Recently, the Employee Benefit Research Institute conducted a survey to measure Retirement Confidence of the Americans. According to the survey results, 54% of Americans manage to pool less than $25,000 through their home savings and investment plans. The value of their basic home and other specified benefit schemes is not included in this. The shocking detail is that about 27% Americans can manage only $1,000 in their savings. And, only 11% reported to save over $250,000. Both young and old populace participated in this survey.
After seeing the above results, it has become evident that Americans need to opt for a different pattern for spending and savings in order to have an access to enjoyable living standards. There are various means by which the scenario can be ameliorated.
In case, you are entitled to a 401(k) scheme at work, you must start investing in this. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch believes this would help natives in improving their financial condition.
You are advised to up your investment in 401(k) plan. According to reports, employees invest around 7% of their earnings in a 401(k). However, it is believed that by adding 1 or 2% extra in the 401(k) scheme, you can increase your retirement savings wealth to a dramatic extent.
Another important point is that you must not withdraw your savings amount of 401(k) plan after changing your present job. In case of early withdrawals, you have to pay 10% fees plus tax on the amount that has been withdrawn.
There is no definite parameter as such to say when an American can be termed as a senior citizen. Some people, who retire from work place, call themselves senior citizens. Some consider themselves seniors, when they become eligible for Medicare. There is another group which feels that if a person gets an invitation for AARP can be said to be a senior.
The Del Webb’s survey results show that 96% of 50-year old people don’t count themselves as seniors, whereas 56% of 64-year old people term themselves as senior citizens. According to 50-year old citizens, they cannot be called seniors because they haven’t reached 65 yet. Besides, they are not entitled to any benefits applicable in case of a senior citizen.
Another interesting observation is that about 50% of the 64-year old people feel that the status of senior citizen is not applicable to them as yet. They still feel young and energetic. However, some 64-year old people recognize their senior citizen status for the fact that they have become eligible for senior discounts and are more than 60 year old now.
The previous and current baby boomer generations feel quite young and energetic as against their actual age. The 50-year old people feel as young as a 39 year old and 64-year old people feel as lively as 50 year olds. The current generation of baby boomers suggests 78-year olds can be termed as seniors, while the older ones suggest the senior life begins at 80.
Most of the retirees prefer to spend their life in peace. They like to travel to a place, which is safely away from the crazy urban dins. In fact, we are also not much different from them. Many of us make plans to buy homes in ideal locations so that in our later period of retirement we can simply move in with comfort and there is only a feeling of peace in our mind.
It is in this regard that quite often we try to figure out which can be a perfect place for us to live in during our retirement age. The survey reports of the Del Webb show that earlier retired people used to find Sun Belt to be an apt choice for them. But, the trend has changed over the years. Now, North and South Carolina have become the favorite destinations among the baby boomers.
Around 36% of the people belonging to 50-year age bracket have the plans to shift their base to Carolina. Popularity of Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona and California among the baby boomers is found to be much less compared to Carolina this time. Only 15% of 50-year-old people think that Florida would be a nice place to relocate. Virginia, California and Arizona have managed to find only 8% preference votes for them as against Carolina.
We get so tied up in our retirement planning solutions regarding real estate, cars, housing and tax benefits that we entirely overlook a very simple yet important aspect. You must be wondering what it is? It’s the cost of food. It might appear to be a trivial task. But, once you sit down and ponder over your food expenses on weekly basis, you would realize how significant it is.
As food costs form a daily part of our expenses, we really can’t afford to omit it from the list of our consideration. If you also agree on this part, you must start your calculations right away. Begin counting your food costs on weekly basis, and, then move on to monthly and yearly calculations of the same.
Once you are done with calculating your food expenses for one whole year, you can multiply the available figure by 25 or 30, as many suggest. The final figures will reflect the amount of money you would be spending on food during your retirement phase. Well, this might not be one of the perfect solutions, but it’s undeniably a way out to make our retired life smooth and enjoyable. We must not forget that every step/ effort counts.
