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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2011)
Page 4 The INDEPENDENT, August 17, 2011 What to consider when deciding whether to put retirement on hold by Jason Alderman (www.prac ticalmoneyskills.com) One indicator our economy is still hurting is that more and more people are postponing re- tirement. According to the De- partment of Labor, those over 55 and still working have in- creased steadily since the re- cession began – 28.9 million at last count – and some surveys show more than a third of em- ployees expect to work past age 70 or never retire. Would-be retirees have faced a perfect storm of nega- tive situations: • Having to tap retirement savings early to cover bills or tide them through unemploy- ment. • Plunging home values di- minished or erased the equity many had hoped to draw on in retirement. • Unable to afford – or quali- fy for – health insurance they’ll need until Medicare kicks in. • And many boomer parents have put their own savings on hold while helping their kids struggle through the recession. If you’re hoping to retire in the next few years, consider the following: How much will you need? Fi- nancial planners often suggest people may need 70 percent or more of pre-retirement income to maintain their current lifestyle, but it’s difficult to gen- eralize. For example, some people downsize housing or re- tire to less expensive areas and thus need less. Others can expect increased medical, utili- ty and other bills to outpace earnings on their savings. Start estimating your retire- ment needs by using online calculators: • The Retirement Estimator at www.ssa.gov/estimator au- tomatically enters your earn- ings information to estimate your projected Social Security benefits under different scenar- ios, such as age at retirement, future earnings projections, etc. You can also download a more detailed calculator to make more precise estimates. • Check whether your 401(k) plan administrator’s website has a calculator to estimate how much you will accumulate under various contribution and investment scenarios. If not, try the various retirement calcula- tors at www.bankrate.com. • AARP offers a retirement calculator to help determine your current financial status and what you’ll need to save to meet your retirement needs. After you’ve explored vari- ous retirement scenarios, con- sider paying a financial planner to help work out an investment and savings game plan. If you don’t have a personal referral, good resources include www. cfp.net, www.napfa.org and www.fpanet.org. Social Security issues. To make ends meet, many people begin drawing reduced benefits from Social Security before reaching full retirement (65 for those born before 1938 and gradually increasing to 67 thereafter). This can have sev- eral financial consequences: • Your monthly benefit will be reduced by up to 30 percent. (Conversely, if you postpone benefits until after reaching full retirement age, your benefit in- creases by 7 to 8 percent per year, up to age 70.) • Although many states don’t tax Social Security benefits, they are counted as taxable in- come by the federal govern- ment. So, depending on your overall income, you could owe federal tax on a portion of your benefit. IRS Publication 915 at www.irs.gov has full details. • If you begin drawing Social Security while still working, your benefit could be signifi- cantly reduced depending on your income. Read “How Work Affects Your Benefits” at www.ssa.gov for details. (Rest assured, however: Those re- ductions aren’t truly lost since your benefit will be recalculated upward at full retirement age.) One last suggestion: Once you’ve settled on what you think will be a sufficient retire- ment budget, try living on it for a few months first before retir- ing to make sure it actually works. Community Calendar VERNONIA Alcoholics Anonymous Mondays 6:30 p.m., 410 North Street Alcoholics Anonymous Thursdays (Big Book Study) 7:00 p.m., 410 North Street American Legion Post #119 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., 627 Adams Avenue Booster Club 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., VHS Library Boy Scout Troop 201 Tuesdays 7:00 p.m., Scout Cabin Boy Scout Troop 860 Wednesdays 7:00 p.m., LDS Church Cemetery Beautification Comm. 2nd Thursday 6:30 p.m., Library