirement Planner Calculator – Top 4 Must Do’s Before You Even Begin

By Scott Martin

No matter how old you are making retirement calculations should be high on your agenda. The earlier you start to think about creating a nest egg the easier your retirement will be. So what is the best retirement planner calculator to use?

Most financial planning software tends to focus on regular contributions to you retirement fund and ways to save on tax. These are both great ideas but I like to concentrate on a proactive investment strategy. Let’s face it

“most retirement funds are going backwards”

Let’s have a look at where most retirement planner calculators get it wrong:

Firstly they rely on other people to run and manage your fund. Secondly they rely on these fund managers actually producing positive returns. The financial advice system is designed to make people feel like it is too hard to manage your own money. The best advice I ever got was look after your own money because as you well know ‘nobody looks after it like you do’.

Learning to manage your own money is the most important fact that all financial planning agents forget to mention. Obviously they don’t want you to do this as it would put them out of a job.

Retirement Planner Calculator – Top 4 MUST DO’s Before You Even Begin

1. Expand your investment knowledge so that you understand what are where you money is invested

2. Find a broker/financial planner that has RESULTS. If they aren’t a successful investor themselves how are they going to help you?

3. Decide on when you would like to retire

4. Decide how much money you need per annum to live on

After you have done these simple things it is up to you to create an investment strategy that can produce consistent returns. Once you have achieved this you can start to estimate what sort of percentage returns you can create. Then it is simply a matter of working out how much savings you will require to earn this amount passively. For instance if you Retirement Planner Calculator says that you require $75,000 per year and you can earn 15% annually then you would require $500,000 in savings to create this amount.

The most important fact when calculating your retirement is to be proactive and increase your investment knowledge.

So are you serious about creating a Rich & Happy Retirement?

“I have never seen a retirement system that is so complete”

Get Your Free Retirement Planner Calculator DVD Today!

http://sharespropertymoney.com is a Free Investment Resource that is currently offering every visitor a Free ‘How to Retire Early & Rich’ DVD & Ebook

Do you want to Retire Within the Next 3 Years?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Martin
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