It can therefore be safely assumed that there would be quite a few decades of healthy life after retirement.  However, your job, which is the main source of income, ceases to exist after retirement, and there is a need of lot of advanced planning to cater for the years that lie ahead of retirement so that you continue living the same style of life with the level of luxury and comfort that you are accustomed to.

Retirement planning thus becomes crucial.

Importance of Adequate Finances

Until such time you are getting your salary, you get used to a particular lifestyle and a certain amount of thrift. After retirement the salary, which is your main source of income dries up. In addition, there is a lot of expenditure that increases due to health issues in the advanced years as well as many other costs that add up due to relocation, etc.

The amount that you would get from pension and the security are meager as compared to the salary that you are accustomed to. On a rough scale, one can say that they would account only for up to 40 per cent of your requirements.  For the balance, there is a need to carry out a thorough analysis and planning for generating adequate finances.

Various Points to Consider

In order to arrive at a realistic pre-retirement calculation there are a number of issues that need consider consideration.  Some of them are:

•    The total market value of the entire savings and investment portfolio. They should include your pension as well as savings in any form.

•    An analysis of your monthly / yearly recurring investments and expenditure.

•    The net worth of these investments until your retirement and how much would they be worth thereafter.

•    How much do you need to invest more in order to generate a realistic amount of finance.

Financial Planning For Retirement

It is important to carry out an analysis of funds that you have readily available and the additional amount you need to generate in order to live comfortably after retirement. It involves the following steps –

• Computing the assets that you have in the form of own investment portfolio as well as the income that you expect by way of pension and Social Security from the government.

• Arriving at a calculation of your own monthly financial need, which would enable you to lead a comfortable lifestyle.

• Contributing the additional amount in various schemes in order to have adequate funds after retirement.

The calculation of your financial needs is a complex process that involves a deeper analysis of your assets and liabilities.

There is also a need to take into account health issues, need for resettlement, sources of passive income, your own activity level, etc. Thereafter, balancing your requirements vis-à-vis the additional amount that you need to invest can be worked out using one of the readily available retirement planners and calculators.

Therefore, building enough financial stability before attaining the retirement age and investing wisely is essential to ensure that you have the financial stability to continue leading a comfortable lifestyle even after retirement.

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One can only answer this question by a careful analysis of the requirements and necessities that are anticipated after retirement.

Factors That Need Consideration

Some of the factors that one should consider while trying to arrive at such a decision are:

• Age factor – age makes a lot of difference in the amount of planning that would go into generating adequate sources of income. Therefore, it is important to analyze whether you are going to retire prematurely or in own time.

• Plans – one should be realistic and examine what the future plans are going to be. For example, starting your own enterprise would definitely need much more money then just spending time with your grandchildren.

• Location for settling down – In case one is going to relocate, it would definitely cost much more and need more money than staying where you already are. In addition, the costs of real estate and day-to-day living should be considered.

Analysis

After going through all these factors (and other factors like health, expenses for college going children, anticipated weddings in the family, etc) it would be possible to work out an approximate figure about how much money would you need after retirement.

Simple Calculations

By the help of the following simple calculations, it would generally be possible to arrive at an approximate figure of how much money one would need annually in order to lead a comfortable life-

• Step 1 – make a note of all the likely expenses based on the points given above and then arrive at an average figure that you would need. For the purpose of this example let us say the figure is – $50,000 (or say X).

• Step 2 – this involves arriving at a figure that you need to plan for in order to generate an income of $50,000.

• Step 3 – list out the various sources of income like investments in property, the stock markets, other securities like bonds, and savings. Work out the overall percentage of interest that you would be able to generate from all these investments. Let us assume it as 7%.

• Step 4 – now to get to the amount of X ( or $50,000) as worked out in step 1, simply divide that amount ( X or $50,000) by the percentage interest worked out in step 3 (7% in this case) and multiply that by hundred to arrive at the figure that you would need. In this case, it comes to $714285.

This would therefore be the figure that you have to have in terms of savings by the way of paid off investments so that you can retire and lead a comfortable life.

Having arrived at a figure, it is always feasible to work out a plan so that a certain amount of saving is generated as passive income and your initial capital stays intact.

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When we are shopping at the supermarket for food, we don’t have the chance to see how the fruits or veggies have grown. In most cases, the consumer does not want to know as he has heard of too many stories about pesticides and fertilizer over dosage in the agriculture industry. However some media tried to alarm us about pesticides, this is for a good reason.

