Retirement Planning Services – Blue Island
For those in "Generation X" - defined as people 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 viewing it on the horizon, "Generation X" stands out as the next generation of individuals to reach retirement. Sure, it is still a ways off, but people in their 30s and 40s should start focusing their investment planning on retirement and ensuring they've got the kind of retirement they are working so hard to enjoy. Here are some tips on planning for retirement:
Retirement life in the foreseeable future will be different than the retirement right now. It will be much better in some ways, and worse somewhat. But, the retirement planning for today's workforce needs to be far different than it was in earlier times.
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 more than 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 Retiring - Blue Island
On the downside, Social Security will likely be a far less trustworthy source of income than it is now. And also the odds are 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 persons will have to rely on their savings to cover the costs of living and medical health insurance.
With individuals living longer and needing more money to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those people who are halfway to the common retirement age of sixty-five. It can be an intimidating task to plan for a few decades into the future, especially with bills, rents and home loans to pay today, but procrastinating won't make it any less difficult.
Putting even just a little bit of money now into a savings account that works 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 give you a place where you can pile up capital earning a small interest rate until there is enough to invest in a trusted security that will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good approach which could certainly and steadily build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. Upon maturation of the bond, you'll get back your initial investment and also 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 which could provide a nice foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is as safe an investment that you can ever make.
401K and IRA With Retirement - Blue Island
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 the people for whom a 401K is not a retirement planning choice, 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 happy to help you! We offer 401K and IRA rollover and review services for individuals in the Blue Island area.
