subject: Your Age Versus Your Retirement Income Mindset - How Do the Two Work Together? [print this page] Think about it. Can you remember when you first really thought about the subject of "Retirement"? Chances are, it was when you were in your 20s and the subject of retirement was so far in the future that you hardly gave it much thought. It was really difficult to think about something forty or more years into the future when there are so many pressures of the moment. Your mindset was probably something along the lines of " I'll deal with that later!"
By the time you were in your 30s, you may have been married and perhaps had children, a home, family responsibilities, and a career underway. You may have been watching your parents go through the retirement phase of their lives. Chances are, they benefited from having a corporate pension to supplement their Social Security check. You may have assumed that those kinds of perks were standard and you came to expect that you, too, would have such a cushion. From a mindset perspective, you didn't worry much as your expectations pretty much remained intact.
Then, into your 40s, a few new words, like "downsizing" and "outsourcing" made their way into your vocabulary. More and more companies changed their benefit plans and eliminated pensions in favor of 401 (k) plans and other programs that were more based on employee contribution. Hopefully, you survived this era with your retirement plan intact, but only a few did. Skepticism and general wariness symbolized your mindset then.
Into your 50s and an outright dynamic change occurred in retirement planning. Gone away were the pension plans of yesteryear and the emphasis became how to grow your tax advantaged savings to build a sizable nest egg for retirement. But, of course, by that time you were probably caught up in credit card debt, had more house and cars and toys than you needed, and it was increasingly difficult to put anything 'extra' away for retirement savings. Denial could be a good term for the mindset of your 50's. You knew you had a problem, but without the cash to do something, you just put any discussion of retirement planning on the back burner.
Now, as you approach your 60's, panic has set in to some extent! Our government surveys tell us that 75% or people reaching age 60 have saved less than $25,000 toward their retirement! There's a whole lot of political discussion about the Social Security System, but nobody is talking about increasing benefits or lowering the full retirement age. No, quite the opposite is happening.
Now you are approaching what you think is your retirement "Red Zone" - that 10 year period starting 5 years before retirement. Unless you are among the very fortunate that have a sizable nest egg secured, you are faced with working longer into your 60s or 70s before you can retire and you can only hope that your health holds out that long. If you have the energy, you and/or your spouse are considering a second job to help the retirement cause.
Well, you are not alone! There are millions of Baby Boomers who are about to turn 62 and hit 'retirement age'. Many, many of them have the same savings deficit that you do. Our society is changing and it is doing so very rapidly. You can differentiate yourself from the masses by actually doing something about your retirement savings shortfall. And, you can start doing it today!
The age of the Internet has provided us with an amazing communication tool. You can now take advantage of the Internet, at a very modest cost, to provide some needed 'extra cash' for your retirement plan. All it takes is an investment of time on your part!
You see, during your life, you have accumulated a lot of knowledge on certain topics. That knowledge and your experiences make you quite unique. If you can refine, codify, and package your specific knowledge, there is a way to earn income by sharing that information. You see, there are millions of people performing searches on the Internet everyday trying to find information on a wild array of topics. You can bet that there are lots of searches every day on the topic that you know so much about!
There are mechanisms in place on the Internet to help you share your knowledge and information with others and, in return, establish a steady source of income to supplement your retirement. You DO NOT have to spend a lot of money to accomplish this. Many people are doing this every day!
Your Age Versus Your Retirement Income Mindset - How Do the Two Work Together?
By: Jennifer Seaton
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