Retirement Planning – Chicago, Illinois
For the people in "Generation X" - defined as people born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s - retirement planning seems like something your mother and father or other "old people" might do. But guess what? With lots of "baby boomers" either already in the midst of retirement or observing it in the near future, "Generation X" will be the next generation of people to reach old age. Sure, it is still a ways off, but people in their 30s and 40s ought to begin focusing their investment planning on retirement and ensuring they've got the sort of retirement they are working so hard to have. Below are great tips on preparing 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 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, 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 greater 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 period of time right now than a generation or two back.
Social Security and Retirement - Chicago, Illinois
On the down side, 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 right now will be able to rely on a work pension and enjoy lifetime benefits from their former workplace. More and more, retirees will need to rely on their savings to cover the costs of living and medical health insurance.
With individuals living longer 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 65. It can be a daunting task to plan for a few decades into the future, particularly with bills, rents and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating will not make it any less complicated.
Putting even just a small amount of cash into a savings account that serves as a retirement savings plan can pay off later. The interest you receive on money in a savings account will allow your initial investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will offer a place where you can build up capital earning a small interest rate until there's enough to invest in a trusted security that will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good approach which could certainly and progressively build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. Upon maturation of the bond, you will get back your initial investment as well as all the interest that collected over the lifetime of the bond. This is a tremendous 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 - Chicago, Illinois
However, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning would be to put cash in a 401K plan at work or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For people for whom a 401K is not a retirement planning option, an IRA is the next best thing. Money put in this account is tax deferred and may be tax-deductible, depending on how much is invested every year.
For more information, please don't hesitate 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 individuals in the Chicago, Illinois area.
