For most people managing their wealth and income prudently is always an important responsibility.  At time of their retirement, this task becomes more vital. This is because when these individuals are unable to work because of old age, their source of income changes. Instead of salaries, they have to depend on their savings and the returns on financial assets they were able to invest in during their employment days. Moreover, they have to ensure such earnings last for the rest of their post-retirement life. To achieve this objective, they need to assess their income needs in the years prior to their retirement and manage their investments effectively after they are unable to `.

Andrew Corbman, the President and founder of ASC Financial, Inc., says the onset of retirement does mean that individuals have to plan their finances prudently. This financial advisor with a degree in finance from Maryland University has twenty years of experience in the field of helping his clients with their financial planning needs during their retirement. He explains that most people do not invest in lucrative financial assets because there are numerous retirement investment schemes in the market and complex tax rules governing such policies confuses them. However, he states the following suggestions can help these individuals accumulate their savings and wealth to provide a stable income for that period of their life when they cannot work:

• Individuals need to assess income needs after they retire

This financial advisor says most people need a certain percentage of their current income to help them maintain their present living standards when they retire. For this, they need to assess their income requirements after their employment days are over and annual expenses during that period. Moreover, they also need to consider the effect of inflation while calculating such figures.

• Determine the gap between income and expenses

After determining their income needs and the expenses they are likely to incur during their post-retirement life, these individuals have to review their earnings and investments. Such sources may be a social security scheme, retirement investment plan they put money in or income from a part-time employment. If they find such investments and sources of income are inadequate to meet such expenses, the difference has to come from additional savings for their retirement.

• Accumulate a retirement fund

At the time of their retirement, it is important for all individuals to have additional financial assets that can provide adequate returns to cover the shortfall left by their other earnings. To arrive at this figure they need to know:

1. At what age they intend to retire;
2. What kind of lifestyle they would like to lead during their post-retirement years;
3. Their average life expectancy; and
4. The rate of growth in return they can expect now and when they retire from their retirement investments.

After determining the amount of money they need, their next objective is to save that amount and invest it in retirement investment policies that caters to their requirements.

Andrew Corbman says the above tips will go a long way in helping these individuals build adequate retirement plans for the future.