Retirement Planning Company – Wilmette, Illinois
For anyone in "Generation X" - defined as people 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 looking at it in the near future, "Generation X" will be the next generation of individuals to reach old age. Sure, it's still a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s should begin centering their investment planning on retirement and making certain they have the sort of retirement they are working so hard to have. Below are great tips on planning for retirement:
Retirement life in the foreseeable future will be different than the retirement right now. It will likely be much better in some ways, and worse in some ways. But, the retirement planning for today's labor force needs to be far different than it was in yesteryear.
On the bright side, people 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 over the average life span in 1990 and more than 4 years more than the average life span in 1980. So investment planning for retirement has to account for an extended period of time right now than a generation or two ago.
Social Security and Retiring - Wilmette, Illinois
On the down side, Social Security will likely be a far less trustworthy source of income than it is now. And the odds are slim-and getting slimmer every year-that retirees 20 and 30 years from right now will be able to rely on a work pension and enjoy lifetime benefits from their previous employer. Increasingly more, retired persons will need to depend on their financial savings to pay for the costs of living and health insurance.
With individuals living for a longer time and needing more money to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those people who are half way to the regular retirement age of sixty-five. It may be a daunting task to plan for a couple of decades into the future, especially with bills, rents and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating will not make it any less complicated.
Putting even just a little bit of money now 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 initial investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will provide a place where you can build up capital earning a small interest rate until there is enough to invest in a trusted security which will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another solid strategy which could surely and gradually 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 that collected over the life of the bond. This is a significant amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money which could provide a good foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is as safe an investment that you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Wilmette, Illinois
However, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning is to put money in a 401K plan at work or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For people for whom a 401K isn't 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 every year.
For more info, 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 Wilmette, Illinois area.