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We all have our own idea of our ideal retirement.

Some of us dream of snowbird migrations to Sedona, trading the parka for a poolside lounge chair. Others have more modest hopes of relaxing afternoons on the patio, enjoying a nice glass of iced tea after a hard day’s work of gardening.

No matter the scope of your dream retirement, we all look forward to the day when we are no longer working our 9 to 5. But how do we achieve that goal of winter escapes to Arizona? There’s only one way – prepare for it.

Anticipate the surprises

Is what you’re currently doing to save for retirement going to be enough to last you 20, 30 or even 40 years? Think about some of these retirement “surprises” as you put together your financial plan and budget.

1. Health and Dental Care. Your health and dental plans are likely to change with retirement as you switch over to Medicare. What used to be covered may not be anymore. Anticipate these out of pocket expenses in your retirement planning.

2. Medical expenses. As you age, you enter a whole new ballpark of medical expenses. You have to take into account the necessary purchase of an increased number of prescription medications, hearing aids, etc.

3. Popular “retirement funds.” Remember that withdrawals from those popular retirement funds that so many solely rely on, like 401(k) and IRAs, are taxable. Worse yet, you have no idea at what rate that tax will be assessed. Is there any real doubt that with increasingly expensive government programs and spiraling debt that taxes are likely to go up? What if you thought you “saved” 30% in taxes only to pay 50% as you take your money out of that IRA? You can very easily drain your savings paying the taxes on the money that is so tempting to rely upon from these retirement funds.

4. Investments in the Stock Market. The stock market is a game of dice–you can’t be sure of what you’ll roll. If you had invested in S&P 500 in 1999 and looked at your investment some 12 years later, you would have found that you lost money–a lot of money. In this “Lost Decade,” most people were counting on their money to double. Instead, it went south. Does anyone really want their nest egg to be built on hope and a prayer?

It’s obvious that you don’t want to give up the lifestyle you’re used to once you retire. If anything, you want your lifestyle to improve! To do that, though, you have to be sure that you are maintaining a substantial flow of income to support the comfortable lifestyle you want. There are a couple of ways that people commonly do this.

1. Maximize Social Security. Some might think of waiting until they are 70 years old to receive the full benefits of social security, as opposed to 62 or 63, as that will increase the size of the monthly payment from social security. But what about the lost earnings from waiting as much as 8 years before taking those benefits? A little-known provision in the law allows you to take those payments starting at 62, and then if you want to, at age 70 you can give back all the money you received for those 8 years and start taking the new, larger payment. And by the way–you get to keep all the interest you earned during that time. If you really wanted those larger payments at age 70, wouldn’t it also be preferable to keep the interest on the money you could have gotten since age 62?

2. Consider a Deferred Annuity. Not just any annuity, but rather the kind that allows you to protect what you have while still taking advantage of the opportunity for excellent growth. On top of that, options are available which will allow you to create a guaranteed lifelong income without giving up control of your money–you can still take it back if you want to. Think of it as your own privately-created pension. In this new age of self-reliance, it just might be a requirement. This can create peace of mind due to the concern that many of us would otherwise run out of money before we run out of life.

3. Use Leverage. Not just any leverage–guaranteed leverage. For example, one of the benefits of owning a permanent life insurance policy is the leverage it provides. The owner knows that a triggering event will happen someday that will create a large windfall of tax-free money–guaranteed. This simple fact allows the owner to make use of other assets to a far greater degree than would otherwise be possible. For instance, if you knew you could, take out a reverse mortgage on your home, spend and enjoy hundreds of thousands of dollars from it while you continued to live there for the rest of your life…and yet still replace the full value of that home when you left this earth…wouldn’t that simple fact make it a no-brainer to go ahead and spend that home in your retirement? The life insurance becomes a “permission slip” to spend and use an asset you otherwise would never have allowed yourself to touch! That’s an ex tra few hundred thousand dollars you didn’t realize you could spend–and your permanent life insurance policy unlocked the door.

4. Create Additional Sources of Income. Okay, this sounds tough, but it really isn’t. Just put your mind to it and get creative! One of our 7 Principles of Prosperity is “Flow”–Cash Flow. What kind of business ideas can you come up with which would create a steady flow of cash? One of the problems with real estate investments is too many people buy with expectations of appreciation, but fail to take into account cash flow. But when real estate is done right, it can be a solid source of income (and it automatically adjusts for inflation!).

Is this going to be enough for a comfortable retirement though? The harsh truth is that it probably won’t be. You have to do more than rely on your social security or annuity to get you through your retirement, especially since you never know if social security will be a guarantee. What will you do in the event that social security runs out or the government changes the laws and payments of social security? For 2008, 2009 and 2010, the government did not increase social security payments at all. They said it was because there had been no inflation, in spite of the fact that the price of food–yes, FOOD!–increased dramatically during that period (a gallon of milk increased in cost by over 50%!). With the average life expectancy continually increasing, are you prepared to live an extra 5 years than what you had originally planned? These are all things you have to think about when strategizing for your retirement.

What can you do – select a well-qualified Prosperity Economics Advisor.

The best thing you can do to secure the prosperous retirement you’ve always dreamed of is to educate yourself and prepare for it. Anticipate the bills that you are likely to incur, make sure you have the money to cover them, and then you’ll better know whether or not you have the finances to pay for the around-the-world cruise you’ve been dreaming about for years once retirement finally rolls around.

A Prosperity Economics Advisor can assist you in putting together a solid plan by looking at what you’ve got now, evaluating your current investments, and guiding you through the Principles of Prosperity, 7 steps that effectively guide you to wealth and prosperity and allow you to create the right income and savings plan that will meet all of your retirement needs.

It’s time you regained control of your money – and your future.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.