Although it is critical to prepare for retirement financially the following article provides tips on planning for and enjoying whatever it is you choose to do during your retirement.

How To Retire While You’re Still Young Enough To Enjoy It

by Chuck Saletta
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What Do You Want to Do?

Key to a successful retirement — any successful retirement — is knowing how you’d spend your time if money were no object. While there are those who work in retirement because they have to, there are also those who work in a field they love because they want to. While such jobs may not be the most lucrative in the world, if they help pay some of the bills, they can dramatically reduce the amount you need to save to reach your goal.

For instance, if you love to learn, why not plan to retire to a low-intensity job at a local college? As a staff member, you’ll likely get access to the school’s facilities as well as either free or deeply discounted tuition. The pay may not be all that great, but so what? If your goal is accessing the education opportunities, it’s a great way to go.

Similarly, if there’s a charity you’d love to support more, give it the gift of your time and experience. While not-for-profit work generally pays less than the corporate sector, if it’s somewhere you had been voluntarily supporting before, why not see what paid position you could fill instead? Any money you bring in is money your nest egg doesn’t have to support, and any time spent doing what you love is time in retirement, even if it brings some small paycheck.

What Do You Need in Order to Do It?

Of course, if you’re willing to take a pay cut to pursue your passions during your retirement, you’ll need to be able to live on that new, lower salary. You’ve got two basic levers to achieve that goal:

· Keep your costs low.

· Crack open your nest egg to cover some of your bills.

Naturally, the two are deeply interrelated. To have the ability to build any sort of nest egg in the first place, you’ll need spend less than you earn along the way. On the flip side of the coin, the lower your overall costs, the easier it is for the nest egg you do build to cover a significant part of them. In either case, the earlier you start and the more effort you put toward your goal, the easier it is to reach it.

Certainly, in today’s era of stagnating salaries and rising food and energy prices, keeping costs down is easier said than done. But remember that the reward at the end of the journey is the opportunity to do exactly what you want to do with your time. If that’s not worth sacrificing for, what would be?

How Soon Can You Get There?

If you redefine retirement from “not working” to “doing exactly what you’d like to do with your time,” then you don’t need to wait until you’re 65 with a pension and a gold watch to retire. Instead, it could be as soon as tomorrow, if you’ve laid the groundwork and the opportunity makes itself available. More likely than not, though, you’ll have to first prepare yourself financially and find that opportunity to reach for your dream.

Regardless, once you’ve reached that spot where you’re able to fill your hours with exactly what you’d like to do, congratulations — consider yourself happily retired. You’ve earned it.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Understanding and Managing Political Risk

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International investing can be a powerful way to boost the performance of your portfolio. But investing in foreign markets also involves risks that can sometimes be much greater, or at least more complex, than the risks that investors normally face when investing at home. Political risk is one important example.

What is Political Risk?

For investors, political risk can simply be defined as the risk of losing money due to changes that occur in a country’s government or regulatory environment. Acts of war, terrorism, and military coups are all extreme examples of political risk. Expropriation of assets by the government – or merely the threat – can also have a devastating effect on share prices.

In early 2007, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez abruptly announced plans to nationalize CANTV, the local phone company. CANTV’s shares plunged almost 50% before the details of Chavez’s plans emerged. Investors sold first and asked questions later.

But political risk comes in many other forms. Other examples include: a new president or prime minister, a change in the country’s ruling party, or an important piece of new legislation. All of these changes can have a big impact on a country’s economic environment and investor perceptions about a country’s prospects.

Managing Political Risk

Unlike economic or financial variables, political risk is more difficult to quantify. While it is possible to calculate political risk “scores” or other quantitative-looking benchmarks, it’s important to remember that these are ultimately based on qualitative judgments. There’s no substitute for doing your own research and coming to your own conclusions.

The Economist’s Country Briefings are a great place to start. These reports contain a wealth of background information a country’s government, politics, and economy. Some questions to keep in mind: Are there any important elections coming up soon? If so, who are the candidates/parties and what are their economic policies?

The name of the game here isn’t to avoid political risk completely. Even if you keep all of your investments in the U.S., you are still exposed to decisions in Washington DC. One of the keys to success in international investing is understanding political risk so you can make better decisions.

As with other kinds of risk, the only tried and true method for mitigating political risk is diversification. Be sure to spread your international investments around in a variety of countries and regions so that you won’t get hurt too badly even if your political risk calculations turn out to be off the mark.

