Preparing For Those Golden Years

The other day Chris and I attended a “Prepare for Retirement” seminar.  One thing I learned is it going to be more complicated than I ever thought!   But this was for people 10 years or less from retirement so you could make the right choices now to ensure your needs are taken care of.  Of course, it all depends on the market so anyway you look at it it’s a crapshoot.  In the state retirement system we have SBS (Supplemental Benefits System) and PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) but these are both defined contribution plans.  Every pay period a certain amount is taken from your gross pay, to go towards both these plans and the employee has no input regarding the amounts contributed.  Then we have the Deferred Compensation plan that you voluntarily sign up for, also pretax.  You can put a lot of money into deferred comp and you can withdraw from it before age 59 ½ without penalty as long as you are retired.  There are all these calculators online to help you figure out what amount you need and all these choices that will need to be made.  It can really stress a person out and in the end....no one really knows for sure.  You could die the day after you retire or you could live to be 105.  You could spend 20 years in a care facility or you die at 105 walking under your own steam.  The market could dive or it could go through the roof.  I know people who have done everything right, saved diligently, lived within their means, and made good investments only to run out of money in the midst of their “golden” years.  Bottom line, retirement requires a good deal of faith and prayer besides money! God help us all.