Retirement Planning - A Key Component of Future Financial
Success
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When Planning a vacation, you try to make sure that all the
necessary arrangements have been made and the itinerary is set long before
you leave for your dream destination. To help ensure that you
thoroughly enjoy your hard earned vacation, you've probably worked with a
travel professional or service to design a trip that is geared toward your
specific tatses and travel desires. Once you've taken off and your
trip has begun, you don't want to worry about anything except enjoying
yourself and the beautiful surroundings. Very often, it's the
planning and preparation that determines the success or failure or a great
vacation.
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In many ways, retirement planning for a secure financial
future is similar to planning for a great vacation. Havinga prudent,
well-thought-out plan will be a key contibutor to the success of the
journey. However, the choices for a long-term retirement strategy
are far more complex and consequential than those faced planning a dream
vacation. To build a successful retirement plan, most likely you'll
need the assistance of a financial professional - - someone who has the
knowledge and experience to help guide key decisions you'll be making as
you map out a plan for your future financial success.
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Most retirement planning approaches have certain key
components or phases which, when joined together, help create an overall
financial strategy. First there is the initiation or discovery
stage. Here the focus is on creating a list of primary financial
concerns and priorities. The financial representative's role at this
stage will be to ask the right questions and to keep the process focused
on long-term goals.
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Second is the financial inventory or profile phase. At
this time, you'll examine current assets, debts and income to help
formulate a complete picture of your current financial situation.
During this process, you'll also need to determine future objectives,
goals and dreams and try to anticipate future events and contingencies so
they can be incorporated into your overall financial blueprint.
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Third, everything you learned in steps one and two are
combined to create a comprehensive retirement strategy. It is at
this point in the process that the guidance of a financial professional is
most important. Their knowledge and experience can help you
understand and incorporate the vehicles which are most appropriate for
your specific set of goals and objectives.
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The fourth phase in the process usually includes reviewing
and confirming your choices. You'll analyze the plan one last time
to fine tune each of the key elements. This will help ensure that
they fit into your overall strategy. At this stage you'll also begin
to implement the key components of your plan, for example, by purchasing
an investment or establishing a trust.
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Finally, and often most importantly, you'll need to
continuously monitor and review your progress to ensure that you're
staying on financial track. Over the long-term and as your
circumstances change, you'll need to adjust and refine your retirement
plan to reflect shifts in your objectives.
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Like the gratifying feeling you get at the end of a
well-planned vacation, a comprehensive retirement plan can help give
you peace of mind.
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