Although it's well into 2010, the 2009 limits for retirement plan saving are still highly relevant.  This is because the deadline for making retirement contributions to a plan such as an IRA is April 15, 2010.  As such, you can still make a 2009 contribution and, potentially save on your 2009 taxes!

One strategy: use your refund to make part or all of your contribution.  If you file soon and choose direct deposit of your refund, you'll have a great shot of getting the funds in time for the April 15 contribution deadline.

How much can you contribute?  Here are the 2009 IRA contribution limits.

2009 IRA Contribution Limits originally appeared on About.com Retirement Planning on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 09:23:05.

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People approach retirement in many different ways.  Some focus on financial matters which, while undeniably important, should not be the only concern.  Others fail to pay attention to the financial components, exclusively focusing on other issues.  Rather than judge, please share your thoughts below.  First, please tell me by answering the poll question: what are your retirement concerns?  Then, please share why your concerns are what they are and what you plan on doing about them in advance of your retirement.

Thank you for your participation!

Your biggest retirement concerns originally appeared on About.com Retirement Planning on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 08:41:54.

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Most people, appropriately enough, take the retirement plan contribution limits for granted.  Who could blame them?  It's not like you get to set your own - Congress just hands them down. But this is the web and a site devoted to retirement planning ought to be a decent forum for retirement planning topics. With that in mind, I created a special place here at About.com Retirement Planning where you can share with me your thoughts on the limits.  Are they too high? Are they not high enough? Of the $5,000 limit (or $6,000 if you're 50 or older), how much do you save each year?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts over here.  Furthermore, if there are other topics you'd like to discuss related to retirement, please comment below and share them.  Thank you for being part of our community!

What do you think about the IRA contribution limits? originally appeared on About.com Retirement Planning on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 10:45:24.

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As reported recently in the New York Times, The Unloved Annuity Gets a Hug From Obama.  For better or for worse, millions of people already have opinions of annuities.  Furthermore, many of those opinions are pretty strong.

As a review, the key element of an annuity is the payment by an individual of a lump sum of money in return for a promise to receive periodic (typically monthly) payments in return for as long as the individual lives.  There are countless variations on the theme, but the basic principle remains the same.

As such, the core of an annuity is its ability to allow you to transfer one kind of risk for another.  With a lump sum of money, you risk running out of money if you live too long and don't generate sufficient returns.  By purchasing an annuity, you can't outlive your money.  Nonetheless, if you purchase a basic annuity and die prematurely,  you would have been better off, financially speaking, not making the purchase.

But that trade-off is part of life. It applies to nearly every financial decision you make and is not unique to annuities.

The more important criticism of annuities are that they are periodically oversold and come with significant fees.  Like with all advisors and products, some which are better and some that are, well, not so much.  Still, I believe annuities can play an important role in retirement planning, especially those purchased near ones' retirement date.  On the other hand, those sold to 20-somethings who aren't already maximizing their IRAs and 401(ks) frustrate me.

What do you think?

President Annuity? originally appeared on About.com Retirement Planning on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 10:31:41.

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Do you think about retirement frequently?  I think about retiring occasionally, but I'm blessed as a naturally happy individual with a good deal of autonomy in my personal and professional life.  Of course, others' might view too much autonomy as stressful rather than a blessing.  Such people might be counting down to retirement despite being decades away.  But not me.

Yet I still do think about retirement - just not for the reason of being able to stop working. I think about retirement because it is the ultimate financial stretch-goal. By definition, it is long-term and it requires a good deal of money (or guaranteed income) to pull off.

All of this got me to wondering . . .

How often do you think about retiring? originally appeared on About.com Retirement Planning on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 01:31:37.

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