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Successful Career and Retirement Plan Assignment
Miranda Sue Davis
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University
PSY-358: Adult Development and Aging
Professor Dane Nielsen
November 26, 2023
Key Career Factors
Forensic psychology is a dynamic field that offers a wide breadth of career opportunities
(Pinto, 2018). Per the American Psychological Association, forensic psychology is the
application of clinical specialties to the legal arena (Ward, 2023). However, no matter how
dynamic or how many varieties of careers are in the forensic psychology field, they all have five
common personality and mental traits and skills. Those five common traits and skills are strong
communication skills, the ability to maintain objectivity, critical thinking skills, attention to
detail, and compassion (Pinto, 2018). A forensic psychologist should also have solid legal
knowledge, an understanding of how psychology and the law intersect and interact, have
specialized training in clinical forensic psychology, and have a background in ethical issues with
forensic psychology (Cherry, 2022). Cherry also says that some of the duties as a forensic
psychologist include custody disputes, evaluating insurance claims, offering testimony in civil
lawsuits, providing psychotherapy services in family courts, performing child custody
evaluations, investigating reports of child abuse, and conducting visitation risk assessments
(2022).
There are pros and cons of being a forensic psychologist just as there are pros and cons to
any chosen career. The pros of a forensic psychologist consist of several different career paths to
choose from, an undergraduate is not required in psychology, opportunities for growth, exciting
work, challenging, do not have to worry about insurance, decent job outlook, and potentially
good income. The cons of a forensic psychologist are high educational threshold, development of
supplementary skills take time, high potential of stress, some details of cases may haunt you,
scarce jobs in some locations, long workdays may be necessary, loads of paperwork, and higher
paying jobs may take time to pursue (Psychology School Guide, 2023).
As for the salary of a forensic psychologist, Cherry says that at an entry-level job it can
range from $60,000 to $70,000 a year, with a median of $69,500 annually. At the low end a
forensic psychologist could make from $39,000 up to the high end being $102,000 annually
(2022). In Tennessee, as a forensic psychologist your salary is at an average of $62,281, but as of
October 25, 2023, the range falls between $56,792 to $70,297 (Salary.com, 2023).
Description of Retirement
What is retirement? Per Cavanaugh, retirement means different things to men and
women, and to people in different racial and ethnic groups and careers (2024). However, per
Kagan, retirement means the time of life when one chooses to permanently leave the workforce
behind (2021).
When it comes to retirement the most appealing thing to me is also the most
appalling thing, that is that when one retires, they do not receive the amount they were being
paid when they were working as a tax paying citizen. They only receive a portion or a percentage
of what they were making. Another thing is that even though they are retired they may have to
get a part-time job to make ends meet, to put food on the table, even to pay rent (Cavanaugh,
2024).
I personally would like to retire at the age of sixty-five to sixty-seven. I think that this
would be the ideal age for me to retire, because I predict that I will have my PhD in Forensic
Psychology by the year 2028. In the year 2028 I will be thirty-nine years old. If I work from the
age of thirty-nine to age of sixty-seven, that will give me a total of twenty-eight years in the
forensic psychology field and put me at the full age of retirement per the Social Security
Administration (2023). At the age of sixty-seven I feel like I would have learned a great deal
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being in the forensic psychology field and that it would be the ideal time to travel to Ireland to
learn about my ancestors and heritage.
Per Financial Mentor, if I plan to retire at the age of sixty-seven and perhaps live to be
one-hundred years old with $150,000, then I will need to have $3,775,573 saved by the age of
sixty-seven to fund my retirement plan. Since I do not currently have a savings account, when I
start to save towards my retirement plan, I will have at least put the sum of $3,298 a month in my
savings account. However, I do not have a retirement plan set in stone if I start investing into a
savings account at the age of forty, I should have $798,345 saved up and I believe that would be
settle me just fine (2023). In clinical and counseling psychology, a forensic psychologist the
median annual amount is $90,130 and as for a government forensic psychologist, their annual
median is $106,690 (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). When it comes to retirement my
biggest concern is that I will not have enough money saved up to happily retire. Lloyd tells us
that there are sixteen different risks when it comes to retirement and each risk has its own
challenges. Those risks are longevity, lack of available facilities and caregivers, inflation, loss of
ability to live independently, interest rates, change in housing needs, stock market, death of a
spouse, business continuity, other changes in martial status, employment, unforeseen health of
family members, public policy, bad advice, fraud, and theft, unexpected healthcare needs and
costs, and related planning issues (2018). Of these sixteen challenges and risks that Lloyd
mentioned, the ones that I foresee will be challenging for me are interest rates, inflation of the
cost of living, death of a spouse, and an unforeseen need of a family member.
For one to have a successful retirement, there are several steps that they should take. I
think the three most important steps to ensure that they have an adequate and successful
retirement are to start your saving early in life, putting money in an Individual Retirement
Account (IRA), and investing into your employers 401k plan, but do not touch it until you are
ready to retire (U. S. Department of Labor, 2021).
