What Does Retirement Really Look Like?

When I was in my 20s, this is what I thought a typical day for a retiree would be like.

9 a.m. – Wake up to a leisurely breakfast and a cup of coffee. Read the paper and do the crossword puzzle.

10 a.m. – Go for a walk, then take it easy.

11:30 a.m. – Watch some TV and read a magazine or a book.

1 p.m. - Have lunch.

Afternoon – Go shopping, walk the dog, work on the house, and catch up with friends.

5 p.m. – Have an early bird dinner and kick back the rest of the day.

9 p.m. – Time to hit the hay.

This vision fits a sedate retirement home more than the current active retirements in which many retirees actually engage. Now that I’m older I know this is not what people do in retirement. Many people stay quite active when they first retire from their careers and put off the relaxed retirement until when they are much older.

Active retirement. 

An active retirement is not just keeping busy, but engaging in quality activities that make your life worthwhile. Here are some of the key ingredients of quality retirement activities to help guide your planning:

Find something you are passionate about. Since retirement is your time to do what I want to do, it is the perfect time to focus on what you am passionate about. Passions differ and can change over time, but you know when you are passionate about something. Whatever that “it” is for each of us, we need to find it and pursue it.

Find something that challenges you. If an activity is too easy, it will get done too quickly. Rising to meet a challenge engages our capabilities and focuses our attention. Successfully dealing with a challenge gives us a feeling of accomplishment and worth. Retirement can be a time of discovery if we engage in activities that push us a bit.

Find something that helps others. There is a satisfaction that we can realize by stepping outside of our comfort zone to help someone in need. Heartfelt gratitude expressed for even little things will warm the coldest heart. Some of us are courageous trail blazers who travel to foreign countries to help those in need. Other people just take the time to talk with a homeless person waiting on the curb and listen attentively to their story, empathizing with their situation, and showing that someone cares.

Find something that is long term. If we are fortunate, retirement will be an extended proposition lasting many years. It is advantageous if retirement activities are not quickly completed and require time and diligence. I think that something becomes long term when it is more about the journey than arriving at the destination.

I am learning that avoiding boredom in retirement cannot be accomplished by engaging in an unlimited quantity of activities. Rather, a satisfying retirement will be determined by the quality of the activities I choose.

I know most people would rather continue to be active after they retire from their career than relaxing around the pool all day.

Retirement can be a difficult transition. Retirement can be a difficult transition if you are not prepared for it. Many people who were near retirement age were forced to retire during the recent downturn. The loss of income coupled with the large losses in their retirement account caused a lot of heartburn. Taking up a part-time job or freelance work could help delay the withdrawal until the stock market recovers.

Have a fun retirement. An active retirement can mean part-time work, volunteering, freelancing, coaching, and many other activities. Doing part-time work and generating a small income after retiring is a viable way to reduce or delay withdrawal from your retirement accounts.

Retiring from a full-time job is a big change and many retirees often miss the structured routine of work. Keeping an active retirement can be a bridge to a relaxed retirement later on.
from an idea posted  By Joe, August 23, 2012 

The longest study of human development ever undertaken

SINCE 1966, George E Vaillant, Pro­fessor of Psychiatry at Harvard, has followed the lives of several hundred men in the Grant Study. They are now aged around 90. The latest installment in  the study is called Triumphs of Experience

The longest study of human development ever undertaken, it began in 1938 to chart the physical and emotional health of more than 200 US men. Vaillant says there is some welcome news – our lives go on evolving in our later years, and often become more fulfilling.

Some are unsurprising. Alcoholism has a devastating effect on family and professional life. If a lifetime of achievement is your goal, then it is better to have had an emotionally supportive childhood than a socially privileged upbringing. Pragmatic and practical men are more likely to be politically conservative, while sensitive and intuitive men lean liberal. Other findings upset conventional wisdom (Republican men are no less altruistic than Democratic men) or proved to be just downright confounding: The longer-lived a man's maternal grandfather, the more likely it is that he will enjoy mental health.

“So out of control does the whole process of ageing often feel that I was relieved when our wealth of data revealed that some aspects of successful ageing – or lack of it – are in fact negotiable,” he writes. The study said recovery from a lousy childhood was possible and memories of a happy childhood were a lifelong source of strength.

Mar­riage brings more contentment after 70, and ageing after 80 is determined less by heredity than by habits formed before 50. Ageing with grace and vitality depends more on us than on our genes. In addition, what what a man thinks at a late stage of life much depends on how successfully he has come to terms with life's regrets.

