Thursday, March 8, 2012
RETIREMENT’S NEW NORMAL
2:47 PM | 
Posted by
pensionfinancialservices |
“The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income,” said the noted philosopher
(and estimable heavyweight) George Foreman. Good question, but the answer also yields
uncertainty and fear for millions of Americans, most of who, according to an insightful article
on Fidelity.com, “must rely on a combination of Social Security and their retirement savings.
And the responsibility for managing a variety of imponderables—from how long you’ll live to
what the markets and your portfolio will do—falls squarely on you.”
(and estimable heavyweight) George Foreman. Good question, but the answer also yields
uncertainty and fear for millions of Americans, most of who, according to an insightful article
on Fidelity.com, “must rely on a combination of Social Security and their retirement savings.
And the responsibility for managing a variety of imponderables—from how long you’ll live to
what the markets and your portfolio will do—falls squarely on you.”
The Fidelity piece is titled “Taking on Retirement’s New Normal,” and it quotes psychologist Laura Carstensen, director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity, who points out that “In less than a century, we nearly doubled life expectancy. That is a stunning, stunning change. Now that’s good but it’s also challenging because there are no real cultural guideposts—and that creates anxiety.”
The article delves into some of those anxiety-producing retirement hurdles, including a phenomenon that Carstensen calls the “misery myth.” Not planning, she says, “is the single biggest mistake that people make.” Also in the piece: ways to “succeed in the transition from work to retirement,” and a smart four-step plan to prepare for your financial future:
Step 1 develop a picture of your retirement.
Step 2 translate your picture into estimated expenses.
Step 3 understand your sources of retirement income.
Step 4 develop a strategy to generate lifetime income.
All in all, there’s ample reason to stay optimistic—particularly so with the help of sound advice and planning from your financial advisors—as you engage realistically with your retirement needs and goals. Of course, gaining and using knowledge is vital to securing your financial future, and maybe the biggest problem you’ll have with retirement is, as an old quip has it, that you’ll never get a day off.
Pension Parameters Financial Services: helping companies through personal service and one-to-one retirement advising.
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