Planning your Retirement

Our biggest regrets in life are not about the things we've done but rather the things we haven't accomplished, or worse, those things we always wanted to do but never even attempted.

Planning for retirement is to plan for the future, the beginning of the rest of your life. And for a smooth transition detailed planning is vital.

Comprehensive planning for your retirement needs cannot start soon enough and especially so if you are planning for early retirement.

Fortunately nowadays there is a plethora of online assistance available in respect of financial planning for retirement; income, savings and investments.

Whether your retirement is just around the corner or some years ahead, the place to start your plan is here http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/money/planningforfuture/retirementcalculator.asp

Saga provides an excellent online retirement planning calculator which you should use as a launching pad for your financial planning.

Retirement planning for women

The good news for women is that they live longer, so they will have longer to enjoy their retirement. The bad news is that they live longer, and so their retirement will be much more expensive than for their male counterparts.

Women tend to outlive their husbands. Only one-third of women over sixty-five are married, and on average women will survive their husbands by fifteen years; the combination of being on their own and living longer means that women need far more retirement income than do most men.

Unfortunately, women's pension plans just don't measure up. A study by the Older Women's League says that women only receive 54 per cent as much private pension income as do men, and they are falling further and further behind. There is a simple reason for this. The pension you receive depends on whether you stay on the job.

Today, more and more women are leaving the work force, because of layoffs, poor job prospects, or to spend more time with their families. On average, women are out of the work force for at least ten years, while men, on average, take just one year out of the work force.

Married women planning for retirement should visit http://www.wife.org/retireplans.htm where they can unearth a wealth of useful information.

Jim Green is the author of Your Retirement Masterplan and Starting Your Own Business