Gossiping about: When will YOU retire? Infographic

I am not a financial expert but I have worked with people that gossiped about their retirement options.  I cannot tell you how many times I was asked, "When will you retire?" Then they would want to know what I had heard about the company retirement plan...like I actually knew!  

Here is what I think; they should have asked someone that has the correct answers. I could not help them with their retirement plan.

I received the Infographic from Lemon.com the other day.  Kelsey sends these to me once in a while. This is what she said:

From:  Kelsey Cox

Hey Barbara, 

Hope you had a great weekend. I wanted to send along another graphic I thought your Retire in Style readers would be interested in. The graphic, based on Gallup's Economy and Personal Finance poll, examines when today's workforce plans to retire, and some tips to ensure a comfortable retirement. 

Take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks Barbara!

Infographic: When Will You Retire?

Click here for large view:  http://lemon.com/blog/infographic-2/when-will-you-retire/

Preview:

Best,
Kelsey

 I liked the final four items on Inforgraphic.  This is such good common sense stuff.

From Lemon.com: http://lemon.com/blog/infographic-2/when-will-you-retire/

1. Know your numbers. Retirement planning calculators can tell you what you should be saving.
2. Max out your IRA/401(k) contributions.
3. Automate your savings.
4. Learn about your employer's pension plan.
5. Don't overestimate Social Security. This plan will give you, at best, 40% of your pre-retirement income.

But I want you to focus on #4. Learn about your employer's pension plan. Do you gossip around the water cooler or in the coffee room about retirement? When was the last time you hear people talking about their savings or IRA/401k contributions and thought "I really should be doing more"? 

Listen to me now...talk to your human resources person and get some more information about your company plan. They may even guide you to another person that can give you some advice about the rest of the plan. Really, the people in the coffee room are not experts even if you are working for a company that deals in that sort of thing. Your local gossip is not a good person to go to when looking for your retirement plan!

Click on the link and look at the whole page.  

Have a wonderful day!

b

If this information is helpful beam me up to twitter.com.

SAVE lots by being a snow birding?

Being a snow bird is not something most of us rush into lightly.  We count our pennies first and then fly south.  It occurred to me this morning that in a lot of ways leaving our home in winter is saving us a lot of money.  How?  Well here is a list:

Image by Always at Home via Flickr
1. First of all I am healthier.  I don't know if that is a savings but it certainly could be.
2. We don't heat 1500 square feet in bitter cold.  
3. We turn off the water heater to save more electricity/gas.
4. Our second car goes in storage and we only insure it for storage.
5. We only use one car in Arizona.  
6. Groceries are cheaper in Tucson than they are here...and more fresh vegetable are available because of the location.
7. Our entertainment is mostly taken care of in our RV resort.  We do not spend much to keep ourselves happy.
8. I do not have a winter and summer wardrobe.  Because the summer temperature in Portland is very similar to the winter temperature in Tucson I only need one set of clothes.  I buy all of those off season when they are on sale.
9. Just turning off our TV cable, computer and telephone save us a lot of money.  ($160+ this last month.)
10. Garbage, computer service, vampire lights all go away here in Oregon.  
    Image by Always at Home via Flickr

This is the all important departure list that we use:

1. Mail...the post office with forward mail with a beginning and ending date.  If you are in one location, this works perfectly.  If you are on the road you can have a family member forward you mail occasionally or you can have your mail forwarded to a service and they will take care of this for you.
2. Turning off the water if possible...I know, you think this is a no brainer.  You need to consider that if you turn off your water you also need to turn off your water tank.  The tank could burn up without water.   Draining pipes might be necessary if you are from the frozen north!  But, no matter what, you need to find a way to have your water turned off.  Water damage is a horrible thing and it happens a lot!
3. Have the insurance for you second car changed...this can save you a lot of money.  The insurance company will change the cost for you if you have the car in storage.  Cutting the cost for car insurance for six months out of the year saves around $400. 
4. Keeping the bad guys out...I know people that turned on an alarm system and walked away feeling very secure.   Be very careful.  We have someone check in occasionally.
5. Make your home look lived in when it is not...(see keeping the bad guys out).  
6. Make choices about turning off garbage, TV, internet, phone service, etc.  Most of these services have a "vacation/hibernation" setting.  That means that they don't disconnect you entirely and all you need to do when you return is give them a call and they turn your service back on.  Talk with your servers for more information.
7. Decide on a wardrobe.  It has taken me years to learn what to take with me and what to leave behind.  If you are a total newbie, check on the temperatures during the months you are going to be in a locality.  Arizona is NOT hot in the winter.  Locals and experienced snowbirds do not dress like it is 90 degree when the temperature rises to the mid 60's during the day.  
8. If you leave the electricity on, UNPLUG EVERYTHING that can be disconnected...the vampires can cost a lot!!! 

Hope you find this helpful.

b

Technorati Tags: travel, winterizing, frugal, retirement, savings

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