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Foolish Special
[ November 09, 2000 ]
Create Your Own Retirement Plan: A Seminar Preview
Enrolment for the "Create your Own Retirement Plan" closes on 17th November. You may have 20 years or more until retirement, but don't let procrastination keep you from retiring the way you want to. Click here to enrol now!
We talk all about saving and investing here at the Motley Fool. Ad nauseam, some of you might say. All day. Every day. But does there ever come a time when you get to sit back and take the benefits of a lifetime of saving? After all, there's no point saving your money and watering it diligently to make it grow for years on end unless there's a Piña Colada with paper umbrella beckoning at the end of it.
Fear not, for there is a wondrous, tasty Piña Colada, sitting waiting just for you! It's called "retirement". But how do we get to retirement, when do we get there and what do we do once we've got there? Besides helping us feed, clothe, house, entertain and surgically enhance ourselves, money is what will enable us to take some time to ourselves, or to pursue a new adventure in better climes (preferably less damp ones where the trains work occasionally). In other words, money is what helps us to retire.
So, how do we connect our current investments -- whether they're high-tech, value, simple index trackers or anything in between -- with our future? And what about if we don't have any investments yet; how do we make sure we plan our future investment strategy well?
With the Motley Fool UK's interactive retirement planning seminar, that's how.
Create Your Own Retirement Plan is just that -- a guide that'll take you from where you are now (whether you're just starting out or are ready to retire tomorrow), to where you want to be (a villa in the South of France, Eastbourne or good old Selby). We've built it to help you develop and reach your goals -- and avoid the potholes along the way.
Most of us spend more time planning a two-week holiday than we do a 30-year (or more) retirement. We only have a vague idea of how to plan for retirement -- invest sensibly, work until we get bored and then fall back on our savings and various pensions that we might pick up along the way. We'll help you transform this hazy notion into a clear path to the future.
During this three-week, 10-lesson online seminar we'll tackle the big and small questions, like:
• How much money do I really need to save by the time I retire?
• How long must my money last?
• How can I make sure that my money lasts as long as I do?
• How should I invest both before and after retirement?
• How do I protect my savings from the ravages of inflation and keep up with increases in the standard of living?
• When can I really retire, and how can I put myself in a position to do it sooner?
Think you've already got it all worked out? Then you're in the minority. According to data from the Office of National Statistics, the country as a whole has precious little in the way of savings. On a national basis 30% of households have no savings at all and 17% of couples, where one is above pensionable age, are in a similar position. That's going to make for some pretty frugal retirements.
Well, you could. But no one knows your wants, needs, dreams, desires, and bank balance better than you? Retirement is a topic that requires specific solutions on a personal level. Through our interactive seminar, we aim to give you the tools to make decisions for yourself. More than this, by comparing notes with others on our dedicated seminar discussion boards, you can get a better idea of how it all applies to you.
Only you can decide if you want to take on more investing risk to retire earlier or better. And who better than you to keep an eye on the prize? In this seminar, you'll be able to custom-design your retirement according to your own needs and wants.
Leading you through the seminar will be our resident personal finance expert, James Carlisle (TMFJimmyC). As a former solicitor, investment manager and yes -- gasp! -- independent financial adviser, he has the wide range of experience necessary to steer you through this broadest of subjects.
Joining JimmyC are Rob Davies (TMFEssex), author of the forthcoming Old Fool's Guide to Retirement), Nigel Roberts (TMFNigel), Alan Oscroft (TMFAlan) and Jane Mack (TMFJane). With your input, these Fools will help you map out your own retirement plan.
You do! Straight up. You don't have to sit all alone at your computer, blinding yourself with Excel spreadsheets and trying desperately to balance your chequebook. (What the hell was that cheque for £8.67 anyway?) Naturally, there'll be some "homework" -- it is a seminar, after all -- but there won't be too much, it won't be very hard and anyway this is one classroom where we encourage you to cheat by asking your neighbour. It's people like you who make online learning fun.
One of the greatest opportunities the Internet has brought is being able to learn from others. Thousands of others. Whether you do decide to post your own experiences in the exclusive online discussion boards dedicated to this seminar, or prefer to sit quietly and see what others have to say, it's the people taking part who will make the difference.
See for yourself. Below are just a few of the comments posted on the Fool discussion boards during the last seminar in July / August 2000, How to be a Foolish Investor:
jobradley: I cannot find words that can convey my appreciation, so just hope this 'BIG THANK YOU' will suffice.
Trifloxy: ...got loads out of the seminar, and am about to put my money where my newly acquired knowledge cares to point it.
Sagrario: I've learnt a great deal and I now want to know more! I shall miss the Monday, Wednesday and Friday lessons.
hs0ggi: I have learnt so much in such a very short time and I am really looking forward to applying my new found knowledge. A very big thank you to everyone who has contributed, especially TMF staff who seem to have been here at all hours of the day. The last three weeks have been so much fun.
DerekKnight: Thanks for the course, it may have changed my life.
• Concrete and realistic goals on how you'll spend your retirement
• An organised action plan -- for both your finances and what you're going to do in retirement
• A plan to get your money working for you to greatest effect
• A rich exchange of ideas with like-minded, and similarly focused, members of the Fool community
If you're serious about retirement, and want to do so when and how you choose, then click here to enrol in our Retirement Online Seminar (the deadline to sign up is November 12th). The seminar will run from November 27 to December 18, with time off for good behaviour and Christmas shopping.
