Retirement Planning

Retirement planning can include all kinds of wonderful plans for trips to Paris or Disney with the grandkids, but the basic underpinning of all retirement planning is financial. How much do you need to live the way you would like to live in retirement and how do you get there? Ideally, retirement planning begins with your first serious paycheck.

You may have 25 years of retirement, so it is important that you plan carefully in advance for these years. Your children may love you dearly, but counting on them to house, feed and clothe you may be asking too much.

One study showed that an investment of $5,000 for ten years beginning at age 25 yielded $800,000 at retirement. The same $5,000 invested at 35 yielded half the amount at retirement. Lesson number one...start early.

However, it is never too late to plan.