| Doris Dobkins is the publisher of $mart Money New$. You can subscribe by
visiting her web site at
CreativeFinances.com |
This
week, I received in the mail my Social Security Statement. These
annual reports are always very interesting to me as I'm anxious to
know what the government will send me for my monthly income when I
retire.
Here's an example of what a typical
Social Security Statement might show:
If you retire at age 62, you'll
receive about $500 a month.
If you retire at age 67, you'll receive about $700 a month.
If you retire at age 70, you'll receive about $900 a month.
When I look at these numbers, they
really sober me up. My first thought is, could anyone live on $500 a
month? My second thought was, can most people really continue
working well into their 60's?
The more I thought about it, the more
I realized that unless I had other streams of income supporting me
in my old age, I could very well be in financial trouble once I hit
retirement. I also realized that if I had ANY debt when I hit
retirement age, it could be even worse.
Thinking about this scenario some
more, I came to two conclusions.
 The first conclusion I came to is
that in order to have a secure retirement, one must be out of debt
by retirement. This includes all credit cards, automobile loans and
even your home mortgage. The only thing that could be excluded is an
asset that would generate more money than it costs such as real
estate.
The second conclusion I came to was
that it would be critical to my survival to have some additional
streams of income in place before I reach retirement age. This could
be anything from real estate rentals, interest on notes, to an
online Internet business. It doesn't matter where the revenue
streams come from but only that they exist.
If you are worried about having
enough money at your retirement to make ends meet and enjoy some
sort of quality of life, I want to encourage each of you to take
your retirement seriously. Please realize that every financial
decision you make now impacts your retirement in one way or another.
Make informed choices when you spend
your money. Understand the long-term impact a purchase will have.
Look for additional ways to increase your income now and at
retirement. A small investment now can make a huge difference for
your future.
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