Mr. Vaillant concludes that personal development need never stop, no matter how old you are. At an advanced age, though, growth consists more in finding new hues and shades in one's past than in conceiving plans for the future. As the Harvard Study shows with such poignancy, older men treat what lies behind them much as younger men treat what lies ahead. The future is what young men dream about; they ponder the extent to which it is predetermined or open; and they try to shape it. For old men, it is the past they dream about; it is the past whose inevitability or indeterminateness they attempt to measure; and it is the past they try to reshape. For the most regret-free men in the Harvard study, the past is the work of their future.

Sources: http://www.thesenior.com.au/News/The-Senior-News/Seventy-year-study 

Getting Ready for Overtime

What are the most critical issues facing seniors?

I thought the following question was interesting and so I summarized the answers given on the E-Street Question:  posted  JUNE 25, 2012, if you are interested in the full responses you can go to the source: 

Source: Go here for the full answers

Housing Issues

• Many seniors are providing daycare for their grandchildren so that the parents can work or study. We need a childcare system that parents can access
• Housing Issues
• Affordable Housing
• Seniors Low cost Housing in next to impossible to find
• Lack of adequate home-care

Health Care Issues

• Seniors need affordable housing and better health care.
• Better Healthcare
• Home support programs
• Assisted Suicide, which makes it cheaper to fund a death, than to save a life
• Seniors wait longer than others to receive most “elective” surgeries, such as hip & knee replacements, cardiac procedures, and spinal surgery.
• Seniors, having paid taxes and provincial healthcare premiums all their lives, receive less consideration from our system than do their own children and grandchildren, who may have contributed nothing. The current “hurry up” program to provide timely hip & knee replacements, only applies to patients under 80. Those people older than 80 remain on the bottom of the list.
• The issue of senior abuse, whether that be from family or caregivers
• If you are not covered with extended care like us, you're in deep trouble, financially. It would be a major improvement if seniors did not have to face prescription costs. 
• Health Canada and its allegiance with the pharmaceutical industry.
• Affordable, accessible, timely health care prescription drugs should be covered so that people don't have to pay $1,000 per month from their retirement income. Preventive medicine makes a lot of sense
• Increasing physical and mental health issues, care centers for the old and infirm struggle to satisfy the needs of those with dementia, Alzheimer and chronic illness. These Care Centres are facing increasing challenges; the hiring of adequate numbers of capable, well-educated staff: trained Administrators and Social workers, RNs and LPNs and Care Aides with geriatric training and above all a propensity for loving the care of aged, frail, and infirm seniors
• Senior abuse as well as seniors health are some of the most important issues affecting seniors in this province. In addition, there is a lack of short term and long-term care facilities for seniors.
• They need and deserve decent housing and Healthcare! If they are living in a Government Facility, they lose 80% of their income
• Access to health and social care, housing and transportation, isolation and loneliness, elder abuse and navigating our complex system of services
• The cost of prescriptions and the availability of medical care
• The waiting list for a Senior to see a referred to Specialist is interminable
• Reliable health care. This would apply especially to extended care facilities.

Debt

• Employment opportunities to supplement pensions
• Age discrimination by people who think they should be put out to pasture.
• Currently, there are a large number of people over 65 who either have minimal funds saved for retirement or no funds at all. 
• Fixed, usually low, income, spiraling cost of living.............you do the math.
• The costs of housing, food, and gasoline are among the critical issues of seniors
• There will be hundreds of thousands of us living in extreme poverty.
• The ever increasing monthly rise in the cost of living compared to the amounts that the pensions pay out and when pensions go up ; they don't really go up as the cost of living goes up 3 x's faster than any increase any one ever gets.
• Living on a fixed income with all of the taxes imposed by every level of government: local, regional, provincial and federal
• The erosion of spending power of the meagre dollars that they get in their pensions
• Financial stability
• The never ending tax and fee increases, with fixed limited income for seniors is certainly a huge problem.
• Housing and heating has become so expensive that most people struggle to find enough money to pay for basic monthly expenses such as food and medications

