Retirement Planning – Wheaton, Illinois
For anyone in "Generation X" - described as people born between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s - retirement planning sounds like something your parents or other "old people" might do. But guess what? With a lot of "baby boomers" either already in the middle of retirement or looking at it in the near future, "Generation X" stands out as the next generation of folks to reach retirement. Sure, it is still a ways off, but those in their 30s and 40s ought to 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 preparing for retirement:
Retirement life in the foreseeable future will be different than the retirement of today. It will likely be better in some ways, and worse somewhat. However, the retirement planning for today's workforce must be far different than it was in earlier times.
On the bright side, folks 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 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 ago.
Social Security and Retiring - Wheaton, Illinois
On the down side, Social Security will probably be a far less reliable source of income than it is now. And the likelihood is 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 workplace. More and more, retired persons will have to rely on their financial savings to pay for the costs of just living and medical health insurance.
With folks living for a longer time and needing extra money to do so, retirement planning is an essential activity even for those who are half way to the standard retirement age of 65. It may be an intimidating task to plan for a few decades into the future, particularly with bills, housing costs and mortgages to pay today, but procrastinating won't make it any less complicated.
Placing even just a little bit of cash into a savings account that works as a retirement savings plan can pay off in the future. The interest you get on money in a savings account will allow your initial 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 solid strategy which could certainly and steadily build a nest egg is to invest in long-term bonds. After maturation of the bond, you'll get back your initial investment along with 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 as you can ever make.
401K and IRA - Wheaton, Illinois
Nonetheless, 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 the people for whom a 401K isn't a retirement planning choice, 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 each year.
For more details, please don't hesitate to contact GC Financial Advisors Ltd. at any time and we'll be glad to help you! We offer 401K and IRA rollover and review services for folks in the Wheaton, Illinois area.
