Retirement Planning
By Joshua Kennon, About.com Guide to Investing for Beginners
The day will come when you are unable, or unwilling, to work. How can you ensure your golden days are spent doing the things that matter to you instead of barely subsisting? In a world where social security and corporate pensions appear to be in an inevitable slide toward obsolesce, the key is disciplined and intelligent retirement planning. Don't worry - we're here to help! Retirement planning is as simple as creating a plan and sticking to it, through markets ups, downs, depressions, recessions, and anything else an uncertain world can throw at you. To get started, take a moment to read these resources.
Laying the Foundation
Retirement planning is a lot like building a house; you need to start with a foundation. That's the hardest part (have you ever noticed how it seems like it takes a construction crew months to push dirt around and then a building sprouts up over night?) Grab a cup of coffee and join us for some free information by browsing through these pages or printing them and reading in your favorite, comfortable chair.
- The Refrigerator Problem
- Six Steps to Retire Rich
- Five Ways to Make Saving and Investing Easier
- Surviving and Thriving in the New American Retirement System
- How to Deal with Forced Retirement
- How Immigration Can Save Your Retirement
- Want to Get Seriously Rich? Find the Right Employer
IRA and 401k Accounts
The cornerstone of retirement planning are the various IRA and 401k accounts available to you. We'll cover contribution limits, ways to avoid extra taxes and early withdrawal fees, which is better, the Roth IRA or 401k, and much more.
- Intro to the 401k Retirement Plan
- Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA - Part 1
- Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA - Part 2
- 8 Ways to Avoid Early Withdrawal Penalties and Fees on Your Roth IRA
- Contribution Limits for a Roth and Traditional IRA
- Profile of the Roth IRA
- Profile of the Traditional IRA
- SEP-IRA (Simplified Employee Pension)
- The New Roth 401k
- Taking a 401k Loan
- Self-Employed 401k
Building Wealth
You can have more than a successful retirement. With enough discipline and, if you are young enough, sufficient time, it's possible to not only build up assets sufficient to provide for you beyond your working years, but to have the things you want during your career, as well. Once you've gone through the other resources and articles detailing how to build up your retirement accounts, these additional sources of information can help you go above and beyond.
