Retirement

Retirement is a goal many people have in life.  To be retired means that you don't have to work anymore, and you can just spend the rest of your life... well, living life.  However, there are a lot of things to remember about retirement, just as there's a lot of important things to know about things that can be done now that will work towards the goal of retirement.

IRA and 401(K): 401(K) are a type of retirement fund that allows the investor to start withdrawing from their account when they've reached the age of 59 and 1/2 years.  Instead of paying taxes on it immediately, the taxes are taken out when attempting to withdraw money from the savings account.  There are numerous limits and consequences involved with adding and taking money out of this account prior to reaching the required age.  The term 401(K) refers to International Revenue Code in the United States.  Other countries have different methods.
An IRA, or Individual Retirement Account is almost exactly what it sounds like: it's an individual savings account for retirement, and you put in money for it as time goes on.  It is possible to have both this and a 401(K) savings account.

Social Security: Social Security is one of the many thing that the taxes you pay go towards.  Social securities are a set of funds that go to the assistance and well-being of the elderly, disabled, needy, or unemployed.  Going into retirement and aging, social security are one of the many things that will assist you in keeping up with the bills that you no longer have an income to maintain, and as time progresses, no longer have the physical wellness to obtain.  While this tax can hurt your savings currently, assuming it isn't abolished, it is one of those things you'll likely be thankful for, as your retirement funds will only be able to go so far: and once you use it up, it's gone forever.  And with life expectancies likely being higher by the time you retire, the likelihood that your retirement funds won't last the remainder of your life becomes increasingly likely.

Importance of Savings: As stated above, you'll only have so much money to live off of when you finally retire.  Beginning to save now is vital, as every penny you save now is more money that you'll have to spend when you're no longer able to maintain a working lifestyle.  Remember your personal budget?  Well, instead of making sure you have enough money for a few months, your retirement fund is going to need to be large enough to last you years, if not decades.  Remember, when you finally start using your retirement funds, you'll probably want to at least enjoy the remaining life you have - so start saving now so you'll be able to prosper in the long-run.

Small text: Ha! I'm Glad You Asked! As a matter of fact, we've been in contact with a gentleman from Africa who is transferring eight million dollars into our bank account as we speak.

The Issues Today: Again, as stated earlier, issues regarding retirement today are simply just not having enough funds to last the remainder of your life.  With life expectancies rising, and people not being able to save enough money to maintain a decent living standard, retirement is becoming increasingly difficult because people just can't afford to stop earning an income without risking running out of funds before death.  And factoring dream vacations and emergency medical expenses, the already small retirement fund just isn't large enough to take care of people.  It's vital to have plans as well as emergency sources of money when it's needed in order to assure that life while retired isn't just a big worry for when the funds will dry up.

How to Start A Retirement Savings Account
And a news article (one that's actually from this year...) about Social Security
A Text Source for Starting Retirement Savings