As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age some of the facts are emerging about their preparedness and the news is not especially encouraging. A recent AP-LifeGoesStrong.com poll suggests that most of the baby boomers who are approaching retirement age polled say that Social Security will represent the centerpiece of their retirement incomes.
In addition, nearly one fourth of the people who responded to the poll had no retirement savings at all, and the mean amount that poll respondents had saved for retirement was $40,000. In fact, over a third of the individuals who participated in the poll said that they would have to work after retirement to make ends meet.
Obviously the best way to approach retirement is to get started saving early on in your adult life. This is best done with the assistance of a retirement planning attorney who will work with you to map out a long-term strategy that leads to a comfortable retirement. But with this having been stated, there is another factor to consider when you are planning for your retirement beyond the accumulation of financial resources.
Exactly how high your expenses will be during your golden years and beyond is going to have a lot to do with how well your health holds up. If you live a stressful life, overtaxing yourself while you engage in an unhealthy lifestyle, the odds are that you will face health problems that could have been avoided had you made healthier lifestyle choices.
We are all well aware of the general benefits of good health, yet many of us are obese, and a lot of people have been lifelong smokers. If you recognize the fact that there are significant financial savings possible by doing all that you can to live a healthy lifestyle, that is just one more incentive that can lead to a higher quality of life all around.
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