There is an old adage that says “numbers don’t lie.” So when it comes to figuring out how much money do you need to retire, you need to understand basic math, a few retirement concepts, and some financial retirement concepts. This is where you may wish you had paid more attention to your high school math teacher. (more…)

In a free market system, income is a critical determinant in the quality of life one enjoys in retirement, including quality of care for those elders in need of caregiving. Those serving gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender elders need to take into account the impact of the unequal treatment same-sex couples experience under policies regulating retirement income. For example: (more…)

There is a variation of the traditional defined benefit plan called a cash balance defined benefit plan. This hybrid plan contains elements of both a defined benefit plan and a 401(k) plan. Instead of a guaranteed benefit, each year the company sets aside a dollar amount attributed to your individual retirement account and applies either a fixed or a variable rate of interest to the deposit. The value of this account then becomes your retirement plan after you vest, which is in five years. (more…)

Americans are increasingly become aware and responsible for their retirement wealth. Many of us are know that the prospect of living with social security income and a employer pension plan is reduced dramatically and not attractive. More and more pensioners and retirees are less put trust on traditional sources of income; saving for retirement and work part time are seen to be more attractive. But the condition for future pensioners and retirees will be getting worsened. Given the desire to build a large nest egg for retirement was the need to build a replacement income. (more…)