Dave Young, President of Paragon Wealth Management, discussed why having a good investment strategy and then being patient is the final step in building wealth.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Dave Young, President of Paragon Wealth Management, discussed the steps of following a long term investment strategy.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Dave Young, President of Paragon Wealth Management, discusses why it is so important to avoid large losses.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Dave Young, President of Paragon Wealth Management, discussed why debt is important and how you can avoid unnecessary debt.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Dave Young, president of Paragon Wealth Management, discussed why it is important to hire a financial adviser to help you manage your money. He also gave some tips on how to find a competent adviser.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Dave Young, president and founder of Paragon Wealth Management, discusses the second step to building wealth, which is spend less than you earn.

It is important to start now if you’d like to build up your savings over time. In this short video, Dave Young discusses compound interest and some tips on how you can start to build your wealth now.

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

When you reach the age of 66 many rules change for claiming social security. The following article outlines the important things you should know as you prepare for retirement.

Tips for Baby Boomers Reaching Retirement Age in 2012

by Emily Brandon
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In 2012, the oldest baby boomers will turn 66, an important age for Social Security eligibility. At 66, boomers can claim the full amount of Social Security they have earned, and the penalty for working and claiming Social Security benefits at the same time disappears. Here are some retirement planning tips for those turning 66 next year.

Social Security eligibility. Baby boomers born in 1946 will hit what the Social Security Administration considers the full retirement, at which time they are eligible to claim the full amount of Social Security they are entitled to. Boomers who claimed their due early are receiving a reduced payout.

Delay and get more. You can further increase your monthly Social Security payments if you delay claiming your benefits up to age 70. “Financially speaking, it makes more sense to wait until later when you can get more money per year, especially if you are healthy and think you will live a long time,” says Daniel Goldie, president of Dan Goldie Financial Services in Menlo Park, Calif., and coauthor of The Investment Answer: Learn to Manage Your Money & Protect Your Financial Future. “You will get more money per month and that money will continue at that higher level for the rest of your life.”

Claim twice. Married individuals (or those who were married for at least 10 years) are eligible for Social Security payments based on their own work record or payments equal to up to 50 percent of the higher earner’s benefit, whichever is higher. Baby boomers who have reached their full retirement age can even claim both of these types of payments at different times. A 66-year-old retiree may sign up to receive spousal payments and continue to delay receiving his or her own retirement benefit. A retired worker who uses this strategy between ages 66 and 70 will get higher monthly payments after age 70 due to delayed claiming plus four years of spousal payments.

Work without penalty. If you work and claim Social Security payments at the same time prior to age 66, part or all of your Social Security benefit will be temporarily withheld. Social Security recipients under age 66 who earn more than $14,640 in 2012 will have 50 cents of each dollar above that limit deducted from their Social Security payments. The year you turn 66, the earnings limit jumps to $38,880 and the amount withheld is reduced to 33 cents for each dollar earned. And the earnings limit disappears once you turn age 66.

Don’t forget about Medicare. Boomers born in 1946 should have signed up for Medicare in 2011. Retirees can sign up for Medicare beginning three months before the month they turn 65. It’s important to sign up for Medicare as soon as you are eligible because premiums may increase by 10 percent for each 12-month period that you delay enrollment. People who are still working and are covered by a group health insurance plan through their job must sign up within eight months of leaving the job to avoid the penalty. If you elect to receive Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, it’s important to shop around for a new policy annually during the open enrollment period because covered medications and cost-sharing requirements often change each year.

Protect what you have. At this stage of your life, it is important to protect the nest egg you have built for retirement. “Make sure you are continuously tracking and monitoring how you are spending your money and the types of returns you are generating from your portfolio,” says Gordon Tudor, a certified financial planner for Wealth Analytics in San Diego, Calif. “It’s not about return-it’s about reducing your risk and avoiding losing money.” While many retirees maintain some exposure to stocks, which provide continued growth and fight inflation, it’s important to keep a gradually increasing portion of your nest egg in safer investments that will allow you to meet your everyday spending needs.

Plan your new life. Retirement planning isn’t just about meeting your financial needs. You also need a plan for how you will spend your days after you leave the workforce. “Develop a part-time dream job that you could now potentially afford to do,” says Maurer. “Look at this as a time of commencement.”

Paragon Wealth Management is a provider of managed portfolios for individuals and institutions.  Although the information included in this report has been obtained from sources Paragon believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy.  All opinions and estimates included in this report constitute the judgment as of the dates indicated and are subject to change without notice.  This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.