Retirement Planning Services – Fox Valley, IL
For those 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" might do. But you know what? With many "baby boomers" either already in the midst of retirement or observing it in the near future, "Generation X" is the next generation of individuals to reach old age. Sure, it is a ways off, but people in their 30s and 40s will need to start focusing their investment planning on retirement and ensuring they have the type of retirement they are working so hard to enjoy. Here are some tips on planning for retirement:
Retirement life in the future will be different than the retirement in the present day. It will likely be far 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 days gone by.
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. 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 - Fox Valley, IL
On the downside, Social Security will probably be a far less reliable source of income 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 need to rely on their savings to cover the costs of just living and medical health insurance.
With individuals living for a longer time and needing extra money to do so, retirement planning is a vital activity even for those people who are halfway to the standard retirement age of 65. It can be a daunting task to plan for a couple of decades into the future, especially with bills, housing costs and mortgages to pay right now, but procrastinating will not make it any less complicated.
Placing 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 initial investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will provide a place where you can build up capital earning a little interest rate until there is enough to invest in a trusted security that 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. 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. That's a tremendous amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money that can 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 - Fox Valley, IL
Nevertheless, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning would be to put money in a 401K plan at your workplace 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 annually.
For more info, please don't hesitate 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 folks in the Fox Valley, IL area.
