Can you retire?

http://tinyurl.com/znjrrmj

This article was taken from NST sometime ago, it says that the current trend is:
1) People are living longer - life expectancy for women is 76 and men 72.
2) They are marrying and having children later. At retirement age, children are still in school or university.
3) 70% of retirees use up ALL their EPF money within 3 years after retiring.
It also states that at an Inflation rate of 6%, RM500,000 in your EPF or bank account at retirement may have the purchasing power of RM145,053 in 20 years.
Now, the Inflation rate NO longer stands at 6%.
In Sept 08, our published Inflation rate was at 8.2%!
That means your money is shrinking faster that you expect, and any money in the FD account is giving you a NEGATIVE growth of 5%! So, whatever you are trying so hard to save for old age, will not be able to provide for you to sustain your lifestyle when you retire.
Oh, let's not forget about Medical costs inflation.. it is 15% each year...

As surveyed, most Malaysians DO NOT have financial security when they retire... some people put off retirement plan until it is too near retirement. Ideally, as I learnt from my CFP class, one should apply the 20-20 Rule when you plan for retirement. For e.g. if you plan to retire at 55, you should start your Retirement plan at age 35, and reap the investment harvest at 55, so that you can enjoy for another 20 years.. before you 'migrate'.
How much should we have when we retire?

Well, it's really differs from one another, but don't we all want to enjoy ourselves when we retire?? Travel around the world? Play golf everyday? Drive a nice big car? Stay in a comfortable big bungalow? or able to do some charity? etc.. etc..
So how to achieve all that?
1) Ask yourself - how much do you want to have when you retire, think of a number.
2) Look at your financial status now - how much do you have?
3) Start a Retirement Plan NOW!

It's never to early to start, the earlier you start, the better off you are.. Set aside some money EVERY month to do regular INVESTMENT, not FD la.. told you FD will not give you a positive growth, but you can keep some money for emergency use la..

If you can, put 30% of your income into investment account like Unit Trust, which is being managed professionally by Fund managers and is liquid enough to withdraw anytime you wish to, and it's flexible, meaning you can easily switch or change your portfolio from one fund type to another. The return from Unit Trust is in the range of 15% to >20% on average for a long term horizon.
Act now!