Lifestyle

• The sense of entitlement to high-quality care neither they nor taxpayers can afford when their lives as retirees exceed their working lives.
• Lack of adequate affordable housing, from preserving current home to a menu of specific types of housing to meet needs
• Programs to eliminate loneliness
• Aging with dignity, means better programs/homes for seniors
• Seniors deserve a level of respect and care commiserate with their age and sacrifices.
• Educate Seniors that their health and wellbeing are directly linked to exercise and diet. Encourage them to enter the 21st century with computer literacy.
• Have the government and the agencies that are intended to provide all levels of assistance and support, ensure that our elder citizens are afforded the respect they deserve
• Seniors stories deserve to be told. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience that will go untold if they remain isolated in their homes or in nursing homes. Go back to the old days of a nursing home - that was a home, not an institution.
• Not all seniors have large pensions, own their home or can afford the health care that increases with age
• Training for an elderly future should begin at the high school level. Subjects could include: financial planning and investing and basic cooking
• Seniors need independence to choose, the ability to participate in their own destiny, the right to self - fulfillment, to live out their life in dignity, while receiving the highest quality of care .

Government policies,

• Seniors must choose: pay for rent or food or medication. The Canadian Nurses Association just publicly denounced lack of economic security as a major cause of poor health. *Ed. to note
• Municipal Policies along with deteriorating infrastructures drive seniors out of their homes.
• User fees, high taxes, and government waste. Government spending is out of control, and seniors are being stiffed with health care premiums, carbon taxes, etc.
• Governments’ persistent increasing of the gap between rich and poor by giving tax breaks only to Big Business
• Pensions have become a sick joke with most pensioners either going to food banks or eating food that is not nutritious enough to keep their health up.
• Governments slapping up Casinos everywhere
• The cost of living. Governments continue to ignore the fact that there are too many seniors living under the poverty line. They offer us tax credits, but those credits are useless to those not making enough to take advantage of them.
• Harper needs to address the issue of pensions to ensure that ALL Canadians seniors get to live the ending of their lives in comfort, security and peace.
• Everyone pays taxes on employment income – why should seniors also pay taxes on pension benefits? Health care costs are a big issue. Many seniors are having to make do by living on incomes below the poverty line. The cost of living increases 3 or 4 or 5% – politicians get nice fat increases, Hydro can increase their rates by 3 or 4% yet many seniors are living on fixed incomes and do not get any increase in their income.
•  The lack of acceptance for residency applications of Canadian doctors, studying abroad, who want to return to Canada and practice in remote communities who so dearly need physicians.
• One central information line would be best... you phone there and get redirected to where and what you need - it could save a life

Pension formulas derived hundreds of years ago

Posted by Moshe A. Milevsky  Mon Jun 4 2012

York University professor Moshe A. Milevsky teaches at the Schulich School of Business. His latest book is The 7 Most Important Equations for Your Retirement: The Fascinating People and Ideas behind Planning Your Retirement Income (Wiley, May 2012).

It is interesting to note that the issue of pensions and the risk involved in planning were thought of over three hundred years ago.

In the 17^th century, the state was facing problems not unlike the ones faced by Ford and other companies and governments today. The King awarded pensions for service to the Crown and many members of the clergy, as an example, had been promised lifetime payments. 

In 1672, the government established a pension for retired Royal Navy officers and by then British insurance companies were offering annuities to people of all ages, but were charging a flat price, regardless of age.

The City of London was the centre of business in the British Empire and it gradually dawned on the business community that these promise to pay involved risks. But nobody had an accurate idea of exactly how much risk and so they turned to the scientific establishment for help.

The problem made its way to the Royal Society — think of it as a supreme council of scientists — and then to Edmond Halley who spent most of his life gazing at the stars. 

He attacked the problem in a careful and novel way. And much to his credit he came up with the first known procedure for properly valuing a pension or lifetime annuity. 

He wrote an article which was published in 1693 by the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions and provided the equation he had used, along with the first reliable mortality table.

His equation is still used and taught to insurance actuaries today. More, importantly, it is an equation every Canadian should be aware of as they approach their retirement years.

Halley’s main scientific insight was to combine interest rates, mortality rates and age, to arrive at an equation for the value of a pension annuity. 

He properly established that the younger you are — all else being equal — the more valuable and expensive is the corresponding pension annuity. More importantly, the lower the prevailing interest rates — such as they are today — the more valuable is your pension. In fact, you might be surprised to learn how valuable that pension can be. 

Think about it. If you can retire on a full pension paying 80 per cent of your salary at the age of 55, the value of your benefit can be in the millions of dollars.

Here is yet another application of Halley’s methodology and equation, which is relevant to all Canadians. 

Although Old Age Security might only pay $550 per month, its present value at the age of 65 — and in today’s ultra low interest rate environment — might be as high as $115,000. There is much at stake in the debate around reforming OAS.

