Gardening provides great exercise, natural beauty, organic food, and a sense of accomplishment. It also requires patience as you wait for the fruit of your labor to manifest.

Not everyone has the good fortune of having acreage enough to cultivate a large garden, but even those with limited space can utilize patio planters and indoor pots to enjoy a touch of beauty or a taste of nature.  For example, tomatoes grow quite well in a large container or small garden plot.

You can grow tomatoes just about anywhere in your yard as long as they get at least eight hours of sunlight each day. Since they are above ground and dry out quickly, you will need to keep a close check on the watering. Mature plants benefit from water every day and sometimes twice daily if the soil seems dry. Since tomato plants get rather large, you may want to support them to keep the stalks from breaking as they bear fruit. And, a water-soluble fertilizer such as Peters 20-20-20 or Miracle Grow 15-30-15
may be used once a week at the recommended rate.

If you’re not into growing vegetables, a hanging basket of geraniums or a spider plant on your porch is a lovely option. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, these plants are relatively easy to grow. A trailing cactus on a sunny window sill requires little maintenance. In fact, cacti seem to do best when ignored.

Your retirement is a lot like your garden; you have to plan, plant, water and wait to enjoy the harvest. That is why financial planning for your future is so important. That’s especially vital for a woman who does not have a spouse contributing to the retirement fund.

Maybe you are not the type to take a risk in the stock market. You want to know that if you plant tomatoes, you will harvest healthy tomatoes. And, if you plant your income into a savings vehicle, you want the assurance that you will reap a guaranteed rate of return. American General Life and Accident Insurance Company’s Freedom Annuities are a safe way to set aside a portion of your earnings that will grow tax-deferred. Our Freedom Annuities pay a fixed rate of interest and your money is not taxed until it is withdrawn.

Although you need to save for many years to accumulate enough money to live a
comfortable life in your retirement years, it’s never too late to start with a Freedom Annuity. You may already have an employer 401k plan, or a ROTH IRA, Traditional IRA or a SEP IRA that needs to be rolled over. You may transfer funds from your current plan to one of American General Life and Accident’s Freedom Annuities with the security of knowing that you are the owner of a fund that will generate a stream of income throughout your retirement years.

The decisions you make today will affect your future financial security. The sooner you start saving, the more time your money has to grow. Accelerate the growth potential of your retirement savings when you learn more about Freedom Annuities.

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