Best Retirement Places and Plans

Using the iffy long term on the Social Security program consistently within the news, people are becoming far more anxious about their retirement accounts. They want to know what the very best retirement programs and places. Really should they remain with their provider sponsored 401K plan; or go for an individual IRA account?

If they select an IRA, really should it be considered a standard account or a Roth account? And, in the event the go for an IRA where ought to they make investments their income? This article will present you together with the facts you'll want to determine which account is greatest for you personally. Then, with the support of the financial counselor, you are going to be able to make the proper option.

Retirement Planning Companies

Let's talk a bit about the retirement programs that are provided by employers. In the distant previous, these were typically pension options. But, currently most firms opt for to offer you 401k options. Both worker contributions and employer matching are put into these accounts. You will discover limits on the quantity that contributed each and every 12 months and all of the cash is put in tax-deferred.

This means that you simply do not pay taxes until the funds is withdrawn. Often, the employer supplies a list of possible investment options after which the worker would make their selection from this list. The listing is produced up of a selection of stocks, bonds and municipal money and typically offers an individual with an 8% price of return each year depending on the option and on the market.

Personal Retirement Accounts

But some folks aren't coated by their employers or they function for on their own so an employer backed 401k isn't an alternative for them. These persons also need to learn about the top retirement strategies out there for them. For people, the option is generally discovered in either a standard IRA account or even a Roth IRA. There are benefits and disadvantages to each of these sorts of account.

Traditional IRA's are out there to men and women within certain revenue recommendations. In 2008, for a married few submitting jointly this would imply up to $108,000 per year. The money put into and also the income earned from the investments is tax deferred. What this indicates is the fact that you do not need to shell out taxes till you get the cash out. However, in the event you withdraw the money just before you are 59 you may shell out an additional 10% tax penalty. One more disadvantage to this type of account is that you have to begin withdrawing a government mandated minimum quantity each 12 months following you achieve the age of 70 and you must quit contributing at that time also.


Guest Post by Luke Manley

You can get the planning for retirement help you need at the authors popular website. There you'll find additional retirement resources and help finding retired mentors.

Best Places to Retire Abroad

Yesterday I asked if you were ready to Retire Abroad in 2011. I laid out some key considerations and a bit of homework for preparing for a life abroad. Today I'd like to suggest a few of my favorite places - my top retirement places - my hot picks, if you will, for where to consider retiring to.

Quality of Life - Quality of Living

When it comes to making a big change like moving abroad the primary motivator is often getting more bang for your pension buck. In other words finding a cheaper place to live - a place where you retirement best egg or pension will go further providing you a better or higher quality of life than it would where you are currently living. As we discussed in the previous post Quality of Life is subjective - everyone has different ideas here and it's important to clearly identify what works for you. What is living a quality life to you? For one the weather is key but another might be willing to live in an igloo as long as they could quickly get to their family and loved ones.

Best Places to Retire Abroad in 2011

For North Americans the traditional 'Hot Spots' for living the expat lifestyle in retirement have been located in Central America. Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico and Belize have been perennial favorites. Recently Americans have been moving even further south with South America coming into their sites. This past year International Living claimed Ecuador as the best place to retire not only that they said it was one of the cheapest places on Earth. Well we know they were exaggerating but it certainly is one cheap place to live that still offers a quality of life.

For Brittons and Europeans France, Spain, Italy and Portugal have always been in the spot light because they satisfy many of those Key Considerations we talked about yesterday.

Today let's look at what places are popping onto the radar as the Best Places to Retire in 2011.

