If we boil things down to a simple two-part equation, retirement planning is all about managing inflows (income) during your earning years and outflows (expenses) during your retirement years. Of course, retirement means different things to different people at different points in their lives. Rather than a static state, retirement is a dynamic state, changing with life events, financial events, and even your own education as you learn more about concepts and products. The more information you absorb, the more comfortable you feel in being an active participant in the retirement planning process. Your plan for accumulating assets for retirement has to take all of this into account and be flexible enough to adapt to all kinds of changes. (more…)

The thought of retire early may be an illusion for some and a punishment for others. Everything is, as the saying goes, depending on how you look at it. First, is it the decision whether retirement is voluntary or forced? Often when companies offer their employee early retirement is not really such an offer since the other option is to be fired. (more…)

A 401k plan is a retirement account set up by an employer into which employee put aside some of his/her salary into the account. It is named defined contribution plan because the annual amount of money that can be given to each employee account is defined. This 401k plan program does not assure a defined retirement benefit when employees withdraw their money when it is mature. (more…)

401k retirement plans are one example of employee retirement plans that are sponsored by an employer. These employee retirement plans are a way for employees to be able to save and plan for their retirement.

401k retirement plans typically involve automatically taking a percentage of the employee’s paycheck and depositing it into the employee retirement plans. (more…)

There are many options for small business owners, but some may be sweeter than others

As no-brainers go, this one is right up there: Rather than sink all your cash back into your business, you should funnel some into your own retirement. But a tough economy like this one often tempts small business owners to skimp, figuring they’ll make up the savings later. Problem is, “later” often never comes: Just 22% of small and mid-size employers have set up employee retirement plans, according to the National Small Business Association. “Many are deterred by the potential costs and find it difficult to navigate the options,” says Tom Biddison, a principal at Cornerstone Financial in Baltimore. (more…)