by Mario Carini

Created on: March 26, 2009

Most of us have heard of the wisdom of saving for retirement. But with day-to day expenses and those unexpected emergencies, it's too easy to delay saving for retirement for another day. But the years slip by too quickly. By the time 65 rolls around, most people discover that what savings they have won't cover those golden years.

A report issued by National Summit on Retirement Savings that was held in June, 1996 states, "Americans must save more today if they are to realize the dream of a financially secure retirement tomorrow." Section two of the report says: "Many Americans are not planning or saving enough to be able to afford to retire." That hasn't changed since and in today's economic climate savings are even harder to achieve.

Two major problems that were outlined at the conference was the need to educate the public about the necessity of saving and the related confusion about how to go about it. As old age approaches, many people become increasingly suspicious of anything and everything that they might consider as a scam. Knowing where and how to salt away some money is not so easy to do as you get older.

With the rising cost of living, taxes, mortgages, credit card debt and low wages, the average American has very little incentive to save at all. Today's financial worries take priority over future financial well-being. And to top this off, the income derived from pensions and social security benefits don't meet the needs of a retirement lifestyle. Unfortunately, today's recessionary times have eaten away life savings and investments.

Some have made plans to save for the future. While IRA's,
RRSP's, 401K are useful avenues to salt away some cash for an uncertain future,but no one can totally rely on the money from these sources to insure retirement will be a comfortable one. Investments in stocks, bonds, Mutual funds and real estate do help add money to the retirement pool, but this assumes you know something about investing in these avenues. But in the current financial climate, these choices are risky.

One of the best methods to plan for retirement is not to retire at all! While retirement may be an exciting time that lasts months and even years, many people find life gets boring with so much time on their hands. That's where running your own business comes in.

While you're still working a job, you should be looking ahead to what it is you like to do and see how you can turn that hobby, talent and skill to good use. Your retirement business doesn't have

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