The average retirement age in every state

Choosing the right retirement age is as difficult as it is important. Retiring too early could leave you short on savings years into your retirement. A premature retirement can also cost you a chunk of your annual Social Security income.

SmartAsset's free retirement calculator can help you decide when to retire.

On the other hand, if you wait too long to retire, you may miss out on some of the experiences you have planned for your golden years. Sticking with your job once you're ready to retire can be stressful and exhausting.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

How much do I really need to save for retirement?

I always thought 10% of salary was the amount you need to save for retirement. I save more than that, but a retirement calculator told me I'm not saving enough. Am I on track or is retirement just an impossible dream --Jessica, Texas.

I wish I could give you a simple-but-accurate rule of thumb that could assure you're saving enough to stay on track toward a secure retirement. But I can't because there isn't one.

The 10%-of-salary figure you cite is often tossed around as a viable benchmark -- and it might be if you start saving that amount in your early 20s and stick to it faithfully over the next 40 or so years. But few of us actually adhere to that regimen. We get a late start or have years when we save less than 10% or we may even dip into our savings occasionally. To allow for more leeway in building a nest egg, many pros suggest a higher target of 15%, which is the figure cited in recent research by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

6 Ways to Prepare for Retirement in Your 20s and 30s

Compound interest works best when you start saving early in your career.

Although retirement may be decades away when you're in your 20s and 30s, it's an important milestone to start planning for. The earlier you start thinking about and preparing for it, the less likely you are to have to play a game of catch up as retirement approaches. To get yourself started with retirement planning, consider these six ways to prepare:

Open an account already. If your employer offers a savings vehicle, such as a 401(k), take advantage of it. You can also open your own traditional IRA or Roth IRA. While saving early is important, so is the habit of doing so automatically on an ongoing basis. By setting yourself up with automatic paycheck deductions or transfers to a Roth IRA, you're getting into the habit of putting money aside for your future. Aim to save at least 10 percent of your gross income and work up from there.

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

The Best Places to Work in Retirement

Just over a quarter (26.2 percent) of people age 60 and older remain employed. But in some cities, nearly a third of the population continues to work during the traditional retirement years, according to 2012 Census Bureau data. Here are the places those age 60 and older are the most likely to be employed.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Retirement strategies based on birthday? Start savings now

Despite warnings to the contrary, many Americans aren't saving for retirement. About half of households age 55 and older have no retirement savings, according to a May report by the Government Accountability office.

But for employees being blasted with open enrollment information this October, it's never too soon to start. When it comes to retirement, it's all about the time value of money, Matt Sommer of Janus Capital Group told CNBC's "Power Lunch" Tuesday.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

Why You Won’t Run Out of Money in Retirement

One prominent retirement fear is outliving your retirement savings. But this common concern seldom happens, because there are plenty of ways to adjust your spending and tighten your belt when the markets take a dive. Here's why you aren't likely to completely run out of money in retirement.

Spending has been going up and down all your life. No one actually spends a constant amount adjusted for inflation every year. You sometimes get big expense years, such as when you decide to change your car. Other years, you are too busy to take a vacation and you naturally spend less.Spending will fluctuate, which means you can easily tighten and loosen your purse strings as long as you pay attention.

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Damian J.  Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Instead of full retirement, many opt to ‘phase out’ of work

Seven years ago, Steve E. Norwitz, who was then a 61-year-old executive at the Baltimore mutual fund group T. Rowe Price, proposed a scaled-down work schedule that would reduce his duties.

“I didn’t figure it would go beyond two years,” said Norwitz, who started working at T. Rowe Price in 1977. In fact, “10 years ago, I thought I’d retire at 60.”

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

Women and Retirement

Retirement planning is important for all Americans, but the importance is heightened for women. The retirement deck is stacked against women in several ways, including generally lower pay compared to men and lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. Social components include greater likelihood of caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased part-time work or time out of the workforce. Since women outlive men by 4.8 years on average, they also have a longer retirement period.

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

Women and Retirement

Retirement planning is important for all Americans, but the importance is heightened for women. The retirement deck is stacked against women in several ways, including generally lower pay compared to men and lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. Social components include greater likelihood of caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased part-time work or time out of the workforce. Since women outlive men by 4.8 years on average, they also have a longer retirement period.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian Sylvia

Founder

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

The first retirement-planning question you need answered

As a Certified Financial Planner, there's one question I get asked more than any other: “Will I ever be able to retire?”

If you're feeling uncertain about this yourself, that's understandable. Financial markets seem to get more complex by the day, and a quick glance at the day's headlines show a global economy rife with question marks and seeming risk. The Employee Benefit Research Institute, a highly respected research outlet, recently released its latest survey on retirement confidence, and the results are bleak: overall retirement confidence is at record lows. So if you're concerned about how to prepare for your own retirement, you're not alone.

Luckily, there are a few things everyone can do to put themselves on a strong footing, and financial advisors can help with the biggest questions you may have.

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

The End of Retirement As We Know It?

For those of you who have ever considered an encore career, did you ever think your next job would be in retirement research? That's what happened to Paul Irving. After thirty years as a corporate attorney and CEO of a large law firm with roots in the financial services industry, he says, "I fell into a project having to do with aging and I just fell in love with the subject." 

That project ignited a new passion and inspired him to launch his own encore career. Today, Irving is the Chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the University Of Southern California Davis School Of Gerontology. He believes we need a new conversation about the benefits and costs of retirement for individuals, businesses and the broader society-and wonders if the word retirement makes sense in the 21 st century. Here are a few of the topics we discussed.

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755