The synthetic pesticides that are used by farmers are designed to kill all form of life so the farmers don’t have to worry about pests that could decrease their productivity.

There are many problems that aroused from the massive use of pesticides in our current economy:

• Chemical pesticides can threaten human health: Remember that pesticides work like poison and kill many insects. We are spraying poison over products that are supposed to be eaten. Even if you wash your veggies very carefully, nothing says that the vegetable is full of pesticide residues.
• The study of DDT, a pesticide that was banned in the 70^th, shows that it increased the risks of having cancer and greatly reduces the immune systems, causing respiratory problems and central nervous system disorder.
• The environmental effect is also a big problem created by the use of pesticides. The pesticides changed the eco environment and some animal species find themselves without insects to feed on them. It could result in changes in the food chain with consequences we don’t know at the moment.

Nowadays, pesticide spraying is strictly controlled but you should avoid eating some fruits and veggies that keep a lot of pesticide residues in them.

If you can’t afford to buy organic fruits, here a list of fruits to avoid:

• Peaches: Unfortunately, this mighty fruit is often found with incredibly high amount of pesticides when grown non organically. This sis due to the fact that peaches contain a lot of water and pesticides get stuck more easily in its skin.
• Strawberries: Strawberries are a special fruit as they require a lot of fertilizer to grow. When they are grown organically, it is known that after 3 years of growing strawberries, the soil is emptied of nutrients because strawberries deplete soil nutrients very fast. Moreover, strawberries grow on the floor and are therefore the target of many insects like limaces. Therefore strawberries growers often use a mix of chemical fertilizer and insecticides to grow this fruit. It is not recommended to consume non organic strawberries because of the high pesticide levels that can’t be removed even by washing the fruits.
• Apples: Everyone loves an apple but you should go for organic apples if you have the choice. Apples grow well in wet environment as they need a lot of water and they are threatened by fungi and pests of all sorts. In most cases, the farmers will apply the product directly on the apple to avoid contamination.
• Grapes grown outside the U.S are often sprayed with unreasonable amounts of pesticides. US grown grapes should normally be less polluted by pesticides than the foreign ones because of regulation.

We think that we should support the growth of organic agriculture by buying those products instead of the conventional products we find in supermarkets. Cancer caused by pesticides intensive usage can cost you a lot more than buying organic food instead of non organic in the long term. As for retirement planning, it is better to make the right choice earlier than later.

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I just realized by reading wikipedia that the choice of the state you retire in is even more important than i originally thought. Looking at the weather or the facilities a state or even a city offers is really important but have you consider the different taxes that will have an impact on your budget?

By choosing the right state to retire in, you can reduce taxes you will have to pay, which means more money to spend and probably a better lifestyle if you are on a tight retirement annuity.

The Federal income tax is the first tax a retired person should look at. If you enjoy a large pension, you could consider retiring in the nine following states as there is simply no income tax at all: Washington, Nevada, Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Florida and New Hampshire.

Some states have chosen to collect a flat rate taxes, which can interesting as the rate is fairly low. Seven states with flat rate income tax: Colorado (4.63%), Illinois (3%),Indiana(3.4%),Massachusetts(5.3%),Michigan(4.35%),Pennsylvania(3.07%),Utah(5%).

A retiree should also look at the sales taxes as they differ in each and every states. It might be better to look after the states where there is no sales taxes if you are on a tight budget. The sales tax rate can be as high as 8.25% in California and it can be really hurt your purchasing power.  It is interesting to see that Tennessee, Nevada, Washington and Nevada are the states with no income taxes but they are on the list of the states with the highest sales tax on average (from 7% for Tennessee to 6.25% in Texas). Remember that you pay that tax on every purchases that you make. For instance if you live in Tennessee, you will not have any income taxes but if you spend 30,000$ in purchases, you would have to pay 2,100$ in sales tax.

We can distinct 9 states with a basic sales tax of 4% or less: Hawaii, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Delaware and New York.

To make things even more complicated, services are often divided in categories where some services are tax exempted depending on each states. For instance pet grooming is exempted of sales taxes in almost 50% of all states but you will have to pay a 7% sales tax if you have your dog taken cared of in New Jersey or Tennessee. I can recommend you to have a look at that online database to find out the sales tax rate for each service.

In the other hand, some states do not have any sales tax. It is the case of Alaska, Oregon, Montana, Vermont and Delaware. Other states with law sales tax (5% max) are Hawaii, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

I have done a map that summarize the data i have collected so far and I hope it can be helpful.

