TRANSCRIPT:

Jeremy: As a federal employee planning for retirement, there are several things that you need to be concerned about and plan for. Two main points are: a budget, and a plan. We’re going to talk a little bit about that today.

One thing is just simply putting your budget down on paper, which turns out to be shocking to a lot of people; because they see the expenses going out on a monthly basis, but have never put it down on paper to see what that looks like, and actually how much they’re spending when you add them up.

On the screen is actually an example client that we’ve used in several different line items for the budget, and then a total column. It’s a good idea just to snapshot what you’re actually spending to see if anything can be eliminated; and know what you’re going to need as far as income-wise, not only today but into retirement.

The second thing is actually a plan. You have to have a plan for that budget, for your expenses. Inflation really concerns purchasing power. Purchasing power is really defined, as your dollars today really won’t buy as many goods and services as they will in the future; because the prices of those goods and services go up.

As you can see, an estimated $63,000 today is going to look like $80,000 a year in 10 years…and all the way up to $132,000 a year in 30 years. You can see inflation has a major impact on your expenses and what you require as income on a monthly basis to be able to live comfortably throughout retirement.

These are just a couple of examples of why you need to reach out to a United Benefits expert, so we can sit down and create a budget and a plan and numerous other things specifically for you.