How to Enrich Your Retirement

Book excerpt: Many people find financial planning and financial choices overwhelming. In planning for retirement, people find it difficult to look after their finances as they lose sight of what their financial objectives are. But this planning does not have to be complicated or grueling. In How to Enrich Your Retirement, author and financial planner John T. Cross provides practical information on how to enjoy a happy and prosperous retirement and reduce the amount of inheritance tax you pay. To enrich your retirement, Cross encourages you to unbundle your thinking, change your mind-set, and take the following steps: Determine your basic retirement financial strategy Discuss plans and priorities with your partner (if you have one) Stop accumulating; start spending Think of your capital as a reservoir of money that will provide you with the necessary income Gear your investments to produce more income Realize you will probably live longer than you think Enjoy your money! Although geared toward United Kingdom residents, all of the investment principles are universal. With the right planning, retirement can be the happiest time in your life. AUTHOR BIO John T. Cross has worked in the financial services industry for thirty-five years and is a principal partner of wealth management group, St. James Place, and member of the Million Dollar Round Table and Top of the Table. Visit him online at www.sjpp.co.uk/johncross.