Years Flew By, and I soon Found Myself at Retirement

by Bill J.
(NewJersey)

Everybody knows that retirement is far from easy.

When I was twenty years ago, I did not know where I would be when I entered my sixtieth decade here on planet earth.

-- Will I losing my hair?

-- Will I still send and receive valentines?

-- Will I go on Sunday morning rides?

-- Will I rent a summer cottage and invite my children and grandchildren over?

My mind was flooded with questions, and I did not know if I was prepared for this concept "retirement."

Years flew by, and I soon found myself at the age where I had to grasp what was left of life, and actually plan for retirement instead of dream of it.

There are a number of things I did and still continue to do in order to prepare myself - both financially and psychologically - for retirement.

I asked my employer to initiate a retirement plan. I started an individual retirement account, which works wonders for saving for the future - I chose the traditional IRA option which allowed me to input up to four thousand dollars into these accounts per year!

I left my savings untouched (doing so would have lost my principal and interest!)

I researched various social security benefits (calling 1800-772-1213 for a free social security statement).

I educated myself about the type of investments I made, keeping me one or two steps ahead of the game. I prepared myself with the 401(k), because although I received less in my checks, the quantity would accumulate with time.

Perhaps my most important strategy for retirement was starting early, and setting and sticking to my goals.

A safe and comfortable retirement is everyone's dream.

Today, it is more important ever to have a picturesque retirement since people are generally leading longer lives; we can expect ourselves to spend more time in retirement than did our previous generations.

With proper planning, these dreams can become reality.