Personal Retirement Plan, Essay Example

It is not always easy to think about retirement because retirement plans do not carry the excitement usually associated with one’s life ambitions and professional goals. Yet any prudent person knows retirement planning is one of the most important decisions in life, even more now as people are living longer and social security system may not be sustainable in the long term. This is why I have already started planning for the long term including retirement life though retirement plans may continue to evolve according to life circumstances which are naturally hard to predict.

I expect to retire with my spouse and have made a firm commitment to myself to get married only once and protect it until the very end. I also plan to have detailed conversation with my future wife regarding retirement life early on and believe we will save and invest money so that we can buy a dream retirement home anywhere we want to. Even though I like Connecticut and also love the fact that it is close to Connecticut, I still don’t know which city will be my retirement home. I am a pragmatic person and won’t be surprised if I and my wife retire in another country. I believe globalization will weaken the significance of national boundaries, making the whole world a candidate for retirement.

One of the things I have always loved about America is the concept of giving back to the community and I also plan to engage in community work as well as leave a substantial proportion of my net worth to education and scientific research causes. I enjoy work and socialization and engagement with the community will make it easier for me to transition from professional to private life by still providing me with opportunities to keep myself busy.

I would invest significantly in IRA because it is one of the most sensible and beneficial option to save for retirement out due to favorable tax treatment from IRS (Pritchard). I don’t have many expectations from Social Security System because I believe it will have collapsed by the item I retire. I plan to start investing early in stocks and bonds but most of the investment will be in stocks in the early years. This is because I have heard and will of course confirm through research that historically stock have generated much higher returns than bonds though they are riskier, too. Young people can afford to go for risky investments because they have considerable time to build their egg nest and can afford losses better than those whose retirement time may be near. But over time, I will slowly decrease my stock holdings and increase my bond holdings to reduce risk and protect against high cost of an adverse economic event. I do not plan to invest in real estate until later in life because I believe rental housing is more economic option.

I will continue to play sports I currently enjoy such as basketball but hope to take up jogging in the long term to remain in optimal health condition. During my retirement, I may join social groups and community organizations that work towards building communities and help those from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. I am lucky to have had a supportive and stable childhood and understand the importance of guidance in one’s life. This is why one of my objectives will be to a positive force in the lives of as many young people as people who could turn around their lives with little guidance and motivation.

I am fortunate to have no medical conditions at the time that may threaten my long-term well being but I and my spouse will have regular check-ups to make sure we stay trouble-free in terms of health and if one or both of us do acquire some serious medical condition, we are able to deal with it early in time when the chances of success may be significantly high.

I have always admired Americans such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet who believe in equal opportunities for everyone irrespective of their family and economic background because this is how society prospers. I will provide the best education to my children but I will also let them know that most of my net worth will be going back to the society and they are expected to be self-made as well. I will provide them the best college education I can afford but they will have to demonstrate academic excellence to qualify for college funds from me. I believe everyone has different capabilities so I will give my children absolute freedom to pursue what they want to do and will fully support them in their career choices. I have always loved children so I will prefer my children and grandchildren to visit us at least on important occasions such as Christmas and Thanksgiving Day etc. but I won’t insist my children live close to me. I believe one should realize his/her true potential and I would also want my children to go where they can find the best opportunities.

I believe in education whether its formal or informal, thus, my bucket list includes visiting at least fifty countries in my lifetime because nothing teaches you about life as much as travel and interaction with people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. My bucket list also includes donating most of net worth to education and scientific research during my lifetime. Another goal is to see grandchildren completing college and settling down themselves because I believe medical science will help increase average life spans around the world and there is a good chance I will see my grandchildren graduating in my lifetime. Last but not least, my bucket list includes learning at least two more languages one of which is French because I have always found French to have an aristocratic feel to it.

References

Pritchard, J. (n.d.). How IRAs Work. Retrieved March 27, 2013, from http://banking.about.com/od/investments/a/ira.htm