Comments on: 7 Retirement Planning Factors You Cannot Predict

By: Paul Blart

Paul Blart — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:33:44 +0000

These are great tips. I would tell anyone to discuss many of these points with their adviser. I think it’s important to start on a retirement plan early. My 401K took a hit the past 2 years. I talked to several financial investors. Tried a few strategies but finally found one that worked for me. Right now I am into annuities and got a strategy from Annuity Rates . So anyone interested in a sound retirement plan should definitely check them out.

By: Money Making Sense » Blog Archive » Weekend Roundup

Money Making Sense » Blog Archive » Weekend Roundup — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:21:14 +0000

[...] Money Help 4 Christians writes a great piece about 7 factors you can't control about your retirement. [...]

By: 3 Factors to consider When Preparing a Will

3 Factors to consider When Preparing a Will — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:41:28 +0000

[...] get older they will take the time to prepare a will. They think that this time is better spent planning for retirement and other such activities. As a result, preparing a will is a task that is often neglected even [...]

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:51:08 +0000

@Darren
I agree. Thanks for your comment.

By: Darren Scott - Financial Services

Darren Scott - Financial Services — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:26:12 +0000

We’ve got no security in Social Security . Obviously, we can’t rely to it although there are always a shift just like our economy. Planning a retirement should always be a worthwhile task. I don’t focus much on difficult factors too, which will always exhaust you anyway and is pretty hard to measure.

By: Kevin@OutOfYourRut

Kevin@OutOfYourRut — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:05:30 +0000

Craig, you’ve highlited all the reasons why we shouldn’t ever be too specific in our planning, especially when we’re talking decades into the future. Your point on inflation is the one that resonates the loudest with me. Even if we do have enough money at 65, will it be enough at 70 or 75 or 80 after we’ve been drawing down on it? Also, inflation won’t magically stop when we turn 65, as if to be doing so in our honor.

We’re probably all guilty of buying into the promised certainty of retirement riches, as if we’re merely participating in a math equation. The real goal at 65 shouldn’t be all that different from what it would be at any other time of life: to walk with Christ, to lead a good life, with our needs met, in good health, surrounded by family and good friends, and participating in work and activity that stimulates and fulfills us.

What we have today is a grotesque money chase affectionately (mis-)named “retirement planning”.
.-= Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..7 Reasons Super Bowl Monday is THE Day to Start a Diet =-.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:37:32 +0000

@Darren
Yeah, Social Security does have a lot of structural issues. TIPS are a great way to offer some security with inflation – thanks for pointing that out.
This week I read something that said, there is no such thing as working too hard, only working at something you’re not passionate about. I thought there was a lot of wisdom in those words
@gn
Great comment! I completely agree and I’m glad that you brought up health. If only I could got back and change the title 8 Retirement Planning ….
Sickness can be so expensive.
I tend to agree about taxes. Governments are creative when it comes to taxes …
@Jason (Redeeming Riches)
If anyone was smart enough to figure out what tax rates will be in the future I thought it was you . However, since you don’t know I guess I’d concede that it is a retirement factor we cannot predict.
@Jason W
Thanks for you kind words. I hope I don’t keep you up all week as you anticipate next week’s post .

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:37:19 +0000

In this economy I would add the variable of "reliable employment." .-= Ken´s last blog ..How To Properly Work Your Teenager =-.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:53:46 +0000

I don’t think we should rely on social security either. If we do get anything, we should just consider it icing on the cake. Like you said, we should focus on the things that we can control, like our own investments, and not worry about the things we can’t.

And although we can’t predict what the inflation rate will be in the future, there are investments available that keep up with them. The main one that comes to mind is TIPS.

And just like you, I’ve also been thinking lately about retirement and whether or not we should be focusing so much on it. I think too many people work so hard and try to create a plan in order to have the “perfect” retirement. But why should we wait so long before we do what we want to do? To piggyback off the earlier commenter, our health may not be as good as it is now in order to do the things we want to do. What if we found something that we love to do before we retire, that can also generate some income ? That would change the whole paradigm of retirement as we know it.

Great post!
.-= Darren´s last blog ..The Laziest Way To Start Investing Successfully =-.

By: gn

gn — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:07:22 +0000

Health is the #1 unknown IMO. Will you need LTC insurance? How much will you be spending on drugs each year? Will you be healthy enough to work a little from, say, 62-67 or so and supplement other sources of income?

After that I’d have to say taxes and government policy in general. My fear is that when thing get bad, the government will invent new ways of confiscating money we thought was “tax free” (read Roth IRA) or invisible (read conventional accounts). Something like a VAT tax would do the trick without breaking any explicit promises about retirement accounts.

BTW I like ESPlanner for retirement planning. Consumption smoothing is a very powerful concept, although it also suffers from the “unknowns” problem.