In a future article, I will recap the different taxes for all states and imagine different retirement situations to decide what states are the most retirement friendly.

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A few of them are inspired and have their plans well worked out but generally the most common reaction is a loss of direction and a certain amount of apprehension about the life ahead.

Retirement does not mean any lack of activity or sense of purpose in life. To the contrary, it is a time when someone can actually lead a more fulfilling life. It is more of a question of finding an inspiration and going ahead with the idea of living a contented life.

Ways to Find Inspiration

Being involved  in an activity borne out of inspiration leads to a sense of contentment and happiness. However, inspiration is something that is very personal. What may inspire one person may not do to another but it is a fact that everyone has something or the other that inspires and motivates them to do something extraordinary resulting in fulfillment and happiness. There are a number of ways to find inspiration.

Some of them are:

• Taking stock of your dreams and passions – Everyone has certain dreams and passions that they nurture throughout  childhood and adolescent years. However, at some point in life they push it in the backseat because of more urgent and practical commitments like raising a family, meeting deadlines, etc. For example, if you always wished to be a pianist but could not pursue it because it appeared impractical at that moment in life, this dream could now be fulfilled and would naturally give immense joy.

• Carry out an analysis of the personal strengths and use them in a suitable and fulfilling activity. It would definitely give sense of purpose and motivate you to do better since you would be doing something you love.

• Contribute to the society- before retirement most of us are busy looking after our own needs and those of our family. Once those commitments are over and you have more time to yourself, it would be ideal to contribute in whatever way you can to the society by way of your expertise. Giving back to the society generates a sense of purpose that is definitely very fulfilling.

• A combination approach – one of the best approaches of finding inspiration after retirement is to combine all three methods listed above. List out your dreams and passions, match them with your strengths and focus these two, to arrive at a suitable vocation that involves contribution to the society. For example, if you love reading and love talking to children, you could volunteer to read to children in a hospital or a library.

Analyze Various Possibilities

There is no end to inspirational activities that may give a contented lifestyle on retiring. As there are no time constraints in the retired life, one can easily remove all mental blocks and follow his or her  dreams in the true sense, and move towards a fulfilling , purposeful and  contented lifestyle.

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When we are young, we are able to take things in our stride and hence health is not a major issue. However, as we grow older we realize the consequences that health has on our financial condition. This is especially true when we take into account not only our medical condition but also the rising inflation and escalating cost of health care.

Therefore, it is imperative that we stay healthy in the retired life so that all these additional expenditures can be brought down and the money that is subsequently saved goes into increasing the assets, thereby creating wealth. The dictum ‘health is wealth’ is actually true, more so in retired life.

It is generally seen that although there are many tips on the financial aspects that concern retired life, there is hardly any advice available on the health aspect. The two issues are totally interconnected and in practical terms, staying healthy leads to a wealthy retired life.

The two major habits of the adult life that show their effect on health during the later years are smoking and drinking.  Both the habits are started as seemingly harmless activities and a source of enjoyment and relaxation but in the end, they have effect on both health as well as wealth. Therefore, a person who neither smokes nor drinks has the advantage of good health as well as wealth during his retirement days.

It would take a simple mathematical calculation to understand this aspect. If someone was used to smoking say, 20 cigarettes every day we could work out how much that would cost over a large period of time. It would total to a large sum which could have added to a colossal amount of savings in real terms which, when compounded over the years could actually contribute in making a person wealthy.

Let’s say you smoke one pack a day. The pack cost 5$. At the end of the year, it’s already 5*365= 1825$

Over a period of 50 years, that’s 50*1825= 91250$.

But if you had invested those 1825$ a year (let’s say 2000$ for the example) on the financial markets at a 10% rate of return (which is the historical rate of return of the stock market over a long period of time), guess how much you would have after 50 years?

You won’t believe it but if you had saved 2000$ a year and invested them, you would be a millionaire.

Actually, your net asset would be exactly 2,562,598.76 $.

With a 5% rate of return, you would have 441,630.79 $ by just investing 2000$ a year and preserving your health.

The amount that was spent on cigarettes over a number of years could have easily been used for buying real estate or investing in some worthwhile proposition that gives a good income by way of interest that would go a long way in making retired life comfortable.

Similarly, if we were to calculate the amount of money spent on drinking habits and compound it over the years, it would lead to a huge saving by way of right investments if done in right time.

