Retirement Planning – Lake Forest, IL
For those in "Generation X" - defined as individuals born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s - retirement planning sounds like something your mother and father or other "old people" might do. But you know what? With lots of "baby boomers" either already in the middle of retirement or looking at it on the horizon, "Generation X" is definitely the next generation of folks to reach old age. Sure, it's still a ways off, but people in their 30s and 40s really need to begin focusing their investment planning on retirement and ensuring they have the kind of retirement they are working hard to have. Below are great tips on preparing for retirement:
Retirement life in the future will be different than the retirement in the present day. It will likely be better in some ways, and worse somewhat. But, the retirement planning for today's workforce needs to be far different than it was in days gone by.
On the bright side, people 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 four years more than the average life span in 1980. Therefore investment planning for retirement has to account for a longer period of time now than a generation or two back.
Social Security and Retiring - Lake Forest, IL
On the downside, Social Security will likely be a far less reliable source of income than it is now. And also the likelihood is slim-and getting slimmer every year-that retirees 20 and 30 years from now will be able to rely on a work pension and enjoy lifetime benefits from their former employer. Increasingly more, retired people will need to rely on their financial savings to pay for the expenses of living and health insurance.
With individuals living for a longer time and needing more cash to do so, retirement planning is a vital activity even for those people who are half way to the common retirement age of sixty-five. It may be a daunting task to plan for a couple of decades into the future, especially with bills, housing costs and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating will not make it any less complicated.
Putting even just a small amount of money now into a savings account that works as a retirement savings plan can pay off in the future. The interest you get on money in a savings account will allow your initial investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will supply a place where you can acquire capital earning a little interest rate until there is enough to invest in a reliable security that will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good strategy that could surely and gradually build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. Upon maturation of the bond, you'll get back your initial investment along with all the interest that collected over the lifetime of the bond. This is a considerable amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money that could provide a great foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is really as safe an investment as you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Lake Forest, IL
Nevertheless, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning would be to put money in a 401K plan at work or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For those for whom a 401K is not a retirement planning option, an IRA is the next best thing. Money put into this account is tax deferred and might be tax-deductible, depending on how much is invested each year.
For more details, please don't 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 folks in the Lake Forest, IL area.
