You are eligible for your employer’s pension plan if you have worked there for one year and at least 1000 hours. Employers offer two basic types of retirement accounts—defined contribution plans or defined benefit plans.

Defined contribution plans are characterized by an annual contribution being made for each employee. (more…)

In the simplest sense, a retirement plan is your formula for determining what you want your retirement source of income to be and how you will finance that income. That retirement money doesn’t accumulate overnight; on the contrary, you will probably have to stick to your retirement plan for most of your adult life. Working on your retirement plan is called retirement planning.

Your retirement plan involves at least three things:

Goals : The first step in retirement planning involves setting realistic goals for your retirement. You probably have a vision of what you want your retirement to be like, but you also need to have a reasonable expectation about the lifestyle you’ll have when you retire — a practical and realistic goal of what retirement can be for you. (more…)