• Cyprus and more specifically Northern Cyprus - yes Cyprus has had a bad wrap in the media over the years but the reasoning is really irrelevant to retirees. So, what's wrong with Cyprus? The same thing that's wrong with Panama or pretty much any other country that offers a low cost of living - the wages are low and it's tough if not impossible even illegal for an expat to work there. But if you're looking for a place to retire than employment prospects are really quite irrelevant aren't they? What is great about Cyprus is the cheap real estate; the economy is stable, in fact they are about to become the presiding country for the EU; the standard of living is good; the weather is almost perfect; the Mediterranean - diet food and drink - is healthy and exceptionally good; and foreigners are accepted here with big smiles and open arms.  
• Argentina - speaking of South America (above) this lovely country is world renowned for it's wine and culinary delights. And it's cheap! The quality of living in Argentina is excellent while the real estate prices are low as is pretty much every other necessity of life. There is a definite European flavor to this country and unlike many other expat favorites you won't find them all, gathered in one enclave. Here, as in Panama expats tend to spread out and blend into the local communities.
• Panama - If you've been following this blog or even just surfing around it you know this is am all time fav. This is the place I chose to live for a few years and ended up buying land here. Panama is known to be very safe and exceptionally friendly to all foreigners. This is most likely due to the fact most Panamanians come from foreign lineage. Panama was a small sparsely populated country until the Panama Canal project. Thousands of migrant workers from all over the world came to Panama to build the canal and stayed. This multi-cultural mix makes Panama completely unique when compared to its more homogeneous neighbours of Costa Rica and Columbia.  Although Panama would no longer be considered one of the cheapest places to live it is still very reasonable by American and European standards. Whats more Panama has an developed an air of sophistication no doubt a result of that multi-cultural mix and the fact it is one of the largest international banking centers in the world.
• South Africa - If you know your geography you know the African continent is huge! I actually wrote a post about Africa as the Biggest Places in the world. And down, way down on the most Southern tip of this great land mass you find the country of South Africa. Like Panama it has had it's share of social and political turmoil but also like Panama all of that is long past. Today you can enjoy a first world - first class - high quality standard of living on a low budget. South Africa has pretty much everything an expat would want - weather, culture, cuisine, fine wine, and beautiful scenery and wildlife. As an added bonus English is the main language making it universally easy and comfortable for Americans and Europeans alike. 

Well there you have it - a few off-the-map places you may not of heard about or considered for retirement but if you're considering - thinking - pondering the idea of retiring abroad each of these places deserves a good look!

Where is Belize?

Belize - The Best Place to Retire?

Many times we have compared and contrasted the Best Places to Retire in relation to cost of living. Now more than ever those approaching retirement or recently retired are concerned about if or when their financial resources may run out. The ups and downs of the stock marketed combined with advances in health and longevity make this a real concern. So it's important for retirees to consider cheap places to live abroad in retirement. Places where they know their savings and retirement nest egg will last.

Latin American countries have been the darlings of the media and many retirees for the past decade. It started with Costa Rica in the '80's and '90's and then spread across the central American map as more and more of these places developed infrastructure and services specifically targeted at the retiring American Baby Boomers. For five years in a row Panama ranked number one in lists of the top retirement places while countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, Roatan and Belize often made the top 10 lists.

Recently we have been writing about retiring in Belize as one such place where the pace of life is slow and easy and the cost of living more than reasonable for most. I've been getting some feedback and questions about Belize and it makes sense the first and most popular question is...

Where is Belize Located?

That's a pretty important question! After all ow will you get there if you don't know where Belize is? Seriously though, when it comes to retiring abroad one of the most important issues is location - how close will I be to my children? My grand children? My home country? Other countries and places I may want to visit?  It's not atypical for a retiree living abroad to make numerous trips back to their homeland so moving relatively close and with easy access is of paramount concern. Thuis is probably one of the biggest reasons Latin America has become so popular for a seasonal or full time retirement home and Belize is located smack dab on the middle.

Belize is found on the Caribbean Coast of Central America with Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west.

It is easy to get to from the United States with flights of less than two hours from Miami, Houston and  Dallas. You can also fly a little long from Atlanta, Newark, and Charlotte.

