Retirement Planning Company – Fox Valley
For anyone in "Generation X" - described as folks born between the mid-1960s and also the early 1980s - retirement planning seems like something your mother and father or other "old people" might do. But you know what? With many "baby boomers" either already in the midst of retirement or observing it on the horizon, "Generation X" will be the next generation of folks to reach retirement. Sure, it is still a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s really need to begin focusing their investment planning on retirement and making certain they've got the type of retirement they are working so hard to enjoy. Below are great tips on preparing for retirement:
Retirement life in the future will be different than the retirement of today. It will be much better in some ways, and worse in some ways. But, the retirement planning for today's labor force must be far different than it was in yesteryear.
On the bright side, individuals are living longer than ever. As of a few years ago, the average life span of an American was 77.9 years, exactly 2.5 years over the average life span in 1990 and more than 4 years more than the average life span in 1980. Therefore investment planning for retirement has to account for a longer time of time now than a generation or two back.
Social Security and Retirement - Fox Valley
On the down side, Social Security will probably be a far less reliable income source than it is now. And also the likelihood is slim-and getting slimmer each year-that retirees 20 and 30 years from now will be able to rely on a work pension and enjoy lifetime benefits from their previous employer. Increasingly more, retired people will have to rely on their financial savings to pay for the costs of living and health insurance.
With folks living longer and needing extra money to do so, retirement planning is a vital activity even for those people who are halfway to the regular retirement age of 65. It may be an intimidating task to plan for a few decades into the future, especially with bills, rents and home loans to pay right now, but procrastinating will not make it any less difficult.
Placing even just a little bit of cash into a savings account which functions as a retirement savings plan can pay off later. The interest you receive on money in a savings account will allow your preliminary investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will supply a place where you can pile up capital earning a little interest rate until there is enough to invest in a reliable security which will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good approach that could surely and steadily build a nest egg is to put money into long-term bonds. On maturation of the bond, you'll get back your initial investment along with all the interest which collected over the lifetime of the bond. This is a tremendous amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money that could provide a good foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is really as safe an investment that you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Fox Valley
Nevertheless, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning would be to put cash in a 401K plan at work or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For people for whom a 401K is not a retirement planning choice, an IRA is the next best thing. Money put into this account is tax deferred and may be tax-deductible, depending on how much is invested annually.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact GC Financial Advisors Ltd. at any time and we'll be glad to help you! We offer 401K and IRA rollover and review services for individuals in the Fox Valley area.