For many of us today, retirement planning is better expressed as reaching "financial independence". That point when work becomes optional and your chosen lifestyle is affordable.

For many of us the goal is to reach financial independence sooner rather than later, certainly before traditional or state retirement age.

State schemes worldwide are in trouble and cannot afford to support ageing populations. Company schemes have also suffered and have become rigid. They often do not accommodate early retirement well and are not easily transferred.

The emphasis has been firmly placed on personal pension planning to ensure we have financial security and to maintain our present lifestyle while carrying additional health costs. Today there are few guaranteed jobs for life. Downsizing, takeovers and early retirement schemes are all on the increase.

To ensure that you are not exposed to the consequences of insufficient pension during retirement it is critical to establish your fund objective. To arrive at this figure think about how much you would like to retire on per month and multiply by 12 months and then 5%, which represents a conservative yield in a major currency. We then need to calculate in inflation, conservatively 3%. USD,000 per month x 12 months x 5% x Inflation = Your Retirement Fund.

Offshore pension plans are now available from as little as USD250 per month and have an international perspective with none of the restrictions associated with local schemes to help you build your tax free retirement fund in a strong currency.