Halley’s equation and methodology for valuing pension annuities is now ubiquitous and intertwined with all retirement decisions. In my opinion, it is one of the seven most important equations for retirement planning.

So, when it comes to the Ford plan (In order to lighten its pension load, the Ford Motor Co. announced recently that it is offering 90,000 retired engineers and office workers the choice of continuing to receive a monthly pension or take a lump-sum buyout from the Ford plan)  pensioners, I would suggest that every one of them find an actuary — or at least an astronomer — who is familiar with Halley’s equation, so they can figure out whether the deal is worth it or not.

The other six minds behind calculations for retirement and the questions you need to consider

In addition to Edmund Halley’s equation for valuing pension annuities, here are the people behind six other important retirement calculations.

Present and future value: If I have $1,000,000 in my nest egg, earning 5 per cent per year, for how many years can I afford to withdraw $100,000 before the account is emptied? It’s obviously more than 10 years because of the interest rate, but how much longer? 

Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci (circa 1170-1250) derived the equation still in use today. He also wrote the world’s first financial mathematics textbook.

How long will I live? The odds of a 75-year-old living to 80 are obviously greater than an 18-year-old living to 80. British actuary Benjamin Gompertz (1779-1865) figured out the exact ratios and the law of mortality underlying this calculation. 

Gompertz was a self-taught mathematician, because at that time as a Jew he was not allowed to attend university. He eventually became president of Britain’s prestigious Royal Society.

How much can I spend? Yale University economist Irving Fisher (1867-1947) was the first to properly factor inflation into the equation, as well as the notion that you spend less as you age to help answer the question of how much to spend.

How much risk can I take? MIT professor and Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson (1915-2009), whose economics textbook is well known to undergraduates, described the optimal asset allocation between the risky stock market versus safe cash, taking into account all your capital.

What am I worth? Wharton business school insurance scholar Solomon Huebner (1882-1964) pioneered the technique for properly measuring and insuring human life value and he emphasized the role of legacy in financial planning. So, you want to leave $100,000 to the grandkids. How much will that cost you today?

Will my plan work? Russian mathematician Andrei N. Kolmogorov (1903-1987), state hero of the communist Soviet Union, created the mathematical framework that determines the probability your retirement income plan is sustainable.

Ideas on what to do when retired

 Source:

It appears that many of us have not figured what it would be like in retirement. For all the emphasis put on saving for retirement, planning for what to do in retirement is often lacking. 

While that may not pose an immediate problem – new data from the MetLife Mature Market Institute show 70 percent of 65-year-old retirees thoroughly enjoy retirement – it's not clear that enjoyment endures. That's why many experts suggest embracing some second act during this period that can last 30 years or more.

There's the honeymoon period for the first six months. Then restlessness sets in, and you wonder what to do with the rest of your life," says Todd Tresidder, founder of FinancialMentor.com  in Reno, Nev. "That's where [today's] whole new retirement comes in."

The transition tends to be more difficult for men. While 77 percent of men (72 percent of women) have planned financially for retirement, more women have "thought about what they'd like to do in retirement," says a survey released in January by Ameriprise Financial. For example, 41 percent say they plan to spend more time with family (34 percent of men); 21 percent place importance on their proximity to friends (13 percent of men); 25 percent say they've spent time determining how they will rest and relax in retirement (19 percent of men).

"Women tend to have many friends, while men tend to have relatively few friends," says Donald Strauss, co­director at RetireRight Center, a ­Chicago-based retirement planning firm and coauthor of "Customize ... Don't Minimize ... Your Retirement." Since men have been focused on work through much of their adult lives, they've built structures and an identity around it. Retirement "leaves them with a vacuum to be filled."

What to do? Sure, take a breather after a busy career. But then reengage in something. Here are some options:

Turn your passion into a new career. Instead of "retiring," reinvent yourself, says Mark Walton, author of "Boundless Potential." Do something that "lets you be as successful as you were earlier in life." It doesn't matter if that role creates income, he adds. The shift can be dramatic, such as moving from something technical to an artistic endeavor.

