Retirement and Estate Planning

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How to become a millionaire
According to Slate magazine, there are now 8.9 million American households with assets over $1 million, excluding their homes and retirement funds. Dr. Larry Samuel of the consulting group Culture Planning breaks them down into five basic groups:

- Thrillionaires. These millionaires live on the edge, consuming conspicuously. They're more likely to be found rolling the dice in Las Vega... Read personal finance article



How to Get Cash for Annuity Online
When opting on the Internet for annuity plans, it is important to consider salient points to avoid deceptive firms that are only after your money. The number of fraudulent cash for annuity online firms leaves a lot of people at a loss. It is, therefore, very important to check on the reliability of these firms before deciding on which one to employ.

It is essential to thoroughly check t... Read personal finance article



Retirement and Estate Planning
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people today can expect to live longer in retirement than ever before. Increased life expectancies mean we'll all probably have to do a better job of planning for our retirement and protecting our estate assets than previous generations. Working out a sound retirement plan now - before you need it - may help achieve retirement and other important financial goals.

Retirement Planning

Creating a retirement plan can help with a comfortable retirement. In drawing up your retirement plan you should take into consideration your:

. Anticipated costs of living during retirement

. Current retirement assets

. Current retirement savings and investments

. Expected rates of investment, and present and potential inflation rates

Once this information is determined, you can calculate any shortfall between projected retirement income and anticipated costs of living during your retirement. It's important to plan so that you have enough assets to get you through, not merely to, retirement. You might include in your comprehensive retirement plan such elements as:

. 401(k) plans

. Roth or traditional IRAs

. Education savings plans

. Life insurance or annuities

. Tax-advantaged investments

Estate Planning

Most of us already know that our estate includes every asset and debt we have. However, few of us probably also realize that:

. Federal tax rates begin at 45% and rise to 47% for estates valued at $2,000,000 or more for 2006

. Estate taxes are due within nine months of death

To help meet estimated future needs, investors can employ the following strategies:

. Updating current estate plans

. Titling assets to maximize credit available against federal estate taxes

. Purchasing life insurance to cover estate tax and settlement costs

. Establishing certain irrevocable trusts, which may help remove assets from your taxable estate

. Making gifts of $12,000 or less to reduce the value of your estate

In short, talking with a financial and tax advisor regarding the adequacy of current estate and retirement plans is an essential first step for anyone interested in leaving behind a lasting personal and financial legacy.

For More Information

If you'd like to learn more about Retirement and Estate Planning, please call 866-651-8625 These materials are provided free of charge for general informational and educational purposes to our brokerage clients. These materials do not take into account your personal circumstances and we do not represent that this information is complete or applicable to your situation. We may change these materials at any time in the future without notice to you. We are not providing you with investment, tax or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal, investment or other advisors to determine whether the analyses in these materials apply to your specific circumstances. Particular legal, accounting and tax restrictions applicable to you, margin requirements and transaction costs may significantly affect the structures discussed, and we do not represent that results indicated will be achieved. We are not offering to buy or sell any financial instrument or inviting you to participate in any trading strategy.

Investments and services are offered through Morgan Stanley DW Inc., member SIPC.

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How to Secure Your Financial Future

It's a frightening financial fact that the world's baby boomers are going to eat up what little is left of state retirement funding and the rest of us (who have a few years ahead of us before we can quit the commute) will be left to fend for ourselves financially in retirement.

We all know this because politicians around the world are warning us about it ad nauseum and because financial advisers and bank managers are trying to scare us into complicated and costly retirement savings plans with their unique brand of fear marketing.

However, did you know that by simply utilizing a few clever planning, budgeting and saving techniques you can forget fearing for your financial future and instead build up secure wealth, create peace of mind and ultimately look forward to a future of financial freedom?

One of the main aspects of securing your financial future is creating a realistic plan for that future and staying focused on achieving your goals.

If you don't know where you want to be in retirement how on earth will you get there?

Do you want to be a finance-free home owner? Would you like to be in a position to make a down payment on your children's homes? Will you be sailing the seven seas in a yacht (cue pop-up of corny picture with happy smiley retired people on a boat as used by many financial advisers trying to sell you a pension) or would you like to be living exactly the same lifestyle but in an alternative location?

You have to have something more tangible to work towards than simply ''retirement' - so create a picture in your head of where you would like to be and how you would like to be when you come to retire and let this image be your plan and let it guide you.

Next up the majority of us need to budget to create a surplus of wealth that we can put towards achieving our long term aims. Few of us are lucky enough to receive substantial bonuses, inheritance windfalls or lottery payouts therefore by examining closely that which we spend a month we can see where money is being wasted!

I can guarantee that if you save all of your receipts for a month and then sit down and go through them you'll be shocked at how much the inessentials cost in life! How much for that morning coffee and cake, how much for that service you no longer require but which is debited from your credit card automatically each month, how much for the cab rides you could avoid if only you set your alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning?

Look at what can be stripped out of your life without negatively affecting it - I am not one to advocate living a thrifty and bare life today so that you can buy a Ferrari when you retire - but I am one who believes a little in looking after the pennies...

Set a figure that you can comfortably avoid spending each month and then do something useful with it!

It's at this point that financial advisers will try and shove it in a pension, your bank manager will try and tie you up into a long term investment and your dad will suggest you shove it under your mattress. I say - whatever works for you!

There are a wealth of alternatives available to suit your attitude to risk, the length of time before you retire, the amount you have available to save, whether you are resident in the country in which you were born or you live overseas, whether you are in a position to boost your savings with tax free investment vehicles etc., etc. By keeping an open mind, subscribing to some tried and tested sources of wealth management information and trusting only those who take the independent approach to financial advice through focusing on the individual saver or investor you will find the right path for your wealth management.

Rhiannon Williamson is well-known as an expert in the provision of independent offshore and expatriate financial information. Visit her site now and sign up to her "Expatriate Investor Newsletter" which contains regular tips, tricks and advice for turning your investing and asset protection plans into rock solid strategies for long term financial security: http://www.expatriateinternational.com/




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