Articles
No matter how much money you have or which life stage you're in, becoming financially independent starts with a dream. Your dream might be to finally pay off the mountain of debt you've accumulated, or to stop relying on someone else for financial support. Or perhaps your dream is to retire early so you can spend more time with your family, travel the world, or open your own business. Financial independence, however you define it, is freedom from the financial obstacles that are keeping you from living life on your own terms.
Two-thirds of middle-income Boomers know someone who has required retirement caregiving, either in their home or in a nursing home, yet few Boomers are taking action to plan for this likelihood.
A new white paper published by the Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement, “A Growing Urgency: Retirement Care Realities for Middle-Income Boomers,” makes the startling case that today’s Baby Boomers “are more financially prepared for death than life.”
Many budding retirees plan to travel, relax and enjoy the company of their spouses when they officially stop working. But such plans only are possible if men and women take steps to secure their financial futures in retirement.
According to a recent survey by the personal finance education site MoneyTips.com, roughly one-third of Baby Boomers have no retirement plan. The reason some may have no plan is they have misconceptions about how much money they will need in retirement. Successful retirees understand the steps to take and how to live on a budget.
Propelled by sweeping demographic, economic, and lifestyle changes, retirement in America is experiencing a transformational shift. Starting with the "baby boomer" cohort (those born between 1946 and 1964), more workers plan to delay retirement past the traditional age of 65. Financial factors, including the disappearance of old fashion pensions that pay retirees an income for life and those expanding lifespans that can mean funding a retirement lasting three-decades or longer, have been the two main drivers of this trend.
Tips for preparing a new career or volunteer path for retirement.
Americans’ idea of “retirement” is changing, and many people today are looking to spend their latter years of life doing meaningful and engaging activities—whether that involves income-generating work, volunteering, or both.
In fact, an AARP survey found that 37 percent of working Americans ages 50 to 64 plan to keep working after retiring from their current job. Of those, 44 percent plan to change fields.