| |
| |
|
Investing Information |
|
|
|
Retirement or Financial Freedom?
In the past most people never retired. They died. The average life expectancy was much less than it is these days, and there were no financial planners around to help people save up enough to quit work. As recently as the 1960's, if you did manage to save up enough money to retire, you'd be lucky to live another 5 or 6 years before you kicked the bucket. This made financial planning for retirement a little easier because you really only needed enough income for a few years. Nowadays, if you retire, chances are you can live forever. Well, it can seem like forever?especially if you haven't saved up enough money. It is a daunting task, attempting to set aside enough money to supply an income for 25 or 30 years, in the 15, 10 or 5 years you have before you retire. We say this because most people don't get really serious about their retirement planning until they hit 50?and realize they had wanted to quit work at 55! This is the standard model that has been followed since we began living long enough to bother with retirement savings. You set aside enough cash to cover things off at some future distant time. You build the nest egg and then hope it lasts, and the financial planning community is right there to help you. And yet this is not how the most successful people in our community do things at all! Still, most people are busily trading their time for their money. As an employee, you are limited by how much time you can actually devote to your job, and you are limited by how much time you want to devote to your job. Time you give to your workplace is time you don't get for yourself. It's similar for self-employed people such as our selves. The more successful we are as financial advisors, the more 'in demand' we become, and the less time we have. Retirement looks pretty good when you're an employee, or a self-employed person. You'll have the money coming in, and the time for yourself. The problem is that it is an awful long way off. Is there another way? The first time Rick read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad', he just got irritated. After all, this was the book that pointed out how he was locked in the self-employed cycle where success leads to less free time. And he likes his free time. However, author Robert Kiyosaki also proposed 'an out'. It's called passive income. Passive income is income you have coming in to the household that you don't really work for anymore. The key is that it is designed to happen in the near future instead of the distant future. Since reading his books we have begun to change our financial plan. Instead of continuing to organize our finances around future income for a distant 'retirement', we are re-orienting things toward near-future passive income and 'financial freedom'. We have been doing this by purchasing income-producing real estate and by looking to start internet businesses. The success of our new 'passive income' plan remains to be seen, but it is interesting to note how changing our end result from retirement to financial freedom has completely altered the path we're taking. These two goals are NOT the same. When you build a retirement nest egg you are looking to draw an income from it at some future time. When you are looking to attain financial freedom, you are looking to purchase or create assets which provide you with 'passive' income right away. Should everybody be changing their financial plan? Of course not. For one thing, many people hate the idea of being landlords, and many others don't have the stomach for business, let alone the technology business. Retirement planning is still needed. RRSP's, mutual funds, and other longer term savings programs still have their place. There will always be employees and self-employed people who rather like what they do and are quite okay working until their retirement age. All the same, if you are wondering if there might be a better way to ensure your future financial wellbeing 'sooner', perhaps you should pick up a copy of 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad'? and get irritated. Either way, it will probably turn out better for you than it did in the past. In the past most people never retired. They died. About The Author Rick Hoogendoorn has been in the financial services business since 1991. Cheri Crause is a certified financial planner in Victoria, BC.
MORE RESOURCES:
Investing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Risk and Reward If you are doing your own investing in the stock market, what would be the first question you would ask yourself before you make any trade or investment? If your answer is how fundamentally sound the stock is, or whether the stock just broke out of a trading range on a chart, or the fact that the stock has gone down 50% in the last 6 months, or whether the volatility is low now so it is a good time to buy or sell, then you are probably on the road to ruin. These strategies have nothing in common with each other and there are all kinds of different criteria that I did not mention that have nothing in common with each other. How to Invest Your Money Think carefully on how to invest your money because if you make wrong decisions it could cost you dearly. There are many ways in which to invest your money and as such seeking the advice of a professional would be a very wise move. Ask The SEC Who is the SEC and why should I ask them anything? The Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC is the government bureau that regulates the securities industry. They make the regulations that all stock exchange listed companies, brokerage houses and mutual funds must follow. The Demise of Buy & Hold Based on consistent results I think Buy & Hold should be renamed Buy, Hold & Bye-Bye. It sounded great for a while, especially for the huge majority of investors who don't have the time or interest in really doing due diligence on investments. Day Trading the SP Futures with Initial S/R and the NYSE TICK For instance, if the market moves up in the first 20 minutes of trading, touches the initial resistance zone, and then turns down, this implies that a good tradable downtrend move is likely to develop.How strong that new trend becomes is market-dependent. Invest or be Pink Slipped Firing an employee seems to be easier and easier for corporations. Up until now you allowed them to set your clocks. Porters Five Forces Analysis If you've ever listened to Warren Buffett talk about investing, you've heard him mention the idea of a company's moat. The moat is a simple way of describing a company's competitive advantages. Annuity Investment - The Whole Truth Do you ever feel like you haven't been told the whole truth? Kind of like something is missing? Well, you are not alone.With many investors awestruck over the last several years by the declining stock markets, many feel like they're out in the cold. Success Trading: Some Basic Terminology for New Traders The world of trading can get very complex because the financial markets are complex. There thousands and thousands of successful traders out there today. Lobster Trapping for Investment Ideas Recently, my family and I took a trip to Maine to visit relatives. During our stay, we toured the rocky shore lines and took in the beautiful architecture of the old towns. Brain Snappers and Other Wall Street Nonsense The last time you spoke with your broker did he use any of the following words? Diversification, Price-to-earnings ratios, discretionary trading, lifting a leg (he's talking to you not your dog), leverage, divergence, fee-based compensation, escalator clause, tactical asset allocation and other mesmerizing words to place you in stupefying shock.Brokers do that to let you know that you don't know anything about the market and you must allow them to make decisions for you. Introduction To FOREX The Foreign Exchange Market, better known as FOREX, is a worldwide market for buying and selling currencies. It handles a huge volume of transactions 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Coca-Cola - A Value Stock? There has been much talk lately about Coca-Cola and its potential as a value stock - as it now spots a dividend yield of 2.6% (which is the highest dividend yield since the late 1980s) and a P/E or less than 21 - right at the bottom of its five-year low. Basic Options Terms Options are good investing and speculative instruments. But options terminology may confuse even experienced investors. Tyranosaurus Rex Everyone knows T Rex was the most fearsome of all dinosaurs. He could and did kill everything in his path for food or maybe stupid meanness. Investing and Asset Allocation Sometimes you spend sleepless nights worrying about which stocks to buy and which to sell, which funds to own and which to dump and whether to get into bonds.All of these are legitimate concerns, but the greatest determinant of your success as an investor will not be your sagacity in selecting specific stocks, bonds or funds for your portfolio. Retirement Plan Considerations Cheat Sheet for Small Business RETIREMENT PLAN CONSIDERATIONS are something every small business person needs to be thinking about. Do you have a strategic plan? Don't expect to have social security save you. How to Choose the Right Share Class You'll want to opt for the no-load or institutional share class instead. If you're a no-load investor who is determined to buy a fund that's primarily broker-sold, go through a supermarket and opt for the D shares. Oil and Gasoline Price Uncertainties The Light Crude Continuous Contract hit an all-time high at $70.85 a barrel, while Unleaded Gasoline Futures spiked 50% or $1 a gallon on Tuesday. Find Your Investing Soulmate on the Jersey Turnpike As a followup to a previous column, "Irreconcilable Differences," I received an e-mail from a reader asking how she could ensure, ahead of time, investment compatibility with a future spouse.Unfortunately, like most issues in life, the direct approach does not work.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
