Your Retirement Income Is Unlimited
Your Retirement Income Is Unlimited
When planning for retirement in the future, most people use one or more of the retirement calculators that are provided by our friends in the investment community. They will help you understand how you will be able to pay for your living in your retirement years.
Among the income items that are entered into the retirement calculators are:
Social Security check (You can get an estimate from www.ssi.gov )
Pension Plan (If you are among the luck ones to still have one available)
Income generated from Annuities
All of the above items are designed to provide a monthly payment.
The investments below are a different story, though.
401K
IRA’s and Keogh IRA’s
Certificates of Deposit
Stock Market Mutual Funds
Your personal Investment Portfolio
These are ‘chunks’ of money that will need to be conserved, as much as possible, and you will derive some of your retirement INCOME from the returns that these investments produce. To allow for cost of living increases and swings of the economy, most retirement planners will recommend using only 3% to 4% of your investments each year as income. That way, your investments will not let you down.
All of that is well and good, but what if the combination of Social Security, pensions, annuities, and 3% of your investment stash is inadequate for you to live on? Well, you obviously must look elsewhere for other income sources to supplement your retirement.
You could get a part time or full time job. Perhaps doing some consulting might do the trick. Or you could open a small business in your local community to earn money serving the needs of others. There are countless ways to generate some income.
Having been through this 3 times now, I have found that retirement is not all it is cracked up to be anyway! I cannot imagine sitting around, reading a book and rusting away by the minute. Also, I cannot imagine having to go to an office every day or be obligated to a schedule made up by others on when and where I need to be. For that reason, I have chosen to become an author. I write books and articles like this one on the internet for fun and profit. I have found ways to supplement my retirement while at the same time have some fun and not be tied down at all. It took me a while to get it going, but now I have a steady stream of income that pays the bills. If you are at all computer literate, you can do these kinds of things, too. Just find something that you are passionate about and figure out ways to exploit that passion! It can be done!
Looking back, I was terrified at the thought of having to go to work at some ‘big box’ retailer and having to welcome people at the door – just to make ends meet. Well, I am here to tell you that you need to think way beyond the traditional alternatives to find the many opportunities that exist. I wish that I had started this while I was still employed. I would have built up a security blanket years earlier and I would have securely retired much sooner!
Resources: Don Seibert is a retired business executive who, as an Expert Author, writes timely articles on many issues concerning sources of retirement income Having retired three times, he now is the host of http://www.RetireToEasyStreet.com Visit the site for a complete discussion of Retirement Income Options