Financial planning lawyers will always emphasize the need to accumulate resources for retirement.
There are those who make no advance plans because they are under the impression that Social Security will take care of everything. The fact is that this program is a safety net, not a retirement plan. If you want to be able to "live the dream" as it were you're going to have to plan ahead intelligently and stick to the plan with diligence over an extended period of time.
The above having been stated Social Security is still going to be an important piece of the puzzle. We would like to share three basic facts that everyone should know about Social Security.
You may have noticed that you are not receiving an annual Social Security statement in the mail anymore. The practice has been discontinued as a cost-cutting measure, but you need this information to be able to make budget projections.
It is still available to you. You can obtain access to your statement by registering an account online at the Social Security Administration website.
Another thing to consider is the application process. You can apply four months before you reach the age at which you become eligible for benefits. You can submit your application over the phone, in person, or online.
The last thing we would like to cover is the eligibility age. At the present time the age of full eligibility is 67 if you were born in 1960 or after. It is 66 if you were born between 1943 and 1954. If you were born between 1955 and 1959 your full eligibility age is somewhere between your 66th and 67th birthdays.
It is possible to begin receiving Social Security when you are as young as 62, but you would not be receiving your full benefit.
To start planning ahead for the future the logical first step is to sit down and discuss everything in detail with a licensed and experienced Reno estate planning lawyer.
 

Many are concerned that their Social Security will not be sufficient to support them let alone finance the type of retirement that they would like to enjoy.  Social Security payments are minimal, with the average monthly benefit being less than $1240 as of this writing.  Someone who retired this year having paid the maximum amount into the program over 35 years would receive $2513 per month.  Even this maximum benefit is relatively modest when you consider the cost-of-living.
Tthe Social Security Administration recently announced an adjustment to account for inflation in 2013. This year the Social Security COLA was 3.6%, but next year it is going to be just 1.7%.  With these modest cost-of-living adjustments the need to plan ahead to feather your own nest becomes all the more apparent.
Medicare Part B is the portion of the program that is devoted to paying for outpatient services and visits to doctors. People who are participating in the program must pay a monthly premium. This premium is deducted from the Social Security payments of seniors who are enrolled in the program.  These premiums are going up by about seven dollars per month next year, so this will cut into the cost of living adjustment.
If ydon't want to be concerned about nickels and dimes when you retire plan ahead intelligently, stick to the plan, and live out your retirement dreams.

It is sometimes said that the easiest way to effect change is to change your perspective. This is a principle many discover when planning for their retirement years.
Financial planners and estate planning attorneys are always going to emphasize how important it is to keep your eye on the prize with regard to retirement. Some people follow this advice, but unfortunately many people do not. As a result a significant percentage of individuals find themselves unprepared as they start to see the typical retirement age appear over the horizon.
If you are one of them you may have to change your expectations and adopt a new perspective. This can include the choice to work longer than you absolutely have to in order to make sure that you can retire in comfort.
Working a few years longer may give you a few extra years to pad your retirement savings and this is part of the appeal. In addition you actually increase your Social Security payout when you work beyond your full retirement age as it is defined by the Social Security Administration. Besides the fact that you will continue to have something meaningful with which to fill your time.
You can delay your Social Security application until you are as old as 70 and you accrue delayed retirement credits as a result, which will increase your benefit by 8% per year that you delay your application.
If you enjoy what you do working a bit longer may not be much of a sacrifice, but it could significantly improve the quality of your retirement.
Should you be interested in devising a long-term financial plan with the benefit of expert assistance, don't hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced northern NV estate planning lawyer.

According to some current research surprising numbers of people are not prepared to retire. There was a poll conducted recently by the Associated Press in partnership with LifeGoesStrong.com that found approximately 25% of baby boomers nearing retirement have little or no retirement savings. A similar percentage said that they would never be able to retire due to financial need. The majority of people who responded stated that Social Security would represent the cornerstone of their retirement income.
The amount of the average Social Security check is going to vary on an ongoing basis because of the fact that people are coming and going from the rolls every day. According to the Associated Press the average monthly benefit is $1082. Clearly, this is not going to be sufficient to finance a comfortable retirement. So if you are under the impression that Social Security will be enough, you may want to research the matter further and evaluate your anticipated financial need.
Social Security benefits are supposed to rise in accordance with the cost of living under certain preset parameters. Inflation had not been sufficient to warrant any increases over the last two years, but the Social Security Administration has announced that there will be a 3.6% COLA for 2012. That's good news for Social Security recipients, right? Perhaps, but this increase equates to all of $39 per month for the average senior citizen who receives Social Security. Any extra money is always welcome, but a little under $10 a week is not going to do a whole lot to change anyone's circumstances.
The best way to proceed given the limitations of Social Security may be to take control of your own financial well-being. If you have not already designed your retirement planning now may be a good time to arrange for a consultation with an experienced retirement planning attorney.

Setting goals and giving yourself sufficient time to reach them is essential to long term planning. This is especially important when it comes to retirement planning. Most people work because they need the income to make ends meet. Retirement is not some magical Shangri-La that falls from the sky when you reach a certain age. It is simply a period of time during which you don't work because you have sufficient financial resources to pay your way without earning a paycheck.
There are people who decide that they would like to retire at an early age. These individuals map out a strategy that will get them where they want to be when they want to get there, and they stick to it. For most people the best way to devise such a plan is with the assistance of an experienced retirement planning attorney.
Aside from the sweeping expertise that retirement planning lawyers can provide, they've also seen recipes for success come to fruition through personal experience. The strategies they suggest are not theoretical but proven in the real world.
You're free to do what a lot of people do and make no plans at all, expecting Social Security to take care of all of your financial needs when you reach a particular age. As of this writing full retirement age for people who were born between 1943 and 1954 is 66. It then goes up by two months per year until 1960. Those who were born during 1960 and after are eligible for their full Social Security benefit upon reaching 67 years of age.
There are two problems with this "strategy." For one, the average Social Security payout at this time is $1072, hardly enough to live on comfortably. For another, there's talk in Washington about cutting Social Security, and one simple way to do that would be to raise the full retirement age.
If you don't think you're going to be able to live on $1072 a month, and you don't want to work until whenever the government tells you you have to, you may want to visit a good retirement planning attorney sooner than later.