How can you be sure your retirement funds will last throughout your lifetime?  This important question will be addressed in an Iowa State University Extension and Outreach workshop on April 2 and 9, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Cass County Community Center in Atlantic.  Writing Your Retirement Paycheck is designed to provide information needed by those approaching retirement within the next ten years. The workshop outlines key factors to consider prior to retirement and describes two strategies for structuring your retirement income. “For most of us,” says Sandra McKinnon, Human Sciences Specialist in family finance, “our paychecks have been determined by someone else all our lives. But in retirement, many of us are responsible to write our own paychecks. How will we know how big it should be?”

According to McKinnon, who will lead the workshop, topics covered will include: inflation, health costs, Social Security, required minimum distributions, annuities, and more. “Individuals need to make their own decisions about retirement,” says McKinnon, “but clear and non-commercial information is a necessary ingredient for decision-making.” McKinnon points out that even those who work with a trusted financial professional must ultimately make the decisions themselves. A financial professional can suggest or recommend products and strategies, but it is the consumer who decides and then lives with the results of the decisions.

For a fee of $20.00, attendees at the Writing Your Retirement Paycheck workshop will walk away with a variety of resource materials and hands-on practice in determining their own needs in preparing for retirement, to meet their personalized goals. Pre-register by March 29 at http://bit.ly/wyrp12198 or by contacting the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132.