To get started, determine what absorbs your attention; explore how to convert it into real work, then envision a working structure to make that happen in the marketplace. For many, "it will involve inventing and marketing something themselves – being an entrepreneur," says Mr. Walton, chairman and founder of the Center for Leadership Communication in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Consider a "bridge" job. Experts say these positions – consulting or any kind of part-time, part-year, or project work – ease the transition and can provide income as well as human interaction. But the work "shouldn't stress them out or keep them from seeing the grandchildren. It shouldn't have the same feeling as their past job," says Caitrin Lynch, an anthropology professor at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass., and author of "Retirement on the Line." While some prefer continuing their past career in some fashion, others want to experiment. Preretirement planning – involving retirement coaches, seminars, or other guidance – can help a person decide what, and how much, work he or she wants to do, she adds.

Volunteer. You can contribute time and energy to some form of social good. While many people find possibilities through their church, synagogue, or mosque, many other avenues exist, says Marci Alboher, vice president at Civic Ventures, a San Francisco think tank focused on boomers, work, and social purpose. There are many volunteering possibilities, including AARP's Create the Good program (createthegood.org), and volunteer networking sites such as VolunteerMatch.org and Idealist.org.

A key tip: Once you identify the kind of volunteering you'd like to do, network to determine which organizations will offer a meaningful experience. "Make sure your work will be high-impact," Ms. Alboher advises, "because people are reluctant simply to lick envelopes."

Retirement stories in the news

Here are a few of the stories about retirement and retirement planning that I have been following  that are making the news around the world. These stories were published Sept 14 and 15th 2012. There are similarities in the stories and the issues faced. We think we face issues that are unique to us in our own corner of the world, but the issues facing us are also facing others. Younger Boomers need to pay attention so they can take steps to protect themselves.

Public pensions don't need fixing: Todd Harrison, Local Contributor
Austin American-Statesman
Public employee retirement systems and pensions are under attack. Those who are on the attack use such words as "unsustainable," "unfunded," and "bankrupt" to describe defined benefit pension funds. Words like "lavish," "overly generous," and "greedy" ...

Viewpoints: Pension problems not the fault of employees
Sacramento Bee
Anyone who reads the papers knows that cities and states are being hit hard by fast-rising pension and retirement health care costs for public employees. Cities such as Stockton and San Bernardino have even declared bankruptcy. But few of those papers ...

Pensions Overhaul Is Urged
Wall Street Journal
The push comes as several other states have changed their pension systems to grapple with growing costs. Rhode Island moved to a hybrid retirement system in 2011 under which it guarantees a portion of pensions that are supplemented by 401(k)-style plan ...

Don't let your pension hit the buffers because of fees
Scotsman
But how much of an impact does all of this really have on your pension savings? Are pension charges really the biggest determinant of your ultimate retirement income or do contributions and investment performance remain the key factors? Let's take a ...

Retirement costs will lead to serious cutbacks
Statesman Journal
Public employees deserve the pensions they were promised. But, sadly, state and local taxpayers will struggle to fund PERS at its current level. The estimate is that for every $1 million in public payroll, taxpayers will be contributing $210,000 for ...

Is new wave pension plan "California dreamin'"?
Reuters
Now, California is moving toward launching an innovative new approach to retirement saving that addresses two key problems facing Americans: the lack of workplace pension programs among small businesses and the structural shortcomings of 401(k) ...

End pension scams for clout crowd
Chicago Sun-Times
After a BGA investigation exposed the pension plan, Lansing ended the practice, which was used to encourage early retirement of older workers so they could hire younger, less expensive, ones. While there is arguably some method to Lansing's pension ...

Bulgaria to Up Pensions to Compensate Inflation
Novinite.com
In particular, Djankov explained that the planned raise of retirement pensions will be tailored to compensate inflation accumulated since pensions were last raised in July 2009. Data from Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute show that inflation ...

KEEGAN: When it comes to cutting public pensions, you can and must
Montana Watchdog
Jerry Brown this week signed pension legislation he admits does nothing about his state's $500 billion retirement debt, that debt continues to grow by billions of dollars. All over America, our 3,418 public pension plans are crashing faster than ...

Schools still groaning under burden of pension costs
Glens Falls Post-Star
In addition, they will have to brace for the cost of the other pension plan, the Teachers Retirement System. The 2013-14 rate for TRS has yet to be announced, but school officials expect it will increase. Of the two pension systems, TRS is the more ...

Judge OKs request to consolidate Hawker pension claims
Kansas.com
Last month, union members voted to approve a company proposal that retains the pensions, but freezes accruals beginning Dec. 31. It also creates a new Retirement Income Savings Plan. The PCBG's request to the court to consolidate proofs of claims does ...

