Retirement Planning Services – Oak Park, 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" would do. But you know what? With a lot of "baby boomers" either already in the middle of retirement or viewing it in the near future, "Generation X" will be the next generation of men and women to reach retirement. Sure, it is a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s must begin focusing their investment planning on retirement and making certain they have the kind of retirement they are working hard to have. Below are great tips on planning for retirement:
Retirement life in the future will be different than the retirement right now. It will likely be better in some ways, and worse in some ways. But, the retirement planning for today's workforce must be far different than it was in days gone by.
On the bright side, individuals are living longer than ever. As of not too long 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. Therefore 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 Retirement - Oak Park, IL
On the downside, Social Security is going to be a far less trustworthy source of income than it is now. And the likelihood is 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, retirees will have to rely on their financial savings to pay for the costs of just living and health insurance.
With individuals living for a longer time and needing extra money to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those people who are halfway to the regular retirement age of 65. It may be a daunting task to plan for a couple of decades into the future, especially with bills, housing costs and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating will not make it any easier.
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 preliminary investments to grow to something sustainable. A savings account will supply a place where you can build up capital earning a little interest rate until there is enough to invest in a reliable security which will yield you more like a municipal bond.
Another good strategy that may surely and steadily build a nest egg is to put money into long-term bonds. After maturation of the bond, you will get back your initial investment and also all the interest that collected over the lifetime of the bond. This is a considerable amount of money for a 20- or 30-year bond-money that may provide a nice foundation for retirement. And a municipal or government bond is really as safe an investment that you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Oak Park, IL
However, the best approach when it comes to retirement planning is to put funds in a 401K plan at your workplace or in an IRA opened with an investment house. For the 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 annually.
For more details, please don't hesitate to contact GC Financial Advisors Ltd. at any time and we'll be happy to help you! We provide 401K and IRA rollover and review services for folks in the Oak Park, IL area.