We’ve always been told that longevity is a reward for living well, but the reward of a long life is tempered by the risk of longevity. If you’re not familiar with the term, it refers to the cost of living in retirement, and the real possibility that those blessed with a long life will run out of retirement savings.

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy is increasing all the time. Men who retire at the age of 65 can expect, on average, to live an additional 17 years. Women can expect to live an additional 20. Unfortunately, one’s retirement planning may not have planned on living to 85 years of age, and may not have anticipated the frightening increases in the cost of health care.

If you’re still planning for your retirement, you still have time to act. Retirement investment strategies should be re-evaluated and corrective measures should be taken if it appears as though your retirement accumulations will not sustain you for 25 years after retirement.

If you’re behind in your savings, one great way to pump up your investment portfolio is by acquiring high-performing investments, like Puerto Vallarta real estate. For the past 10 years, Puerto Vallarta real estate has appreciated at the rate of 10 percent or better per year.

Puerto Vallarta real estate can support your retirement planning in two ways: first, Puerto Vallarta real estate has high resale value, and can also be used as a very consistent income producer if you plan to rent the property. If income isn’t your primary goal, Puerto Vallarta real estate can help you reduce your cost of living by 50% to 75%. Long-term residency in Puerto Vallarta also provides tax benefits. (The taxes here are low to begin with, but tax residency does have its perks!)

Puerto Vallarta is very friendly toward retirees and will provide a very high quality of life for those who choose to reside here part-time or full-time. No matter how you use a luxury property in Puerto Vallarta, you can hardly lose!

Photo Credit: Ginny Austin

We’re not in a recession.
We are in a recession.
The worst is past.
The worst is yet to come.
Things will improve in 2009.
We’re going to hit bottom more than once in the next 12-18 months.

Who should you believe, especially when you have to make decisions about retirement living now?

When it comes to retirement planning, you hope for the best. When it comes to retirement investments, however, you need to do more than that. You need to rely on investments that will come through for you, even when your hopes don’t materialize and your best guesses are wrong.

The returns on retirement investments aren’t very promising right now. If you’re relatively young and you have many years ahead of you, you may not be too worried about this downturn. You may believe that you have time to recoup your losses. You may be right. If you’re within a few months or years of retirement, however, you may not have the luxury of waiting to find out if your investments turn around.

Life in Mexico offers many benefits, especially for retirees. The quality of life here is very high, and the cost of living is decidedly lower. You can build a luxurious home here for much less than you could in the US. The weather here is nicer than it is in most retirement communities in the US. Taxes are lower. The cost of health care is lower. Food, prescription drugs and just about everything else here costs less. This can make a big difference in preserving your retirement savings.

If you have to retire now, you can wait out the economic downturn in the US and realize substantial savings while you’re here. When the economy brightens up, you can sell your luxury home here (likely for a substantial profit) and return to the US with more capital than you started with. I have to warn you though. Many people who come down here to live “part-time” end up staying here year-round!

Take a look at some of the investment opportunities here, especially in Puerto Vallarta real estate. You’ll find very few US investments that even compare. Come talk to us about making this work for you, not just as a living arrangement, but as a stellar investment, too.

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If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. It’s an old saying, but it has a lot of value when it comes to defining retirement strategy and figuring out how to get there. The people who are best prepared for retirement took the time to plan. They figured out what they wanted from their retirement years and developed a retirement strategy that would take them there.

If you believe the news you read, most people aren’t planning for retirement or aren’t saving adequately to have the retirement they want. Four out of ten individual retirees and two out of ten retired couples end up fully dependent upon Social Security for their retirement income.

Even those who plan and save sometimes don’t end up with enough to finance their retirement dreams. Unexpected expenses, a career cut short by job loss, ill health, and adverse financial conditions like divorce or the premature death of a spouse can take their toll on retirement savings.

Real estate is a standard element of many retirement plans, but people who are new to real estate investing lack the strategies they need to be successful. Coaching Services can provide coaching and information about real estate investing, and can help you design a strategy that will enable you to succeed in identifying and reaching your retirement dreams.

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If you’ve been saving diligently for retirement, recession – or even the specter of one – is likely raise significant concerns. You’re not alone. More than 55% of people said that they were concerned about the impact that a recession would have on their retirement. Starting out your retirement in a recession can have serious long-term impacts on your lifestyle.

For example if you have $1.25 million in retirement savings and investments, and plan to draw out 4 percent per year, you’ll have an annual income of $50,000. In a recession that takes 20% of your savings, you’ll lose $250,000 off the top. If you maintain your annual withdrawal of $50,000, your 25-year cushion will shrink to 20 years. If you want to maintain a 4% annual withdrawal strategy, your annual “salary” will drop from $50,000 to $40,000.

For people who have less in retirement reserves, the impact of a recession can be devastating. Our example just takes into account the cash value of retirement investment. Declines in the value of non-cash assets (like real estate) can have an equally devastating effect on retirement planning.

Declines in the economy do provide some opportunities for investors who are prepared to act. Careful recession investing can put you in a good position, if you can afford to wait for the market to return. If you can’t afford to wait out a recession, what options do you have?

Right now, investors who are prepared to act can take advantage of the opportunity for high returns in Puerto Vallarta real estate. Puerto Vallarta is one of the hottest real estate markets in this hemisphere and has been producing a ten-percent return for the past ten years. A property worth $100,000 in 1998 is now worth $260,000. Even better, property values are expected to double again in the next five years.

Puerto Vallarta real estate is valuable because of its tropical climate, proximity to the Pacific Ocean, and Puerto Vallarta’s high quality of life and low cost of living. Puerto Vallarta offers the exact mix that retirees from all over the world are looking for.

If you’re looking for a solid performer in real estate, consider what the purchase of Puerto Vallarta real estate will do for you, both now and in the near future.

Photo Credit: Ray

The Risks and Process of Retirement Survey Report, a new study by the Society of Actuaries, indicates that the top retirement planning concern right now is the rate of inflation. Maintaining the value of assets, having enough money to pay for long-term care, affordable health care and simply having enough savings to maintain a decent standard of living after the death of a spouse.

Nearly one-third of women over the age of 65 and nearly one-fifth of men in the same age bracket can expect to live past the age of 90. Whatever the reward that longevity brings is quickly counter-balanced by the risk of exhausting retirement savings. For women, the threat posed by inflation is alarming. Without proper investing, planning and saving, a woman is likely to suffer a decline in her standard of living after the death of her husband.

One approach to countering this risk is to buy income producing investments, and investments whose values appreciate faster than the rate of inflation. In this economic situation, investments that fit these descriptions are hard to find. Traditional real estate investments, which could be counted on for moderate but steady growth, are stagnant or in some cases, declining in value.

Recently however, investors have shown significant interest in real estate in Latin America. One of Latin America’s hottest real estate markets is Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta is located on Mexico’s Pacific coast and offers a climate similar to that of Hawaii. The cost of living in Puerto Vallarta is comparatively low. Most major expenses, including health care and prescription drugs, can be reduced by 50% to 75%.

By reducing the major expenses in retirement – housing, health care, energy, food, and medicine, retirees could not only live more comfortably, but also could reasonably expect their retirement savings to outlive them even if they enjoy an extended lifespan.

Adopting strategies that combat inflation are especially important for retired women, who live an average of three years longer than men. This approach may also support individuals whose retirement savings have been compromised by the serious illness of a spouse or the need to pay for long-term care.

You can read the Society of Actuaries report on Understanding And Managing The Risks Of Retirement here. Warning: PDF link

Photo Credit: Adrian van Leen