Over 55s face £70000 retirement savings shortfall as most fail to set aside ...
This is Money
The bank asked 2,220 adults of various ages about their savings habits, and despite those aged 35 and above having high targets for their retirement savings pot, most are failing to put enough away. In contrast, younger people are aiming low but stand ...

Former Frankfort police chief backs off pension dispute after officers raise ...
Chicago Tribune
With two more years of credible service and his higher administrative salary, Piscia stood to gain roughly $9,000 more a year from his future police pension. Over his first 15 years of retirement, the Tribune calculated Piscia would have collected ...

SANDRA CHAPMAN: Time we pensioned off the term pension
Belfast Newsletter
Dr Altmann thinks that giving pensions a new name would make saving for retirement more exciting. So what could it be called and would a fancy new name alter people's mindset that saving for pensions is a waste of time given the way the recession has ...

Stand by for a pensions shake-up: Auto-enrolment is imminent
The Independent
However, while auto-enrolment is a step in the right direction for millions of people, it won't guarantee them a stress-free retirement, warns Ros Altmann, director-general of Saga, who insists that people shouldn't be relying on a pension. "By ...

'Unrealistic' savings mean Scots face retirement misery
Scotsman
Lynn Graves, head of business development for corporate pensions at Scottish Widows, said: “This, combined with the national trend towards a growing recognition that individuals need to take more responsibility for their own retirement planning, would ...

Virginia Retirement System doles out $400 million to public, private equity
Pensions & Investments
By Hazel Bradford | September 14, 2012 3:53 pm. Comments. Virginia Retirement System, Richmond, hired Lombardia Capital Partners to manage $200 million in active domestic small-cap value equity, according to information provided by the fund.

Quinn unhappy that pensions may wait until next year
Northwest Herald
Officials want to reduce retirement benefits for public employees to limit growth in the state's annual pension contribution. This year it's $5 billion. Quinn and the legislative leaders seem to agree on the broad outlines of a new plan, but they ...

Firms, Prioritise Employee Pensions
AllAfrica.com
We are quite certain that many former employees are wallowing in poverty after their retirement due to non-remittance of their pensions and such practice should be nipped in the bud so that firms are not allowed to defeat the very purpose the social ...

Times Co. Offers Former Employees Lump Sum Option for Pension
New York Times (blog)
According to the filing, about 5,200 former employees of the Times Company who have vested in the pension plan can continue to receive a pension when they retire or can accept a lump-sum payment in cash or to roll into a retirement plan. The ...

Quinn unhappy pensions may wait until next year
STLtoday.com
"The earliest we can pass pension reform as a practical matter is Jan. 1," Cullerton told the Chicago Tribune editorial board. House Speaker Michael Madigan has hinted at the same timetable. Officials want to reduce retirement benefits for public ...

Massachusetts Water Resource pension fund dives into custodian hunt
Pensions & Investments
... Olsen | September 14, 2012 3:11 pm. Comments. Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Employees' Retirement System, Chelsea, is searching for a global custodian for the $320 million defined benefit plan, confirmed Sheryl Trezise, executive director.

Cheddi Jagan would have been mad about Jagdeo's pension benefits
Stabroek News
Editor, all the apologists for the retirement package of Mr Jagdeo in the PPP such as Dr Gopaul, Mr Nandlall, et al, show us, the regular citizens of this country, that they really don't care about the working people of Guyana and they think that we ...

Fort Worth police officers voting on higher pension contributions
Fort Worth Star Telegram
snishimura@star-telegram.com. FORT WORTH - The city's Employee Retirement Fund has called an election of Fort Worth police officers to find out if they want to raise their contributions to the city pension plan, in exchange for retaining their benefit ...

Quinn unhappy pensions may wait until next year
Peoria Journal Star
... doesn't think a pension overhaul can pass until January, when legislative rules mean passage requires fewer votes. House Speaker Michael Madigan has hinted at the same timetable. Officials want to reduce retirement benefits for public employees to ...

Pensions: some good news at last
Telegraph.co.uk (blog)
It's not the sort of thing that will make TV or tabloid headlines but it is a valuable extension of individual choice which rising numbers of people reaching retirement with DC pensions will benefit from. Here's why. The shares don't care how old you ...
 

Pension changes reach parliament
Nursing Times
The first stage of the Public Services Pensions Bill was published yesterday. The new pension deal will see workers earn a career average pension, after increased contributions with retirement age linked to the state pension age of 68. Unions ...
 

