Wealth Creation Blog

No matter if you are just getting your feet wet in the work force, have been there for quite a while or will be exiting soon, you should be thinking about your retirement. Once you leave the daily grind, you need to make sure that you and your family will be able to continue living the nice, comfortable lives that you have built together.

Here are a few questions to consider in order to determine your retirement needs:

• What are your plans when you retire?
Are you planning to maintain your current way of life? On the other hand, you may be planning to change things up a bit. However, if you are willing to lower you standard for living by reducing your travel costs, housing costs and general spending, you could enjoy early retirement. Only you know what you want, but once you know what that is, you will be ready to move forward to create the exact wealth that you need to retire comfortably.

• What is your current income?
The money that you currently make is the best place to start calculating your retirement needs. The chances are that the more money that you make currently, the more money you will need to retire in the lifestyle to which you have grown accustomed.

• When do you plan to retire?
The younger you are when you make the choice to retire, the longer you can expect your retirement to be. You will need enough money to last for the rest of your life, which could be many, many years depending on the age you are when you retire. The older you are when you retire, the less money you can expect to withdraw from your life savings, which will be considerably larger than if you retired at a younger age.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2011

Just as long as you consciously make an effort to keep retirement a top priority, you will be able to retire comfortably. However, you must evaluate your lifestyle on a regular basis to make sure you are keeping on track toward pleasant retirement.

Planning for your retirement is all about budgeting. It is never too early, or too late for that matter, to set up an effective budget. If you plan to create wealth of any kind, you must get your finances in order. The budget is the backbone of any wealth creation plan.

First, you need to know how much money you have to work with now. For three months, keep a ledger of all of the income that you gain. Likewise, keep track of everything that you spend money on down to the penny. If you buy a stick of gum at the newspaper stand on the corner, write it down. It takes pennies to make dollars, so every single one counts.

The next step is to evaluate your budget. Pay close attention to where your money is coming from and where your money is going. Now, focus on your expenses. Chances are you have room to cut back on a few things. Look at every item on your expense list and determine if it is something that you really need or if there is a cheaper alternative.

For example, a cup of coffee at a popular coffee house can cost you as much as $4. However, the same blend of coffee is available at your local supermarket. For $8, which would get you two cups of coffee at the shop on the corner, you can make as much as ten pots of coffee. That is around a hundred cups of coffee for less than ten cents a cup. For the price you would normally pay for one cup, you could make forty at home. In addition, you also save time and gas money as well.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010

Retirement life is a completely different ballgame for many people, especially those who are not skilled in money management. Initially, it may take you a while to settle in to your entirely new routine. After years and years of going to work and punching the clock, you may not know what to do with yourself right away.

Once a person retires, the new way of life may throw him or her for a loop at first. Some people may have trouble imagining sleeping as late as they want in the morning with no particular place to go once they get out of bed. Then, you realize you are sitting on a hefty pile of money since you are now able to claim your retirement funds and spend them in any way you like.

The key is to spend your retirement money carefully, or else you will not have to worry how to spend it for long. The best way to make sure that you always have all the money that you need once you retire is to use the extra time you have on your hands to effectively manage your finances.

Money management is especially important if you have invested your money in several areas in order to generate income for your retirement. You need to be able to keep track of all of your income streams and how much cash each one generates.

Impulse buying affects many people who suddenly have a lot of time and money on their hands. It is hard to fight the overwhelming urge to buy something expensive that you have had your eye on for a while, such as a new car. However, it is important to keep in mind that once you retire, you no longer have a stable income source as you did when you were earning a regular paycheck.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010

The truth is that it is never too early to begin saving money. Benjamin Franklin knew exactly what he was talking about when he said, “A penny saved is a penny earned”.

Waiting until you are close to retirement to begin saving will most likely provide you with a comfortable retirement, but if you want to retire wealthy, then you should get started sooner.

In order to be ready to retire when you are still young enough to enjoy life outside of the workforce, it is best to begin saving money with your first job. Think about it. If you start working as a teenager and you earn $100 per week. If you put back ten percent of every paycheck, in a single year you will have saved almost $500. If you work four years while still in high school, when your expenses are at a minimum, you can easily have a couple of thousand dollars saved up by the time you head off to college.

Think about your savings and your income and determine the best investment options available to you. Set a goal for your savings and when you reach that goal, grow your money even more by investing wisely. The right investments generate passive income, which means that you have more time to do the things you enjoy and less time at work. If you set up multiple streams of passive income in all the right areas, it is possible to earn thousands of dollars each and every month without ever having to work more than just a few minutes a day.

The Internet is busting at the seams with opportunities to earn cash and build your savings. If you have children, get them a piggy bank early and teach them the importance of saving and investing.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2010

In yesterday’s post we just started to touch upon this. We talked about there being a time for limits and not allowing the outside world and a rat race job to have more influence in your life than either should. Let’s go a step further with that today.

The part I want to focus on is this—achieving a life of freedom, fun, and enjoyment before it’s too late; something far too few people do.

No Haven In The Odds

We know the odds for people of retirement age. All but about 4% of them are flat broke by the time they get to what is supposed to be their ‘golden years’. They are either living out their years of comfort, enjoyment, and relaxation in financial stress or relying on the government or family to support them. Hardly the time of their lives, as retirement is supposed to be.

The really sad thing is that in many ways those are the lucky ones—because they are the ones who’ve actually made it to retirement age. Too many people work hard all their lives for someone else, only to reach this age and stage and find that their health will not cooperate enough for them to live out their plans. Failing health and a reliance on medical treatment keeps them tied down in one spot and dictates their schedules until they have no choice but to give up on the one dream, the one point in time and goal, that they’d planned and dreamed for all their lives.

It’s Why You Need Wealth Now

All of this is just the final reason why you need to pursue wealth now for your entire life, and not just save up for a rainy day retirement fund. No, wealth cannot guarantee you good health now or when you get older (although some might argue it could, depending on its ability to help you access better medical care, and considering the loads of stress that will be taken off your mind and heart over the next many years). What wealth can guarantee is that you will have the financial freedom to live well for all your years, and give you the ability to live well always, starting right now.

We shouldn’t be saving up for pockets of happiness in a few twilight years. We should be financing our biggest and best lives now. That is what wealth creation is for. It is to let you live well always, and ensure that you have that time to enjoy life on your terms—for now and for always.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
Aussie Internet Marketer © 2004 – 2009