Besides this, the medical bills for people who do not smoke or drink are definitely fewer than those who do. Therefore, once this is understood, a simple thing like quitting smoking and drinking would lead to a number of health benefits besides improving the financial condition in the form of accumulated savings which add up to a substantial amount over the years.

Looking at this from another perspective, those who smoke or drink also run a higher risk of getting heart diseases, cancer and other such medical problems. This would have a direct negative impact on their medical expenses; the money, which could have been otherwise well utilized by investing in a timely manner in various retirement schemes that would help in leading a comfortable, retired life.

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Having adequate finances after retirement is one of the most important things to ensure a good quality of life.

Types of Financial Planning For Retirement

There are two types of financial planning for retirement.

One is high-risk and high growth while the other is low-risk and low growth.

A sound financial planning for retirement necessarily involves a great thought and planning so that an individual gets the
maximum benefits and continues leading a comfortable lifestyle.

Tips on Financial Planning For Retirement

• Consideration of age – for those who are young, there would be a lot of merit into going for high-risk, high gain type of investment whereas financial planning for retirement of those in the higher age bracket would generally mean taking low-risk.

• A home of your own – it is common knowledge that most Americans spent an amount almost as high as 30% of their monthly income in the form of housing expenses. Therefore, building equity in your own house and paying off mortgages before retirement is one of the best methods of financial planning for retirement as it offsets the housing costs, which get restricted to paying property taxes only, leading to huge savings for other expenses.

• Financial planning for retirement with 401(k) plan – this is one of the best investments and should be started as early as possible. The 401(k) plan has many inherent advantages as it helps in saving taxes as well as involving the employers by way of ensuring that they deposit matching funds in your account. This method of financial planning for retirement ensures that the employer makes a matching contribution almost equivalent to your own. Besides this, The 401 (k) plan has many other benefits as giving you the options of choosing how the funds are going to be invested which is a great help in financial planning for retirement as it can help in diversifying your investment portfolio.

Investment in Bonds

This is more important in case of financial planning for retirement of those in the higher age bracket since they cannot take many risks. This will ensure that they have guaranteed payouts although at lower interest rates.

Younger people too should invest a part of the earnings in form of bonds as part of their financial planning for retirement although they can afford to take some risk in investments giving high returns.

A normal rule of thumb in financial planning for retirement for those in their 60s is to invest about 70% of their retirement income in form of bonds and out of the rest 20% in growth funds and the remaining 10% in other long-range ventures giving good returns.

It is therefore important to give some thought to financial planning for retirement well in time and start as early as possible to ensure a secure and comfortable future after retirement.

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While carrying out your survey, you come across many contentions for the cheap place to retire overseas, all with their pros and cons. It would certainly be a wide canvas to choose from. Many factors could come into play when you arrive at your choice of cheap place to retire overseas.

Factors for Consideration of Cheap Place to Retire Overseas

It is a fact that what is good for one may not be suitable for the other. After all, the individual needs of every person are different from the other and therefore it is essential that we apply our mind and weigh out all the factors before we arrive at the ideal choice of cheap place to retire overseas.

Some criteria’s we should consider while searching for a cheap place to retire overseas are:

Age factor – since resettling after retirement involves leaving behind everything and living in a completely new place, age plays a major role in deciding upon the cheap place to retire overseas.

Quality of life – many people want to settle down in a quiet place that offers a comfortable and simple lifestyle and offers good surroundings. Your own interests should be therefore be considered while selecting a cheap place to retire overseas.

Climate – the climate plays an important role while deciding the cheap place to retire overseas. You should be able to cope with the local climatic conditions there without falling ill. It is best to choose a place that has a good climate with adequate sunny days and moderate rainfall.

Cost of living – this is one of the major considerations for anyone to look for a cheap place to retire overseas in the first place! Money plays a great role in giving us comforts of life and certain places are certainly cheaper than the others for day-to-day cost of living. Hence, affordable cost of living is one of the most important factors while selecting a cheap place to retire overseas.

Medical facilities – one of the major factors by considering the cheap place to retire overseas is that it should have adequate medical facilities and quality medical care at a reasonable cost.

Safety and comfort – when you are looking to settle down in a cheap place to retire overseas, one of the major factors that comes into play is the safety, especially so because at the age that one settles down after retirement, many unsocial elements can take advantage. Therefore, check out the crime rates when you are looking for the cheap place to retire overseas.

