• Just like planning for a vacation or a trip, your retirement
plan needs to consider your goals and objectives, or it won’t
be a good plan for you. The answers to the question, when
should I retire, will be different for everyone, based on your
lifestyle and the people in it who are important to you.

• There is a difference between a retirement product such as a
mutual fund or annuity and a retirement plan. As you move
out of the working stage of your life, you are no longer earning income. A shift must be made from the accumulation of
your money to the management of your money. Before you
take off on your retirement trip, identify where you are now
by taking the time to understand what you are invested in
and what those investments are doing for you.

• The rules for retirement planning have changed. Investing
the way your parents did will not pay off and the majority of
investment ideas used by financial professionals in the 1990s
aren’t applicable to today’s markets. That kind of investing
will likely get you in trouble and compromise your retirement. Today, you need a better PLAN. Having a planful
approach to retirement gives consideration to today’s stock
market and economy, and the individual concerns of you,
the investor.