How Do You Envision Your Retirement?

The Duomo in Firenze (Florence, Italy)

I have mentioned in a few past posts about how do you envision your retirement? It may be spending time with your kids, grandkids, volunteering at your church or community, traveling the world, or even working a few part-time hours at your favorite store.

Assisi, Italy

I recently came back from a trip to Italy where my twin sister and I were the youngest in the tour group at the age of 37. Only three other people were still working jobs. The remaining 35 people were retired and were already planning their next trip. Most were either couples or girlfriends on their annual vacation together.

I asked a few of the retirees about life in retirement.

• One couple did not have kids so they traveled as often as they could.
• One couple have 2 Adult kids. Both kids are doing very well financially. They are one of the lucky ones who don't have to support their 35+ age old child(ren). They would love to continue to travel during retirement. Key point: Teach your kids about money management in case in the future they have a job loss, they don't have to come to you.
• There were several retired educators in our group. One retired educator and her husband saved as much of their income as they could so they could afford to travel. They have previously traveled to South Africa three times, including the mother backpacking alongside her daughter,  with a tent for three weeks. Key point: Many educators do not make much in Salary, so save as much as you can for retirement. If you are currently an educator and love to travel, take advantage of a program, such as EF Tours to take middle and HS students abroad.
• Several of the couples said they simply love the Educational Value of travel.
• One half of a couple decided to start a second career, but still considers himself retired.
• Finally, there was a couple who said there wasn't anything to do in their town so they started their own travel business.

It is not too late to save for your retirement. Contact a ValuTeachers rep to learn more about how to save by investing in a 403b, 401K, Roth IRA, and/or Traditional IRAs.What is stopping you from realizing your Retirement Goal? Comment below what you want to do for retirement.

All photos are my personal photos from my recent trip to Rome and Florence, Italy.

Delicious food.

Great Wine.

Shopping in San Gimignano (Outside Florence, Italy)

My Twin sister Sharee, and Myself.

Retirement vs Travel, Emergency Fund, & Debt Payment

When I tell people I'm a Retirement Specialist with ValuTeachers, they want to know for themselves how do I fund my own retirement, "I have high credit card debt", "I want to buy a house", "I want to pay for my kids College education", etc.  My thought is why can't you do both: Fund your Retirement and your other obligations/hobbies at the same time.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.
Personal photo from Rhonda W.

TRAVEL: I love to travel and give it priority in my life. You learn so much from travel. My twin sister Sharee recently shared our love of travel on the Holstee Manifesto page. Prior to 2009 I didn't have a car payment so I saved what I used to spend on car payments to fund my retirement by maxing out my Roth Account ($5,000). My income in Education was not very high so I supplemented my income with various part time jobs (SAT proctoring, working football games, concert events, family shows, etc). Many people saw me at so many places they wondered when I sleep. I make it a priority to not only fund my retirement, but also Travel. 

EMERGENCY FUND: This is an area I need to improve on. You need to have 6 months to a year worth of monthly expenses in your Emergency fund. I have used my emergency fund to pay for unexpected expenses (car maintenance, health expense, etc). You can still do both: Fund your Retirement and your Emergency Fund.

DEBT PAYMENT: In 2009 I was in a car accident. Thus, I had to make car payments again. I bought a used car. With this new payment I wasn't able to finance my Roth Account to the max or fund my emergency account at the level I felt comfortable with. However, I still made it a priority to pay off my credit card balance each month. If I'm not able to pay off the full balance, I pay at least half of what I placed onto the card that month. I use Reward Cards so I get cash back or can redeem the rewards for Gift cards(great to redeem as a Birthday and Anniversary gifts). I still fund my retirement and pay down my debt.

The point is even if you have a hobby (in my case travel), funding an emergency account, and/or paying your credit cards, you still need to fund your retirement account. The standard amount to save is 15% of your gross pay. I looked at my gross pay the other day, took 15%, and it gave me an amount I should be investing. I looked at the actual figures and I was paying $5 more than I should. I was investing 7% into my State retirement fund, $100 into a 403b(LSW/National Life Group), $100 into a Roth 403b(LSW/National Life Group), and $25 into a Roth IRA with Edward Jones Investment.

You can do this. Go ahead and invest in your retirement. Whether you are in the education profession/non-profit sector or not remember to invest first in your State Retirement and then other supplemental places (Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 401k, 403b, Roth 403b).

Rhonda W.