Simply Junior

Retirement speeches will always be remembered by the retiree. If you want your speech to be fondly remembered follow these simple but essential guidelines.

Not everyone retires at the official retirement age, unfortunately some people have to take early retirement due to ill health or company restructuring. Whatever their reasons for retiring many retirees are often apprehensive about their future. When composing your speech avoid topics that might highlight any fears and worries they may have. Retirement speeches often contain facts, for example, dates of when the retiree started work, events that occurred whilst they were there and different job positions they held. If you are going to include such topics make sure you have the correct information. The retiree will certainly know the correct details and you don’t want to look a fool in front of everyone if they correct you. Organize your list of ideas into a logical order. Successful speeches follow a set outline of a beginning, middle and end. The main content is in the middle and the toast at the end. Put your information into the right section. Retirement roasts are a great way to spice up a retirement speech BUT only if the retiree would appreciate them. If you have been asked to give the farewell retirement speech hopefully you would know the employee well enough to decide whether or not a roast would be suitable. If you have any doubts err on the side of caution. The last thing you should do is create any embarrassment or unease not only to the retiree but to those present. If a roast isn’t appropriate consider including a favorite quote, or saying of theirs. However don’t fill your speech up with other peoples’ words, you need to allow time for your own words. Using your own words and sentiments adds more credibility and sincerity to your speech. A retirement speech delivered with sincerity will be appreciated by the retiree much more than hollow praise. Those listening will also respect you for your honesty. Even if you have difficulty finding positive honest things to say, persevere. You will probably find you can add some light humor to even the most negative of traits. Consider who will be in your audience. Will you be speaking at a retirement dinner or party where there may be family attending? Ensure your content and vocabulary is suited to match your audience. Are you presenting the retirement gift in your speech? If you are, keep it nearby or arrange for someone to collect it when you give the nod. Find out beforehand what the gift is, so you mean what you say when you hand it over. Don’t leave your speech preparation till the last minute as your lack of preparation will be evident. Advance preparation can save you alot of stress and result in a more professional presentation. And finally finish your speech with a positive and upbeat toast.

“Old age is like everything else. To make a success at it, you’ve got to start young.”

.. Theodore Roosevelt.

Retirement communities are popping up all over the place like dandelions in spring. It’s a trend in real estate. At 55 you can qualify for these communities referred to as “active adult” retirement communities and maybe you should look into it. These active adult communities offer a lot of good living. You’ve heard you should get started while you are young planning for your retirement and that’s what Roosevelt said, too.

Retirement used to mean retiring from work — but today more people are seeing retirement as an active time in their lives. People are living longer. When they reach 65 years, they can still look forward to at least 15 to 20 years of retirement and life expectancy is supposed to continue to grow. That is a long time so preparing early for that time of life makes sense.

Due to the things retirement communities offer you, they may even help to keep you healthier in retirement. You may be doing yourself a favor to start earlier on nutrition programs, fitness programs, cultural and social programs–all designed to help seniors stay healthier. So why wait!

There are some reasons for waiting and one of them might be if you still have younger children at home–maybe in college but still “at home.” However, most communities even make allowances for “visiting” children who are in college by allowing them to stay with their families for 3 months out of the year. Each community has different policies about this so check carefully.

By downsizing and selling your current home now, you can use your equity for your new home and other things. Also, some financial experts are saying it may be advisable to not buy your retirement home with all cash as used to be advised, due to a greater life expectancy, but to have a small mortgage. But, of course, we recommend you check this out thoroughly with a financial adviser.

If your children are grown, then buying into an active adult retirement community at an earlier age than you might originally have thought of, might afford you these outstanding benefits:

-Getting started early on a retirement plan.

-Getting started early on a Fitness program for retirement.

-Getting started early on nutritional fitness. Seniors do have special

nutritional requirements.

-You can continue to work and add to your savings.

-As your current neighborhood changes, and your old

neighborhood friends move, you will make new friends in a retirement community.

-Your easier life will free up your time for things you really want to do like travel.

-You will have less stress, more security, available clubs and activities.

Sometimes you aren’t sure where you want to retire to. This shouldn’t be such a problem since you can always move again. Warm weather, cold weather, being close to your kids or moving to that desirable southern town–hard decisions but life is always changing. As you change you may also change where you want to live. Statistics show that as people age they tend to move back to cities and closer to family after having lived many years somewhere else. That’s okay. Check out what is right for you at that time. I hope you will look at these fabulous new “active adult” retirement communities “popping up” and probably some near you. To get started, visit my website as a way to find these properties at http://www.bestguide-retirementcommunities.com.

The Public Employee Retirement System is a benefit plan that gives benefits to employees once they retire. This will be based on the number of years they rendered service and on their average salary.