CERT 4th Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-3018 Chamber of Commerce 2nd Wednesday For Info Call 503-429-6081 Community Coalition 2nd Monday 12:30 p.m. School District Ofc. Cub Scout Pack 201 Scout Cabin For Info Call 503-429-4250 Friends of the Library 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Vernonia Library Girl Scouts, Neighborhood 4-2 For Info Call 503-819-0143 Izaak Walton League 3rd Thursday For location call 503-429-7193 Kiwanis Club 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Lions Club 1st & 3rd Tuesdays 6:30 p.m., New Hong Kong Municipal Airport Committee 1t Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Pioneer Museum For Info Call 503-429-3713 Public Works Committee 4th Tuesday 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Cares Directors For Info call 503-429-1414 Vernonia City Council 1st & 3rd Mondays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Community PTA 2nd Wednesday 7:00 p.m., WGS Library Vernonia Garden Club 2nd Tuesday 1:30 p.m., Vernonia Library Vernonia Grange 3rd Monday 7:00 p.m., Grange Hall Vernonia Health Center 3rd Thursday 6:30 p.m., 510 Bridge St. Vernonia Learning Center 1st Wednesday 6:00 p.m., VLC Vernonia Parks Committee 3rd Wednesday 6:30 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Planning Comm. 1st & 3rd Thursdays 7:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Pride 2nd Thursday 1:00 p.m., City Hall Vernonia Ridge Riders Last Thursday 7:00 p.m., Senior Center Vernonia RFPD Board 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia School Board 2nd Thursday 6:00 p.m., District Office Vernonia Sr. Center Board 2nd Friday 10:00 a.m., Senior Center Vernonia Transfer Station 2nd & 4th Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Behind VHS Vern. Volunteer Ambulance Assoc. 1st Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters 2nd Monday 7:00 p.m., Fire Station WOEC Directors 3rd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., WOEC MIST-BIRKENFELD M-BRFPD Board Business Mtg. 2nd Tuesday M-BRFPD Board Workshop 4th Tuesday M-B Ambulance Drill 1st & 2nd Thursdays M-B Fire Drill 1st & 2nd Wednesdays M-B Helping Circle 2nd Monday M-B SAR Drill 3rd Wednesday M-B Volunteer Assoc. 1st Tuesday Natal Grange 2nd Wednesday T.O.P.S. Mondays Upr Nehalem Watershed Council For date call 429-0869 BANKS Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous American Legion Post #90 Banks City Council Banks Fire District #13 Banks Library Commission Banks Planning Commission Banks School Board Banks Youth Group Chamber of Commerce CPO 14 Everybody’s Hometown Band Friends of the Library Lions Club Sunset Park Assoc. T.O.P.S. Friday Wednesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Tuesday 2nd Wednesday 3rd Tuesday Last Tuesday 2nd Monday Sunday, Wednesday 1st Thursday 3rd Monday Tuesdays 2nd Tuesday 1st & 3rd Mondays 3rd Wednesday Wednesday 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Natal Grange Hall 9:00 a.m., Main Fire Station 7:00 p.m., Main Fire Station 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Methodist Church 7:30 p.m., Main Street Post 7:30 p.m., City Hall 7:00 p.m., Station 13 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., City Hall 7:30 p.m., Jr. High Library 7:00 p.m., UMC Youth Bldg. 12:30 p.m., Fire District Office 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., BHS Music Room 7:00 p.m., City Library 7:00 p.m., Brown Derby 8:00 p.m., Gun Club 7:00 p.m., Administration Bldg. COLUMBIA COUNTY (All meet in St. Helens unless otherwise noted.) Board of Commissioners Wednesday 10:00 a.m., Courthouse Citizens for Senior Justice 2nd Tuesday 7:00 p.m., Sunset Park Church Columbia Comm Mental Health 1st Tuesday 5”30 p.m., 58646 McNulty Way Columbia Soil & Water District 3rd Wednesday 7:30 p.m., NRCS , 2514 Sykes County Fair Board 2nd Monday 6:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg. County Parks Commission 3rd Tuesday Times vary, 1054 Oregon St. Mental Health Advisory Comm. Quarterly For Info call 503-397-7211 Comm. on Children & Families 3rd Thursday 5:30 p.m. OSU Ext., 505 N. Hwy. 30 Local Alcohol & Drug Plan. Comm. Quarterly For Info call 503-397-7211 Organizations and meeting dates not listed may be included by calling 429-9410 or by mail to The INDEPENDENT, 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.