Life Post Retirement
When I retire, my post life retirement, I like to believe that I will be mostly crocheting
and selling my croqueted goods. I believe that I will volunteer to help my community as much as
possible and continue giving to my community just as I did as a forensic psychologist. I will also
maintain my identity apart from my career because I will get my passport and take my savings
and buy a house in Dublin, Ireland, to learn more about my Irish heritage and ancestors.
Cavanaugh states, that many healthy, active retired adults often find meaning and explore things
they wished that they had a chance to do by volunteering. He also states that by traveling we can
be adventurous and explore places we have never seen (2024). Physically, I will keep myself
maintained traveling, croqueting, taking walks, learning to speak Gaelic and Irish. Per
Cavanaugh, leisure is a discretionary activity that includes simple relaxation, activities for
enjoyment, and creative pursuits. He tells us that leisure activities can be physical, crafts, games,
watching TV, social private, social public, religion, travel, experimental, developmental, and
technology use (2024). By crocheting I maintain my mental capacity and that is beneficial
because crocheting is not only creative crafts, but also experimental and developmental. I will
continue to learn Gaelic and Irish, so I can speak the locale when I do go to Dublin, Ireland.
My grandparents both state that they would not do anything differently because they both
loved their jobs and careers. They said that for a successful retirement, you should live your life
to the fullest, but remember when you start to get tired, to call it a night, go to bed and start again
in the morning. They do not live on their own, even though they are very capable of doing so.
This is because the cost of living is too high, they cannot afford to rent or buy a house, so they
live in a house on my aunt's property in North Carolina. When it comes to my grandparents, I
would say that the best way to describe them, in our textbook, would be vocational maturity.
Vocational maturity is a continuum along which people move through their working years; the
more congruent their occupational behaviors are with what is expected of them at different ages,
the more vocational mature they are (Cavanaugh, 2024). I chose this term because my
grandmother started as a CAN and retired as a RN and my grandfather, he is a retired flight
attendant, but he also was a hairdresser for many, many years and continues to dress hair because
he enjoys doing it.
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References
Cavanaugh, J. C. (2024).
Adult development and aging
(9th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN-13:
9780357796276.
Cherry, K. (2022). Forensic Psychology Career Profile. VeryWellMind.
https://www.verywellmind.com/forensic-psychology-careers-2795639#:~:text=In
%20addition%20to%20these%20qualities,ethical%20issues%20with%20forensic
%20psychology
.
Financial Mentor. (2023). Ultimate Retirement Calculator. Financial Freedom for Smart People.
https://www.financialmentor.com/calculator/best-retirement-calculator?
currentAge=34&retireAge=67&lifeExpectancyAge=100¤tSavings=0&annualRetir
ementIncome=85000&desiredEstate=150000&monthlyContributions=%5B%7B
%22startAge%22%3A40%2C%22stopAge%22%3A95%2C%22amount
%22%3A500%2C%22annualIncrease%22%3A5%2C%22id
%22%3A1700985283714%7D
%5D&secondAnnualROIStartAge=67&firstAnnualROI=7.5&secondAnnualROI=5&retir
ementTaxRate=18&annualAverageInflation=3&reduceRetirementIncomeYears=10&redu
ceRetirementIncomePercent=25&oneTimeBenefits=%5B%5D&postRetirementIncomes=
%5B%5D&compute=1
Kagan, J. (2021). Definition of Retirement: Tips for how to Save, Plan, and Invest. Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/retirement.asp#:~:text=Retirement%20refers
%20to%20the%20time,permanently%20leave%20the%20workforce%20behind.\
Lloyd, N. (2018). Myths and Realities of Retirement.
Benefits Quarterly, 34
(4), 58.
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/myths-
realities-retirement/docview/2131137312/se-2
Pinto, B. (2018). 5 Traits for Success in Your Forensic Psychology Career.
https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/insight/career-development/tips-for-forensic-
psychology-career-success/
Psychology School Guide. (2023). 16 Pros and Cons of Being a Forensic Psychologist.
https://www.psychologyschoolguide.net/guides/8-pros-and-cons-of-being-a-forensic-
psychologist/
Salary.com. (2023). Forensic Psychologist Salary in Tennessee.
https://www.salary.com/research/salary/recruiting/forensic-psychologist-
salary/tn#:~:text=The%20average%20Forensic%20Psychologist%20salary,falls
%20between%20%2456%2C792%20and%20%2470%2C297
.
Social Security Administration. (2023). Plan for Retirement.
https://www.ssa.gov/prepare/plan-
retirement
U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). Occupational Outlook Handbook.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-5
U. S. Department of Labor. (2021). Top 10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement.
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ebsa/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-
center/publications/top-10-ways-to-prepare-for-retirement.pdf
Ward, J. T. (2023). What is Forensic Psychology?
American Psychological Association.
https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/forensic-psychology
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