Financial Frame

What should i be looking into for retirement planning?

I have to write a retirement plan for my gerintology class and i have no idea where to start. The plan is for myself at retirement, I am now 27 and expect to retire at 70.

Public Comments

1. always start with a 401k plan.
2. Are you writing your own plan? I would divide it into the following categories: 1) Financial: How are you going to save and plan for retirement. Hint: 401(k) plan, home ownership, personal savings, social security. How much do you think you will need to live comfortably? 2) What age do you think you will retire, and how long will you live in retirement. If you are in your 20's, and female, you will most likely live to be 100, so if you retire at 65 or 70, you will need to fund your lifestyle for up to 35 years. Most people in the future will work part time or have home based businesses, or will volunteer if they have the resources. 3) What will you do in retirement? What activities, how will you keep yourself engaged in life? 4) Healthcare: are you healthy, how will you maintain your health, what are your concerns and plans about this? Many people purchase long term care insurance to protect loved ones in case their health fails. It is never to early to start planning for retirement.
3. I am confused and lack enough understanding of your question. Aou are creating mock retirement financial plan for a typical aged / retired person? what is the age group of this this people? Are these people self employed / working class / students?
4. Well I can give you what I know. First, look into an IRA or 401k's both have a great deal of advantages. The earlier you start the bigger the pile of money you will have. Each are based on you making contributions throughout the year. For IRA's, it's max is $4000 a year and will be moving up to 5 soon. In a simple explanation, say you put $4000 in an IRA in your first year and the return of interest is 10%...now it is up to $4400...the next year u put in another 4000..and it gives another return of 10%...well the balance would now show around $9240...u made 1240 in 2 years...after about 30 to 40 years of this...u could be a millionare. things to look for on your paper...things u can look up online!!!! What will be the worth of my social security during retirement age? Will SSI even be around? The earlier I start with a IRA the less I would have to put in and the more benifit I would get out of it! Due to inflation and other factors, If I plan to save up to 2,000,000 by the time I retire, what will it be worth then in today's dollars? Remember IRA's have a ton of advantages. Tax deductable meaning that if you put it into the retirement account you have lowered the amount that the governement can tax you for at the end of the year. It also compounds interest over years. Can possibly lower the tax bracket you could have been put in if u didnt deposit that money into a IRA The older you are the more aggressive you will have to be with your money to have a good nest egg. FOR EXAMPLE: 18 YEAR OLD START IRA AND PUTS $4000 A YEAR TILL 65, GETS 12% RETURN (MARKET AVG. OVER THE LAST 100 YRS--UNLIKELY TO GET BUT THAT IS THE AVG.) AT 65, HE WOULD HAVE $6,823,535.01. NICE LITTLE NEST EGG WHEN YOUR OLDER HUH. SO START EARLY!!!!!