Should I Retire Early

To get a better idea of how much money you will need to live on after your retirement will have to be determined by several factors. Get a better understanding of exactly how much money will you need after retirement by adding all of your present ongoing expenses - such a food, medical, automobile payment, utilities and other bills. Compare that amount to your present income, minus 25%.

In order for a senior citizen to maintain their current lifestyle and continue to enjoy the same standards, approximately 75 to 80 percent of your present income will be needed. For ten to twenty years.

If you find that your expenses will out number your income, you should start cutting back immediately and start saving a little bit (or a lot) more each month.

Determining how much money you have now:

Write a list of all of your assets:

Income-Producing - Stocks, real estate, bonds, insurance policies, profit-sharing plans, etc.

Non Income-Producing - Your sterling silver, gold, antique heirloom furniture, jewelry, etc.

Assets that will require expenses - Your property taxes and upkeep, vehicles, insurance policies, etc.

Now estimate the total dollar value of all of these assets but make sure you factor in appreciations and any possible depreciation.

How much money will you have after retirement?

Add the value of your assets to you Social Security benefits, pensions, income from any rental properties you have, income producing stocks, annuities, etc.

The income from your present job will have to be eliminated as well as the benefits from the job that you get now. This could mean higher medical bills. You will need to factor in the cost of the insurance that you will need to purchase to replace the insurance from your employee.

After you have added the pre-retirement income and expenses and deducted the after-retirement income and expenses -- the amount of the after-retirement income should be enough to cover all of your expenses before and after you retire.

If there is a problems with cash flow after retirement, a possible solution is to make plans to liquidate some of your assets, such a jewelry, a piece of property, that extra vehicle or other item of value. This can help you will have enough money to maintain the lifestyle that you want to enjoy.

Sources;

* RetireEarlyHomepage.com

* Money.HowStuffWorks.com