Retirement Official Says Kentucky Pensions Systems Haven't Used ...
WKU Public Radio
After being heavily criticized for their use, Kentucky's major pension program says it hasn't used a placement agent for three years. Placement agents are investing middle men that direct pension funds to investment opportunities. Kentucky has not had ...
 

Pension reform won't spare N.Y. taxpayers in 2013
The Journal News | LoHud.com
While those losses to 401(k) plans meant private-sector employees saw their retirement benefits shrink, those 403,000 retired New York municipal workers now receiving benefits – and the 650,000 still accumulating state pension benefits – didn't feel a ...
 

The hidden pain in auto-enrolment
Investors Chronicle
In a few days, the landscape of pensions in this country will change forever. Seven million first-time savers will be automatically enrolled into a workplace scheme in a move designed to bolster their retirement income and alleviate the financial ...
 

NOTU opposes liberalisation of pensions sectorPublish Date: Sep 14, 2012
New Vision
Kenya, which had initially advocated full liberalisation has pulled back and is reverting to national pension scheme, (Kenya NSSF) that offers mandatory retirement plan with contribution of 12%,” he said. He proposed that NSSF be kept as a national ...
 

Calumet City's top lawyer's new post means huge pension boost
Chicago Sun-Times
Prompted by questions from the BGA, the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund — the government-run pension system (often known as IMRF) that would handle Gianopolus' payouts — has launched an investigation to see whether he should qualify for any ...
 

Study highlights 'wealth gap' retirement fears
What Investment
'There is clearly a pension and wealth gap in the UK and the uncertainty is increased by ongoing financial and economic volatility, but it is important that people focus on the positives of retirement planning and maximise the assets they have.' While ...

Pension conference wraps up results of the USAID Pension Reform Project
Public Radio of Armenia
PALM project has been USAIDs' primary activity aimed to support Armenia's pension reform implementation, strengthen the retirement income system, and enhance the competitiveness of the labor market. Between 2009-2012, PALM assisted the Government ...

Commons Speaker John Bercow to keep £1m pension
The Guardian
John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, will become the only holder of one of the three "great offices of state" to keep a gold-plated pension worth £1m when he reaches retirement age. The Speaker's office had indicated that Bercow would announce his ...

Admiral & Scottish Widows partnership beats pensions trend
MyIntroducer.com
Indeed, the recently launched Scottish Widows workplace pensions research revealed that almost three quarters (74%) of employees believe that the workplace should give them full financial advice and information on retirement planning, with 54% saying ...
 

Cupertino responds to grand jury report on pensions
San Jose Mercury News
The grand jury's findings and recommendations focus on long-term health of pension plans and other post-employment benefit obligations given out by local governments. Report recommendations include extending the employee retirement age, adopting ...
 

Fort Worth Employee Retirement Fund calls election of cops to find out whether ...
Fort Worth Star Telegram (blog)
The city's Employee Retirement Fund has called an election of Fort Worth police officers to find out if they want to to raise their contributions to the city pension plan, in exchange for retaining their benefit formula. Cops1 The fund's board decided ...
 

euronews U talk : European pensions rights when retiring abroad
euronews
You can only apply for your pension from the country where you now live once you have reached the legal retirement age in that country. If you have pension rights from other countries, you will only receive that part of your pension once you have ...
 

Mailbag: Pensioners, not council, are the problem
Daily Pilot
After only 28 years service, he received a starting $145,000-a-year lifetime pension, lifetime medical benefits and a generous yearly cost-of-living adjustment — all in retirement. Since that time, Mr. Epperson's retirement benefits have only ...
 

Armenian opposition deplores “untimely” pension reform
ArmeniaNow.com
Two years ago, still the parliament of the previous convocation passed a raft of laws envisaging drastic changes in the pension sphere by which an accumulative retirement plan will become mandatory beginning 2014 for all citizens of Armenia aged below 40.
 

NY Times moves to cut pension liabilities
Reuters
Pensions are a significant issue facing newspapers as the industry deals with a severe drop in revenue from advertising. At the same time publishers are responsible for funding retirement plans for its swelling ranks of past employees as well as ...

  

Retirement Guide (also a life plan)

I was talking to a friend about retiring. He couldn’t wait to get out of the day-to-day work grind. Okay, I have to admit that I find the concept hard—I have retired once, went back to work and then quit and returned to work. I am now in the process of retiring again—I hope I make it.

 
My friend is not alone, many of the people I work with talk about retirement and project fondly about what they would do when they retire. However, once the reality of retirement sets in, they may have to rethink their options and think again, if they have not planned properly.  