More about Belize

Formerly Belize was a British Colony so the official and common language is English. This makes it quite easy for retirees from North America to communicate and quickly feel at home. The 'Retire Belize Program' was modelled after other successful retiree incentive programs in countries like Panama. The incentives offerred to people who wish to live but not work make for a very attractive lifestyle by cutting the cost of living even further. The population is estimated at 300,000 persons residing in eight urban areas. Over 30% of the people live in Belize City. Belize is quite small at just 8,867 square miles but it is still one of the lowest densely populated countries in the Americas.

Weather in Belize

The Belize climate is subtropical, with an average annual temperature around 80°F. Highs can reach over 90°F while night time lows at cetain times of the year may fall as low as 60°F.   Belize is also an attractive destination for suba divers as it is home to the longest living Barrier Reef in the world which stretches along the entire Eastern Coast of the country.

Belize boasts large areas of unspoiled jungles and national parks, amazing rivers, waterfalls, wildlife, caves, and even archaeological ruins. Living in Belize as an American you will immediately notice the vibrant blend of cultures, including Mayan, Hispanic, Garifuna, East Indian, and Creole.

Best Affordable Beach Resorts

I'm always on the look out for a great travel deal and finding the most affordable places to vacation is a never ending project. After all who doesn't shop around for the best possible deal? Just like everyone else I'm wanting to get the most from my hard earned cash. I'm really not into material things so besides making sure 'the kids are alright' I work to play - I work so I can spend what I earn on great trips and travel. Well with that kind of priority in mind you can understand why this article really caught my attention and the cheapest time to go to Vegas post did not.

Today, Yahoo Travel had a great little article titled,

The Best Affordable Beach Resorts

I book marked this one as it has some really cool sounding places to visit. I also noticed that a few of these spots are known to appear regularly as Top Retirement Places. One place on the list that jumped out at me was Las Olas Beach Resort in Panama. A few years ago I lived full time in Boquete Panama. I still have land there and return quite often. Anyhow, Boquete has had a reputation for a number of years now as one of the Best Places to Retire in the world. Now Boquete is in the highlands of the province of Chiriqui, not far from the Costa Rican border. It's lush and green and some call it 'the land of eternal spring'. Meaning it rains and it's cool. That's why it's so green and why everything loves to grow here. Boquete and the Chiriqui highlands are also known as the bread basket of Panama. This is where most of the countries fresh vegetables and fruits come from. Now don't get me wrong. It doesn't rain all the time in Boquete. It can get pretty wet in 'Green Season' which runs from May through December but the vast majority of those days also see a good share of sunshine. In dry season there are these lovely mists that keep all the foliage moist and green. They call these light rains Bajareque. During the years I lived in here and especially in 'Green Season' I would take my family on day trips to the beach. Las Olas (the waves) was the closest to us at about an hour away.

Las Olas Beach Resort Panama

This small resort is located on Playa la Barqueta (beach of the small boats) which is a combination of black (volcanic) and golden sand. When we first started going there it was pretty quiet. The road into the beach was horrible and there was very little there except for this small all-inclusive resort. We would often just go to the beach and grab a bite to eat, Comida del Dia, at one of the local cocinas. But we wouldn't swim or let the kids go in the water. It's called Las Olas - The Waves - for good reason. There is a shear drop off which creates a dangerous undertow. But, it also creates amazing waves so the beach is popular with surfers.

Over the few years we lived in Boquete we watched as the road was repaired and Las Olas expanded. A number of Boquete residents who got tired of 'Eternal Spring' moved down to the beach. It quickly got a reputation as one of the cheapest places for retirees to live on the beach. The resort expanded and built beautiful beach homes as well as low rise condominiums which enjoyed the services of the resort.

Today you can still stay at the all-inclusive resort for just $78 a night. I wouldn't recommended a while wek as there is not a lot to do - unless of course you ae really into surfing and/or deep sea fishing. But the nice part is you don't have to. You can simply stay a few nights and then continue your journey up for a few nights in Boquete!

Source: Travel.Yahoo.com