Can You Afford to Retire ... Ever?

>> Before the great recession, everyone's retirement goal was to retire rich. Find some beach paradise and then golf and shop till you drop. Now of course, the worry is you'll have to work till you drop. Well that may not turn out to be that bad. The recession has changed retirement profoundly. Better get ready for some changes. First, the new retirement age will be 67 or 70 not 62. There's no way around this one. You'll need to work a few more years to retire comfortably. The key thing to remember, in an age of modest returns where you save your money, isn't nearly as important as that you say. Put away as much as you possibly can. And for crying out loud, get the maximum employer match on your 401(k) contributions. Second change, you won't recognize the 401(k). Well, there will be tweaks to 401(k)'s design to help people invest smarter. You'll likely also see changes affecting how your plan is paid out. The fact is, the spend down phase of your 401(k) is at least as tricky as the savings phase. And that has policy makers scrambling to find a way to convert 401(k) savings into an annuity that won't run out as long as you live. Finally, you gonna have to manage a lot of different accounts. If you retired a generation ago, you probably just had a pension and social security to worry about. Now with two income households and multiple employers over a career, you can expect to be juggling any number of accounts in retirement. Now you can do this juggling act the hard way or the simple way. In a simple way is to roll those accounts into just one IRA where you can manage a portfolio easily and keep on the good side of the tax man. The whole point of retirement is to enjoy life not to work at it. A roll over should help make an enjoyable retirement possible. That and of course, saving like mad starting right now, did I mention that?

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