When it comes to retirement planning, no age is too young to begin. It helps to have some practical retirement planning and tips to help you define and meet your retirement goals.
Most people never bother with retirement planning which is why the majority of Americans will have difficulty supporting themselves when they reach retirement.
The days of relying on a company pension plan to protect you in your later years is past. In today’s environment, you have to be proactive and begin to look out for your own retirement.
Here are some initial retirement planning and tips to help you get started on your retirement plan.
Be aware of and knowledgeable about your spouse’s social security and private retirement plan.
Many times a retirement plan will provide benefits for the spouses. But the spouse will benefit from this only if they are aware of it and know how to take advantage of them.
Reviewing social security statements is another great tip when it comes to retirement planning, and typically the Social Security Administration sends a Social Security Statement each year, about three months before the person’s birthday.
Find a good retirement calculator to help you set your financial goals and to let you know how much you should be setting aside in order to reach your goals.
This is one of the most important and critical steps to take. What kind of lifestyle are you hoping to have at retirement? How much income will be needed to support that lifestyle?
A good retirement calculator will help you to develop a personalized retirement savings and strategy that makes the best sense for you.
Get an expert to help you.
A good financial advisor is worth his or her weight in goal. He will be able to guide you into profitable investments and out of potential landmines.
You want someone who is specially educated and trained and ideally certified in the financial areas in which you plan to invest.
For example, if you plan to invest in the stock market, you want someone who is trained in all sorts of stock financial instruments. Conversely, if you are looking to invest in the real estate market, you want someone who specializes in housing investments.
Contribute to your 401k. This is tax free money – at least until you retire.
In addition, having your company transfer money directly to your 401k plan is a pain-free way of saving money out of your paycheck. You never see it, so you don’t really miss it.
Nothing beats compound interest without taxation for slowly and steadily building your nest egg. Accepting a little pain now in the form of less spendable income will pay off stupendously when it comes time for you to retire.
Hire a good CPA tax accountant to help you legally save money on your taxes.
Ever hear the expression, “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep?”
When it comes to investments, truer words were never spoken. A good CPA tax accountant will more than pay for his commission or salary.
He’ll help you find legal tax shelters that you probably have never heard of and offer much more advice that will let you keep more of your hard earned money.
Planning and preparing for retirement is incredibly important and means that a person will be able to relax and live comfortably in their years of retirement.