You may think you’ve got your retirement covered financially because you diligently pay into a pension every month. Your financial adviser may have offered you what looks like an excellent pension deal... but have you actually sat down and analysed the figures?

Say you retire at 65 and live for 30 years... are you really going to live the kind of lifestyle you’ve dreamed of for your golden years? The answer is almost certainly NOT!

I am urging people to take a good look at what their pension might pay out and what investment plan they have in place for their retirement. What do you actually need to be investing in order to reach your desired retirement income?

Take a look at this example:

Take a 30 year old US citizen who is earning $30,000 per year in today’s economy. Let’s assume he or she wants to retire at the age of 65 earning the same $30,000 per year. Let’s also assume this person expects to live for 30 years in retirement. Assuming a 5% annual return on their money, this person would need to set aside $1,890,789 by the age of 65. To accumulate this amount in their pension fund would require an annual contribution of $20,000 per year. They are only earning $30,000 before taxes and in order to retire at 65 they need to pay in $20,000 every single year over the next 35 years! Is this affordable?

The model is the same in the UK.

Imagine a UK citizen who is 30 years old and earning £30,000 per year. If he or she wants to retire at 65, if they saved £100 per month into a pension for the next 35 years the amount he or she would get back to live on would only be £3172 per year! To generate £30,000 per year during retirement, they would need to save £939 per month for 35 years. Is this affordable for most people earning £30,000 per year?

This is a typical strategy offered by many financial advisors, yet they’re actually selling unrealistic goals and targets, often in an attempt to reach their own sales targets and generate income from commission.

You may wonder why these professionals do not advise their clients to buy property, start a business, or create multiple sources of income as part of their retirement planning. The answer, plain and simple, is that nobody pays them to dispense this type of advice.

In my groundbreaking new book, Your Money Puzzle, I offer a new model of financial planning that anyone can follow. It provides real solutions and realistic targets that can create a solid and prosperous retirement as well as allowing enough available cash to be able to enjoy life today.

Best Wishes
Clayton J Moore
© 2009 Clayton J Moore Ltd

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Author, Financial Coach and Entrepreneur Clayton Moore publishes the ‘Think Tomorrow Today' weekly ezine to help people gain control over their future financial security. If you're ready to jump-start your finances, make more money, and have more fun in your creating the life you desire, get your FREE tips now at www.claytonjmoore.com

Author's Bio: 

Hello. I’m really grateful for you taking the time to look at my article and how I could help you plan a brighter financial future.

To introduce myself to you I thought it would be best to tell you a little bit about where I started out and why I do what I do today.

I started working for a major UK bank in 1995 and soon discovered that I absolutely loved helping people to make more of their money. This passion led me to set a goal of becoming a Financial Planner within the bank – something that I achieved within a few months. For a few years I loved my job and loved helping people realize that they could do more with their money and create more financially secure futures.

However, after a number of years it dawned on me that the choices I had as far as advising people to create more financial security were very limited within my role as financial planner. I could also see that most of the traditional financial products were quite frankly not working for most people in the way that people thought they would. I realized that the financial products I had been trained to sell by the bank were not creating financial security for people.

I also realized that my very own financial security was at risk long term. Even though I was a member of my company’s pension scheme I had realized that the whole notion of having to work for this company for 40 years in order to receive only two thirds of my basic salary (I was earning as much again in bonuses but these were not eligible towards my pension) for the rest of my life in retirement was just absurd. This just didn’t make sense as a long term financial plan for my life.

Worse than my own financial security being at risk I could also see that there were many people who didn’t even have the so called security of a company pension plan and that for these people they needed to take responsibility for their own financial future. However, most people I came across were either not saving anything at all for their future or, if they were saving, were not putting aside anything like the amount they required to build up even a basic financial security later in life.

My passion for helping people understand the issues surrounding financial security was lit and I decided that I was going to leave my restricted job as a financial planner and start my own business to help as many people as I possibly could create more financial security in their lives.

I also realized that it was now up to me to build up my own resources in order to become financially secure when I retire and so I decided that rather than hand my hard earned money over to financial institutions to save for my retirement I was going to invest myself in assets that would grow long term and create the financial security I desired.

So, my life had turned and I was now a business owner, an investor and financial coach rather than an employee and so-called financial planner.

I have created ‘Your Money Puzzle’ and ‘Mastering Financial Success’, as a way to share my understanding of personal finance and enrich the lives of millions of people by guiding them to create their ideal lives.

I hope I can be of service to you and feel free to contact me at anytime if you need assistance. You can reach me at clayton@claytonjmoore.com

Good luck and best wishes

Clayton J. Moore