When I think of retirement planning, I usually end up with more questions than answers. I’m constantly worrying about whether I’m saving enough, and if I’ll have enough to last from the age I exit the workforce until the end of my life. My wife and I have talked to a financial planner several times, and they have always assured us that we are on pace to be adequately prepared for our golden years. But it’s something that constantly worries me, as it would seem to be the worst kind of nightmare to be too old to work, and have run out of money.
I decided to do a little research of my own, and read the thoughts and opinions of other financial planners just to see if I could calm some of my fears, or answer some of my questions. I picked up a copy of Todd Tresidder’s “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire,†and read it cover to cover in a weekend.
I could tell immediately that the book was going to helpful, as it acknowledged the difficulty of retirement planning due to the very questions I was trying to answer. The book addressed my questions, along with providing multiple techniques for determining how much money readers need to retire. One of the things I liked most about the book was that it encouraged readers to do the exercise as the techniques were unfolded in the book. For me, it led to a greater understanding of how the number was calculated as well as what it meant. Usually my meetings with our financial planner revolved around them giving us a magical number we needed to shoot for, and then discussing how we manage our investments to reach that number.
But the thing I liked best about the book was the way it completely changed my perspective, as well as my retirement goals. For me it has always been about achieving a particular number in savings and investments, and then gliding through retirement, watching the number decrease and hoping that the number doesn’t hit zero before I leave this earth. The book has given me an answer to that fear by suggesting that an enjoyable retirement is much more easily attainable if you spend your working years not just by saving up loads of cash, but actually building income streams. Imagine reaching a point where you want to exit the workforce, chuck overboard all the stresses that come with going to work every day, and know for certain that you’ll be fine because you have other income streams (dividends, rental property income, business investments) that are greater than your monthly expenses.
That perspective of complete financial freedom squashes my number one fear of retirement savings.
These are just a few of the great ideas that I took away from the book. You can read more of them by picking up your very own copy via Amazon by clicking here.
The best part is, I’ve decided that I’m going to give one lucky CleverDude reader a copy of this book! Sorry, international friends, this one is open to US readers only. Just follow the instructions below to enter, and I’ll announce the winner in my weekly roundup post on Friday, June 13th.
Good luck!
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
I think about retirement all the time. I check our IRA and 401K balances every couple of weeks. I do worry that I will get so used to accumulating that when it is time to withdraw the money, I will have a hard time doing it.
@Amy – Kudos to you for checking on your accounts every couple of weeks. I wondered if some people would have that kind of worry….especially knowing that when the money’s gone, it’s gone!
its been about 7 years!