Before you retire, take the time to figure out just how much money you’ll need for retirement (see Preretirement). One of the biggest concerns for retirees is whether their retirement savings will last the rest of their lives–will they run out of money? Social Security is not the guaranteed source of retirement income it once was, and people generally don’t want to depend on public assistance or their children during their retirement years. Whether you might run out of money hinges upon several factors; how much money you’ve saved, how long you need your savings to last, and how quickly you spend your money, to name a few. You’ll be better off if you can tackle these issues before retirement by maximizing your retirement nest egg. But, if you are entering retirement and you still have concerns about making your savings last, there are several steps you can take even at this late date. The following are tips and ideas to help make sure you don’t outlive your money.

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Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT

A bonus is an addition to regular salary or compensation that enables employees to share in profits resulting from a successful year. Bonuses are often used for executives as an incentive-oriented form of compensation, based on the attainment of profit or other goals during the year. Bonuses are sometimes used to assist executives in funding their share of the premium to a split dollar life insurance plan.

Example(s): XYZ Corporation expected each of its sales executives to bring in $100,000 worth of new business in Year 1. Any executive exceeding this goal in Year 1 would be given a bonus on January 1 of Year 2 in an amount equal to 10 percent of his or her new business in excess of $100,000. Because Joe brought in an extra $50,000 worth of business, he received a $5,000 bonus check on January 1, Year 2.

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Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT