50+ Lifestyles

Are You Ready for Retirement?

By Richard J. Schillig, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
Independent Insurance and Financial Advisor

Retirement readiness is more than just giving up a job or a career after years of service. Retirement readiness is accepting the responsibility to fund and structure the retirement you desire. In order to achieve retirement readiness and retirement security, we need to accept that responsibility and take the initiative to do it. Money News on Tuesday, April 9 reported some shocking
retirement facts:

• Expected retirement age is up to age 67 from age 63 of a decade ago. (Zero Hedge)
• 46 percent of working Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. (Employment Benefit Research Institute).
• 40 percent of baby boomers now plan to work until they die.
• 36 percent of Americans say they don’t contribute anything at all to their savings (CNBC)
• 87 percent of adults say they are not confident about having money for a comfortable retirement (lifehappens.org)

Dismal reports, huh? The one that stands out for me is, “87 percent of adults say they are not confident about having money for a comfortable retirement.” That means that only 13 percent are confident about having enough money to be ready for retirement. These alarming statistics are thrown all over the place. Our own Quad-City Times recently had blaring headlines in their business section citing this 87 percent report and other reports basically of the same topic, indicating more and more Americans are not financially ready for retirement.

My question to you readers is this: If the retirement plan you have (at least the retirement plan you know of and have in your head), is NOT adequate or is not what you thought it was going to be, then when would you want to know that? Answer that question for me…please. Let me restate the question. If the retirement plan you have (at least the retirement plan you have in your head) is not adequate, when would you want to know that it is not adequate? What is your answer? Isn’t the answer ‘right now’ or ‘yesterday?’

Are you ready for retirement? We can help you answer that question with specific documented proof (not just an ‘I think so’ that comes out of our heads) with actual black and white ledger statements supporting retirement readiness or retirement deficiencies. Our firm now has available a special Retirement Analyzer Service that not only projects asset value at retirement time, but more important analyzes how long that nest egg will last through retirement.

Financial advisors everywhere continue to discuss the importance of accumulating assets ‘to’ retirement. However, few advisors continue the discussion of how long the retirement nest egg will last ‘in’ retirement. Big difference, huh?

Life expectancy today is greater than ever before. Critical for answering the retirement readiness question is knowing how long the retirement nest egg we accumulated will last. Take advantage of our no-cost Retirement Analyzer service. Discover for certain the real readiness you have for retirement. Our Retirement Explorer dinner workshop coming up in another week is valuable to determine retirement readiness. Join us for a nice Granite City dinner and an explanation of this valued service. See our ad below for details. Call for a reservation to help determine your retirement.