Retirement Planning – Palos Park, Illinois
For those in "Generation X" - described as individuals born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s - retirement planning may sound like something your parents or other "old people" would do. But guess what? With many "baby boomers" either already in the middle of retirement or looking at it in the near future, "Generation X" will be the next generation of folks to reach old age. Sure, it is still a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s have to start centering their investment planning on retirement and making sure they've got the sort of retirement they are working hard to have. Here are some tips on preparing for retirement:
Retirement life in the future will be different than the retirement of today. It'll be much better in some ways, and worse somewhat. However, the retirement planning for today's workforce needs to be far different than it was in earlier times.
On the bright side, folks are living longer than ever. As of a short while ago, the average life span of an American was 77.9 years, exactly 2.5 years greater than 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 an extended period of time now than a generation or two in the past.
Social Security and Retiring - Palos Park, Illinois
On the down side, Social Security will probably be a far less trustworthy income source compared to 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 workplace. More and more, retired persons will have to rely on their financial savings to pay for the costs of just living and health insurance.
With people living longer and needing more cash to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those who are half way to the standard retirement age of 65. It could be a daunting task to plan for a few decades into the future, particularly with bills, rents and mortgages to pay right now, but procrastinating will not make it any less difficult.
Putting even just a small amount of money now into a savings account which serves as a retirement savings plan can pay off in the future. The interest you get on money in a savings account will allow your preliminary investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will offer a place where you can accumulate capital earning a small interest rate until there is enough to invest in a reliable security which will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good strategy which could certainly and gradually build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. On maturation of the bond, you will get back your initial investment and also all the interest which collected over the lifetime of the bond. That's a considerable amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money which could provide a nice foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is really as safe an investment that you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Palos Park, Illinois
Nevertheless, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning would be to put funds in a 401K plan at your workplace or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For the people for whom a 401K isn't 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 every year.
For more information, please feel free to contact GC Financial Advisors Ltd. at any time and we will be happy to help you! We offer 401K and IRA rollover and review services for folks in the Palos Park, Illinois area.