The Public Employees Retirement system also covers survivor and disability protection. The system also allows those with 30 years of service to file for an early retirement. They also provide death benefits and beneficiary benefits. Every Public Employee Retirement System of every state is committed to ensuring the retirement benefits of every employee.

Contributions are deducted from the employee’s payrolls. The amount may vary for every employee depending on their retire plan and coverage. Currently, the contribution rate is 8.5 percent of the salary of an employee and will increase up to 9.5% in the year 2007. Employer contributions however, range from 13 to 17%.

The benefits that you will get once you retire are dependent on your contribution and position as well as your employer’s contribution. The benefits are fixed depending on the legislation set by every state. That is why it is always recommended for members to know their benefits and coverage so that they can get the most of their contributions once they retire.

Although the Public Employee Retirement System is compulsory for all employees, there are still criteria that you have to meet to become a member. Here are the criteria that you need to meet to become a member for most states’ Public Employee Retirement Systems:

1. The applicant should be a regular employee and the annual salary of the applicant should be $1,500 or higher.

2. The applicant’s position should be under the coverage of the Social Security System.

Generally, these are some of the most common grounds for ineligibility:

1. If the person does not meet the minimum annual salary required which is $1,500.

2. If the applicant is not covered by the Social Security.

3. If you are a temporary employee

4. If you are currently employed by the Job Training Partnership Act and being paid by their federal funds.

5. Students who are employed by their schools and universities where they attend regular classes sometimes may not qualify for the PERS.

6. Inmates in correctional institutions are not eligible.

7. Mental health and retardation patients do not qualify for the Public Employee Retirement System.

For your ultimate self-health care in early retirement and in retirement generally, take a look at these five essential skills to guarantee a greater sense of well-being and healthy attitudes:

Establish Priorities: Some things are simply more important than others; our health and wellness needs to be very high on our priority list. Living healthily is like living as a connoisseur: choosing each task, food, and behaviour with great care and accountability. Assertiveness: Clearly state what you need – that you may want to achieve optimal health. Part of assertiveness is to own your needs, communicate these needs clearly, and then actively work to incorporate them into reality. Do not be put off by negative reactions from others. Trust your gut feelings. Learn how to live a relaxed lifestyle: Living a relaxed lifestyle means more than being leisurely, it means becoming as centred as possible, as mindful of your presence in the moment as possible. Developing such a perspective frees you from the tyranny of thinking you are not doing enough for yourself and for your health. New attitudes to discomfort: Discomfort is not something we feel with joy – far from it. So how can we turn this around towards comfort? Unfortunately discomfort is a part of life whether its in the form of physical or emotional pain. We all deal with pain differently. The way to get around discomfort, is to challenge yourself as to how to get out of it. It may be taking part in some type of activity, changing your diet or change your attitude and accept it as everyday living. Healthy Relationships: Be open and none judgemental in new relationships. Perhaps in the past your views were shrouded by office politics. Keep a healthy and positive attitude towards others and no-one is pushing you to befriend everyone – its your choice. However, offering a helping hand to someone in need gives us a different perspective towards others.

So take responsibility for your life now!

Instead of dismissing employees, a large quantity of companies is offering early retirement packages. More companies are offering early retirement packages for their employees. The reason for this is not only to downsize, but also to benefit the employee.

An early retirement package is the money that you will be get from your company. You will use the money to live off for a long time. As a result, you should be motivated to get the best package for yourself since you want to live your years out comfortably. When early retirement is the only way you have, you can still negotiate to get the most beneficial retirement package. Negotiation must not be improvised because it requires careful planning. If you want to negotiate for more money, make sure that you are well prepared for it.

Sometimes, they try to make you believe that the option offered is the only possibility you have, but that is not true. The key is to insist until you obtain the desired package. Take into account that deadlines to decide if you are going to accept the package or not are not fixed. This decision is very important because we are talking about the only financial resource you will have to support yourself for the rest of your life. If you ever believe that the package you received was not fair, or it was not as good as you had been told, you have legal means to improve your situation. You just need a good lawyer to give you a hand.

Consider the employer’s offer

Always start with an offer that is a little bit higher than the one you really want, because later on in the negotiation, you will have to give in a little bit. However, do not ruin the whole negotiation by proposing an unfeasible amount. You must do some research on how much other people have been negotiating for their packages.

Show How Efficient You Have been

Forget about modesty is this negotiation. Be ready to talk about the things you need to live, and above all, about all the good things you have given to the company during all those long years of hard work. If necessary, mention the hindrances you will have in your life if you do not get the right early retirement package. It is extremely necessary for you to prove that you need and deserve the amount you are asking for.