Planning For Retirement In Turbulent Times: Watch Out For Six Hazards That Can Torpedo Even The Best Retirement-Planning Process

For the last thirty years, I’ve devoted my career to helping improve the personal finances of families and households across America. This year, I have watched the very ground we stand on undergo a series of seismic shifts that have tossed most Americans’ hopes and plans for finding eventual financial security into total disarray.

The bursting of the sub-prime credit markets, the stock market meltdown, and the accompanying credit crunch and recession that are now upon us could not be more alarming, especially for Baby Boomers who are approaching retirement.

Of the 30 million “early Baby Boomers” who are currently aged 53 to 63, 62% admit to feeling financially unprepared to retire. It’s easy to understand why. In fact, a Harris poll found that two thirds of Baby Boomers they surveyed said they believe the cost of living is too high to truly retire and never work again.

Planning for retirement and living on a fixed income become profoundly difficult when inflation is on the rise and the markets are in turmoil. You’ve got to start now to have a way to make an ongoing income after retirement from your primary career.

Unfortunately, retirement has become a do-it-yourself project. Twenty years ago, 80% of all workers at medium and large U.S. companies were covered by defined-benefit pension plans. That meant they knew they were going to receive a portion of their salary, every year, after they retired, usually adjusted upward annually to keep pace with inflation.

By 1997, that number had dropped to 50%. The latest figures show that just 21% of workers at all private companies are covered today by defined-benefit plans.

The situation has gotten far worse because U.S. property values have declined an average of 15% to 20% nationally since 2005. Most homeowners were banking on the ballooning equity in their homes to finance their debts and provide future financial security in retirement.

Millions of Baby Boomers have just not adjusted to the new economic reality: that the primary responsibility for funding the retirement years has shifted from business and the federal government, directly onto the shoulders of workers themselves.

In addition, six common hazards can torpedo even the best retirement planning and saving process. They include:

1. Divorce-- one of the most common causes of retirement planning failure.

2. Treating your house as your primary retirement vehicle (especially when housing values are plummeting).

3. Investors nearing retirement get sweet-talked at seminars into buying property or other investments, sight unseen.

4. Your withdrawal strategy may be unrealistically excessive.

5. Not planning for longevity. A husband and wife who are 65 years old today have a 40% chance of one of them reaching age 95.

6. Dumping all stocks and moving into bonds is an unbalanced, outdated move that assures sub-par returns.

To truly prepare for a secure retirement, you’ve got to protect yourself against many complex risks, from the danger that inflation or falling markets will eat away at your assets, to the strong likelihood that you’ll need costly long term care. (Today, 9 out of 10 people over 80 need some kind of help to take care of themselves). Ideally, you’ll want to develop an ongoing income source through a passion or skill you can turn into a part-time business.

Determining an appropriate asset allocation is also crucial. You’ll need to divide your money among stocks, bonds, and cash as a time-tested strategy for helping you pursue your financial goals and obtain safe investments.

The Baby Boomers Retirement Club (BBRC) offers advice and resources that Baby Boomers need to stay afloat in the current economic crisis and in the challenging years ahead. There are resources that can help you create and maintain an ongoing income stream, which is a critical priority. The tools and calculators at http://www.mybbrc.com can help you develop an intelligent and workable roadmap and financial plan for your retirement years.

Richard Roll, a retirement expert and bestselling Book-of-the-Month Club author, is the founder of the Baby Boomers Retirement Club (BBRC) web portal and membership site. He also founded the American Homeowners Association (AHA).