Social life – although one wants peace and quiet in a retired life, there would still be a need to socialize. Therefore, check out that there are enough expatriates from your own country when you are looking for the cheap place to retire overseas. In fact, if possible, contact them before you even move out to your choice.

Hence, consideration of all these factors and a bit of advanced planning would go a long way in ensuring that your selection of the cheap place to retire overseas is a perfect one and you would lead a comfortable, satisfying and contented retired life.

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The problem occurs when protective capsule, which covers each joint and holds a lubricating fluid, helps in motion of joints. When there is damage in this liquid due to any reason, then the person suffers from this disorder. There are no particular reasons for this disorder or factors responsible for it. When a person crosses age of fifty he is prone to this type of disorder. However, occurrence of this disorder depends completely on lifestyle of a person.

Suppose a person who never did any kind of physical work in his life and always involved in sedentary job, then it is obvious that this kind of person is more prone to this disorder with respect to a person who was always involved in some kind of physical job, despite his sedentary job.

The problem occurs because it is necessary to have healthy joints and muscles; because in later age of one’s life a person should be enough self sufficient that he can at least do his work. It is true, in old age children take care of their parents. However, it is duty of parents also, to take care of themselves when they were young because children cannot serve them as they can do for themselves. Why to depend on anyone, even on your children, when you have an option of being self-sufficient?

There are many preventive measures for this disorder like:

• As much as possible a person should involve himself in physical activities.
• Say no to junk food, and eat simple food, as it will help you to remain physically active.
• If there is even a single symptom of arthritis then consult the doctor immediately.
• Always wear comfortable sandals or shoes whenever you are going for long walk.
• If you are enthusiastic about your health then do exercises on flat surface and avoid uneven or over smooth surfaces.
• Use of knee guards help to give support to your knees when you are exerting more like during exercising or excessive walking.
• Before involving in any physical activity do not forget to warm up and after completion of activity always do relaxation exercises.
• If natural remedies are not helping then go for physiotherapy, in order to get rid of arthritis pain.
• As mentioned earlier, go for simple and nutritional food in order to have healthy joints and muscles.
• If you are dealing with some weights then always stand in right posture and do not lean on wrong side. This may cause severe injuries.

A fact related to this disorder is, as such there is no permanent solution for it. If a person is suffering from this disorder then he should immediately contact his doctor and ask solutions to cure it.

Doctor will give medicines and prescribe some precautions. It is duty of patient to be disciplined and follow doctor’s guidelines in order to remain fit. There are different stages of this disorder. Doctor diagnoses stage of disorder by looking into x-ray and blood test reports. These tests and reports give clear picture of a stage at which disorder is presently at. According to severity of arthritis, doctor will go ahead with his treatment.

If problem is severe, then doctor may give recommendation for operation, if problem is at middle stage, then doctor may give some strong medicines and tell for some precautions, and if it is, starting of the disorder then doctor may recommend patient for some precautions and give some medicines, if required. Curing arthritis is not an easy task because even if it is cured, it will go along with a person for whole life.

Many times it happens when you are having severe pain in your joints and you are not able to do mundane activities. In that case sit and relax until your pain reduces to minimum level. After relaxation state, do not involve in stressful work, because it may cause further damage to your body.

It is very important to be regular with medication process because if a person who is taking medicine from long time and misses any of his doses then there is high probability of getting an attack of arthritis. As a person grows old another illnesses also enter into his life. It is the time, when he has to be very careful with his health. Addition of any disease with arthritis is very dangerous for a patient.

It is very important that if you visit your doctor then do tell him about your medical history. Suppose a person is suffering from arthritis at the age of fifty five years and at the age of sixty years he has a heart attack and he has to go from bypass surgery for it. At this time it is necessary for family of the patient to tell about his medical history and should submit a copy of it. This will give crystal clear information to doctors who have to do open heart surgery for patient. Hence it is true to say, awareness is not only required with patient but also with his family. That is why a person can live a normal life even with arthritis if she has full support of his family and friends. This gives her a high level of motivation in order to live a life like a normal person.

It has been observed, many patients who are suffering from arthritis having it as a hereditary. In this case it is necessary for a person to be cautious with his food habits and lifestyle because he is more prone to this disorder in comparison with other person. But a person should not take it as an excuse that he will also suffer from same disorder because he has it as hereditary. This perception is wrong and need to be rectified.

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Teachers work very hard to provide good education to our kids and we want to celebrate by publishing the best teacher retirement poems we received.

Teacher retirement poem from Adrian:

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