Retirement planning makes the transition from full time work, to a more leisurely lifestyle possible. Lack of retirement planning can mean not enough money to enjoy your lifestyle, depression, or even illness caused by the stress of such a drastic change.

Here we have provided you with some helpful pointers as you plan for your retirement.

What were the most popular names given to babies in the past year?

Did you know you can find the answer to this and many other questions at the Social Security Administration Website?

www.ssa.gov

Most electric cooperative employees have the opportunity to participate in the NRECA retirement plan. Many employees are also participants in the NRECA 401(k) plan as well. This coupled with social security income and personal investments is usually a solid retirement plan.

Talk with your benefits administrator about the option available to you at your local electric cooperative.

Also find out if your cooperative participates in Advantage.net and you may be able to get your personal information online.
Got a question about social security benefits. The Social Security Website is a unique site that answers many questions about social security. Check it out.
Quicken.com offers a handy retirement planner you may find useful. Simply complete the form with items such as your date of birth and the amount you are investing for retirement. You'll also be able to utilize rates of interest and inflation that you expect between now and retirement.

When Should A Will Be A Living Trust?

As a rule of thumb, people who have sizable or complicated estates are advised by estate-planning attorneys to consider a living trust. So just how big is sizable? How complicated must life get before you consider spending the extra cost associated with a living trust? One way to help make an informed judgment is to consider these five criteria:

Probate All assets in a will must go through probate. The larger and more complicated your estate the better the chance that it will be subjected to a potentially costly and time-consuming court process of administration. Assets in a living trust can be transferred without probate.

Privacy When a will is probated, its contents are made public. On the other hand, because a living trust does not have to go through probate, it is not subject to public scrutiny.

Incapacity In a living trust, you can assign a successor trustee to manage your assets if you become mentally or physically incapacitated. People with a will have to draw up a durable power of attorney to achieve the same result.

Hassle In a living trust, all assets have to be specifically retitled to the trust. Any asset that is not so titled will be subject to probate. Since all assets in a will automatically go through probate, nothing has to be done other than assigning a beneficiary.

Cost Wills are relatively inexpensive. A simple will for a husband and wife can be drawn up for as little as $200. A living trust, on the other hand, will generally cost in the neighborhood of $1,500.

Copyright 2001
ECWI & Infotricity

Updated 8-5-2001

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