Retirement Planning Services – Plainfield, Illinois
For the people in "Generation X" - defined as folks born between the mid-1960s and also the early 1980s - retirement planning sounds like something your parents or other "old people" would do. But you know what? With many "baby boomers" either already in the middle of retirement or viewing it in the near future, "Generation X" stands out as the next generation of people to reach old age. Sure, it's still a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s will need to begin focusing their investment planning on retirement and ensuring they've got the type of retirement they are working so hard to have. Here are some tips on planning for retirement:
Retirement life in the foreseeable future will be different than the retirement in the present day. It will likely be much better in some ways, and worse in some ways. However, the retirement planning for today's labor force needs to be far different than it was in the past.
On the bright side, folks 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. So investment planning for retirement has to account for a longer period of time now than a generation or two in the past.
Social Security and Retiring - Plainfield, Illinois
On the down side, Social Security will likely be a far less dependable income source than it is now. And also the odds are 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 previous employer. Increasingly more, retired persons will have to rely on their savings to pay for the expenses of just living and health insurance.
With people living longer and needing additional money to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those who are half way to the common retirement age of 65. It can be an intimidating task to plan for a few decades into the future, especially with bills, rents and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating will not make it any less complicated.
Placing even just a little bit of cash into a savings account that functions as a retirement savings plan can pay off later on. The interest you receive 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 build up capital earning a little interest rate until there's enough to invest in a reliable security which will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good strategy that can surely and gradually build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. After maturation of the bond, you'll get back your initial investment as well as all the interest that collected over the lifetime of the bond. That's a tremendous amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money that can provide a nice foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is really as safe an investment as you can ever make.
401K and IRA With Retirement - Plainfield, Illinois
However, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning is to put funds 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 placed in this account is tax deferred and may be tax-deductible, depending on how much is invested each year.
For more information, please feel free to contact GC Financial Advisors Ltd. at any time and we'll be glad to help you! We provide 401K and IRA rollover and review services for folks in the Plainfield, Illinois area.