It is important to consider the following when planning retirement. As a person who has worked with people involved in transitions from school to work, from work to self-employment I know the following to be true for many. Work provides money in the form of income you can count on, time management in the form of a framework for your life, and purpose in the form of getting you out of bed in the morning for something that brings meaning to your life.

As you design what's next for you, make sure you provide each of these for yourself.   Many of my friends are fortunate in that they have a good retirement plan that will provide income, what they have to is create an infrastructure that will support them in thriving, not merely surviving, this next stage of life. In retirement along with a money plan, you should have both a time and a sense of purpose plan.

You may have a well defined financial plan but do you have a plan for how you wish to live the next twenty or thirty years of your life? Do you really want to leave your retirement life to chance and hope that you won’t be disappointed?

The “one size fits all” retirement mentality no longer fits. Whether five years away from retiring or five years into retirement, begin now exploring and choosing how you wish to live your second life.

Be as clear and detailed as possible. Your plan will be a work in progress. Reconnect with dreams you put aside for more practical considerations, or perhaps dream about what you want in your life for the first time ever.

Evelyn, who spent almost 35 years as a bookkeeper was practical minded, she had not ever allowed herself to dream about her heart’s desire. That is, until she had a new grandchild born with special needs. Seeing there was a gap in educational and supportive services for parents of children having special needs, Evelyn went back to school.

She now works in a community program that brings education and support to families. The families she serves love the special attention and guidance Evelyn gives. She loves the satisfaction her work brings and has no intention of retiring. So, take the lid off and get in touch with your passion and desire! Where would be your ideal place to live? What would make it ideal?

The following ideas can be used to generate a life plan, and this is dedicated to the people like myself who love work and cannot imagine retirement. As  you begin this journey, I think it is important to first put yourself into a mindset where you will listen to hearts says, not what your mind tells you.

1. Create a plan; a roadmap for what you want your life to be.

• How much time would you like to spend traveling? Where have you
• always wished to visit? How would you like to travel?
• Ideally, what amount of time will be spent with family? How will you
• spend that time?
• What are your top leisure activities? Ideally, how much of your time
• will you devote to leisure?
• What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Come on; dust off
• that dream… Don’t be shy!
• What does living a satisfying life mean to you? What are the essential
• elements, your specific “must haves”?

2. Find affordable health insurance

• Balance investment need for safety and continued growth

4. Decide where to live. Once you are no longer tied to a job, you can live anywhere that suits your tastes and budget

• Where would be your ideal place to live? What would make it ideal?

5.  Decide if you want to keep working. A part-time job is increasingly becoming common in the retirement years.

6,  Figure out what you will do with your time. 

• What organization, human issue, community project or problem speaks to your heart?
• Given your talents and skills and time, what type of commitment

  would be a great fit?
• How would doing this support your vision for your life and your world?

Retirement isn't only about quitting your job. It's an opportunity to have complete control over how you spend your time. Some ouf us may miss the sense of purpose and friends that their job provided for them, while others finally have the time for hobbies and projects they have been waiting years to tackle.

Yes, I know one of the lures of retirement is not having to have a schedule. Beware, though, for therein lies one of the biggest traps of retirement. Without a framework for your days, weeks, months and years, you can slip into a deadening non-routine. I had a cousin who when he retired, told everyone that he was going to use his time to do nothing. He claimed he had worked hard all of his life and in retirement he was going to have the luxury of doing nothing. He did that and within three years he had died.

He did not die of boredom, but he did not have a purpose and he did not keep his brain functioning,  even though his wife, brothers and kids begged him to get active, he refused, he was diagnosed with dementia within a year, and dead two years later. He not only did not have a time management plan, he had lost his sense of purpose.

As a now retired Career Practitioner I understand that for many of us our career, gives us a sense of purpose.  We identify with what we do; our jobs give us a reason to get out of bed each day; a place to be where people are counting on us; a focus for our skills, abilities, and energy. When planning for your retirement make it a priority to find a purpose for this next stage of your life, one that ignites your passion and literally pulls you out of bed in the morning.

• How happy are you with your life right now? On a scale of 1 to 10,with one being not at all happy and 10 being very happy, how does your life measure up? What belief, habit, or situation stands in your way of living in happiness and peace?
• What is a 1st step you could take to start creating a happier, more

  peaceful life?
• What are you putting off accomplishing that you know is important and

  would increase your peace of mind and overall well-being?