Matthew Krantz - Retirement Planning For Dummies

152 153

153 154

154 155

155 156

156 157

157 158

158 159

159 160

160 161

161 162

162 163

163 164

164 165

165 166

166 167

167 168

168 169

169 170

170 171

171 172

172 173

173 174

174 175

175 176

176 177

177 178

178 179

179 180

180 181

181 182

182 183

183 184

184 185

185 186

186 187

187 188

188 189

189 190

190 191

191 192

192 193

193 194

194 195

195 196

196 197

197 198

198 199

199 200

200 201

201 202

202 203

203 204

204 205

205 206

206 207

207 208

208 209

209 210

210 211

211 212

212 213

213 214

214 215

215 216

216 217

217 218

218 219

219 220

220 221

221 222

222 223

223 224

224 225

225 226

226 227

227 228

228 229

229 230

230 231

231 232

232 233

233 234

234 235

235 236

236 237

237 238

238 239

239 241

240 242

241 243

242 244

243 245

244 246

245 247

246 248

247 249

248 250

249 251

250 252

251 253

252 254

253 255

254 256

255 257

256 259

257 260

258 261

259 262

260 263

261 264

262 265

263 266

264 267

265 268

266 269

267 270

268 271

269 272

270 273

271 274

272 275

273 276

274 277

275 278

276 279

277 280

278 281

279 282

280 283

281 284

282 285

283 286

284 287

285 288

286 289

287 290

288 291

289 292

290 293

291 294

292 295

293 296

294 297

295 298

296 299

297 300

298 301

299 302

300 303

301 304

302 305

303 306

304 307

305 308

306 309

307 311

308 312

309 313

310 314

311 315

312 316

313 317

314 318

315 319

316 320

317 321

318 322

319 323

320 324

321 325

322 326

323 327

324 328

325 329

326 330

327 331

328 332

329 333

330 334

331 335

332 336

333 337

334 338

335 339

336 340

337 341

Retirement. The word conjures up different things for different people.

You might picture a life of leisure, walking hand-in-hand with your significant other on a beach. Someone else, maybe even your significant other, might dream of opening a flower shop. Some people can’t wait to escape their days jobs, while others either love their careers and don’t want to stop or want to start a new career — even if they’re 70.

You might have heard that you'll have a comfortable retirement if you save a certain amount of money by a certain age. “Just save a million bucks and you’re good,” such advice goes. Others say you need to max out your 401(k) or give up your daily cup of coffee. Perhaps you're starting to fear retirement planning because you’re not doing something that experts say you must do to retire.

This book is different. My guiding principle is that each person's idea of a happy retirement is different. Your goal for retirement is as unique as you. That’s why a rule of thumb or guidance for someone else’s retirement is not an exact roadmap for your vision of the future.

This realization is both liberating and challenging. It's liberating to know that you can work with your current situation and goals and still find solutions for retirement planning.

So what’s the challenge? The tougher part is figuring out what you want your retirement to look like, especially if your retirement is decades away. So if guessing what you want your future to look like is so challenging, why bother? Simply, the sooner you start, the easier the task will be. Time is your greatest ally when preparing for retirement, so don’t waste it!

Luckily, many tools are available to help. Think of this book as your guide to mapping out your retirement plan. You discover not only what your retirement goals should include but how to make those goals a reality.

Retirement Planning For Dummies will help you picture what you want your retirement to be, determine what you need to do to make it happen, and discover ways to find out if you’re on track. I share the tricks, tips, and secrets I’ve learned from a career writing about retirement for readers just like you. Unlike other retirement books that try to scare you into saving more, this book looks at retirement planning as an exciting way to think about your future.

No matter your skill or experience level with investing, you can get something out of Retirement Planning For Dummies .

I assume that some readers haven’t saved a dime and don’t know the difference between a 401(k) and a 747. Or maybe you've finally decided that it’s time to start thinking about the future. Part 1is custom-made for both types of readers, stepping through all the key points in plain English. Although I cover all the technical mumbo-jumbo, such as SEP-IRAs and 401(k)s, I do so only to show you how these are just tools to help you get the retirement you want.

I assume also that some armchair quarterbacks might pick up this book, looking to discover a few things. Planning for retirement is like a second job for some people. For these folks, this book describes more advanced topics and provides select online resources that can add new tools to a retirement toolbox.

The remember icon highlights information that you should never forget, even when you’re getting caught up in the excitement of retirement planning.

Read the tip sections to quickly pick up insider secrets that can boost your success when planning for retirement.

I use this icon to flag complicated topics, non-essential topics, or both. Feel free to skip these sections. If you do decide to tackle the information, it might be loaded with retirement lingo, so don’t be surprised if you need to read the text a second or third time. Hey, you didn’t want this book to be too easy, did you?

A warning icon signals information that will help you avoid the landmines scattered throughout Wall Street that can decimate your good intentions of building a successful retirement.

In addition to the content in this book, I've provided an online cheat sheet. The cheat sheet shows you how to get started with retirement planning in just 15 minutes, offers tips for retiring early, and shows you how long a million dollars would last. To see the cheat sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Retirement Planning For Dummiesin the search box.