Planning Your , Cliffs Notes

by Perry, G. Michael; Sorkin, Howard

• ISBN13: 9780764585425
• ISBN10: 0764585428
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-12-01
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Summary

Your shortcut to success for over 40 years CliffsNotes. They helped you get through school. Now let them help you get through life. With this trusty guide, you'll get up to speed fast on how to start saving for those golden years. Check out our other CliffsNotes titles See the inside back pages for a list of CliffsNotes on Computers, Software, the Internet, Personal Finance, and Careers - and look for CliffsNotes on other topics coming soon.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Why Do You Need This Book?	p. 1
How to Use This Book	p. 2
Don't Miss Our Web Site	p. 3
Understanding the Basics	p. 5
What Is a Retirement Plan?	p. 5
Why Saving Earlier Is Better	p. 7
Benefits of Retirement Planning	p. 10
For you, the employee	p. 10
For you, the independent planner	p. 11
Qualified vs. Nonqualified Retirement Plans	p. 12
Looking at qualified retirement plans	p. 12
Looking at other types of retirement plans	p. 14
Types of Qualified Retirement Plans	p. 15
Defined benefit plans	p. 15
Defined contribution plans	p. 15
401(k) plans	p. 16
Other types of qualified retirement plans	p. 16
Other Retirement Investments and Savings Programs	p. 17
Assessing Your Goals	p. 18
Gathering Information	p. 19
Your assets and liabilities	p. 19
Your current income	p. 23
Your retirement estimates	p. 25
Your benefit plans	p. 26
Setting Goals	p. 27
Making the Most of Your Defined Benefit Plan	p. 29
Determining Contributions and Benefits	p. 30
Planning for Changes and Inflation	p. 31
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC)	p. 32
Social Security adjustments	p. 33
Taking Your Distributions of Benefits	p. 33
Choosing the joint and survivor option	p. 33
Deciding when to take retirement benefits	p. 34
Leaving before you're fully vested	p. 36
Making the Most of Your Defined Contribution Plan	p. 38
Characteristics of Defined Contribution Plans	p. 38
Determining contributions and benefits	p. 39
Tax benefits	p. 42
Types of defined contribution plans	p. 42
Managing individual contributions	p. 44
Planning for Changes and Inflation	p. 45
Taking Your Distributions of Benefits	p. 46
Vesting and leaving the company	p. 46
Rollovers	p. 47
Divorce	p. 47
Summary plan descriptions (SPD)	p. 47
Making the Most of Your 401(k) Plan	p. 49
401(k): What It is and How It Works	p. 50
Employer matching	p. 50
Investment choices	p. 51
Vesting and communication	p. 51
Getting investment education	p. 52
Evaluating investment risk	p. 52
Diversifying your investments	p. 53
Compounding	p. 53
Getting the Most Out of Your 401(k)	p. 55
Investing in your company's stock	p. 56
Making changes to your investment plan	p. 56
Taking out a loan	p. 56
Getting more information	p. 57
Tax-Sheltered Annuities and 403(b) Programs	p. 58
Characteristics of Tax-Sheltered Annuities	p. 58
Fixed annuities	p. 59
Variable annuities	p. 60
Index annuities	p. 63
Characteristics of 403(b) Programs	p. 64
403(b) funds in tax sheltered annuities	p. 64
Eligibility	p. 65
Contributions to 403(b) programs	p. 65
Loans from 403(b) programs	p. 66
Financial hardship withdrawals	p. 66
Distribution of Annuity Benefits	p. 67
Payout methods	p. 67
Retirement Equity Act	p. 68
IRAs	p. 70
Types of IRAs	p. 70
Tax-deductible IRAs	p. 71
Non-deductible IRAs	p. 72
Roth IRAs	p. 74
Education IRAs	p. 75
IRAs for the self-employed	p. 75
IRA Distributions	p. 76
Avoiding penalties before 59 1/2	p. 76
Distributions between 59 1/2 and 70 1/2	p. 78
Distributions after 70 1/2	p. 78
Rollovers from Qualified Retirement Plans	p. 78
Withholding	p. 79
Direct rollover option	p. 79
Social Security	p. 81
Changes Related to Pension Benefits	p. 82
Limitations of Social Security as Retirement Income	p. 82
Paying for Your Social Security Pension	p. 84
Calculating Your Pension Benefit: The Shortcut	p. 86
Calculating Your Pension Benefit: Getting into the Fine Detail	p. 87
Coverage or full insurance	p. 88
Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME)	p. 89
Primary Insurance Amount (PIA)	p. 89
Adjustments for early and delayed retirement	p. 90
Working after retirement	p. 91
Beginning your benefits	p. 92
Retirement Investment Strategies	p. 93
Saving for Retirement	p. 94
Setting your savings goals	p. 94
How investments grow	p. 95
Learning the investment lingo	p. 96
Considering Your Risk Tolerance	p. 97
Determining your risk profile	p. 98
Distributing your risk	p. 98
Stock market movement	p. 99
Maximizing the Money You Save for Retirement	p. 100
Dollar cost averaging investments	p. 100
Reducing brokerage commissions	p. 100
Using qualified financial planners	p. 101
The benefits of mutual funds	p. 102
Retirement investment tips	p. 103
Estate Planning	p. 105
Exploring the Basics of Estate Planning	p. 105
Estate and Inheritance Taxes	p. 106
Documents of Estate Planning	p. 107
Drawing Up a Will	p. 107
Making an Inventory of Your Assets	p. 108
CliffsNotes Review	p. 112
Practice Projects	p. 113
Consider This	p. 113
QandA	p. 112
CliffsNotes Resource Center	p. 115
Books	p. 115
The Internet	p. 117
Index	p. 119
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