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Why Today is the Time to Review Your Retirement Plans

By plrprousers | March 2, 2009

You may be currently earning a great salary, paying for a fabulous home, driving the most expensive new Lexus, and traveling to exotic places around the world.  However, what will you be doing when you retire?  Whether you’re 29 or 59, or whether you earn $100,000 or $20,000 each year, retirement is in your future, and you need to keep your retirement plan in check.

 

Did you know most people enrolled in a personal retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or Roth IRA, do not review and update their plans regularly?  By ignoring your retirement plan, you could end up experiencing an extremely limited budget when you do retire.  If you want to live a comfortable and enjoyable retirement, you need to spend time at least once a year to make sure you are contributing enough based on your planned retirement needs.

 

Are You Close To Retirement?

 

Are you 5 to 10 years from retirement or nearer?  You need to evaluate your personal retirement savings allocation or you could be losing a great deal of your retirement right now.  With the stock market feeling losses almost every day since the fall of 2008, retirement savings accounts with aggressive investments may be losing value.

 

When setting up a personal retirement savings account, most people do not re-allocate their investments as they approach retirement age.  This could be a drastic mistake.  Consider your risk tolerance at age 25 versus 55, and you can clearly understand the importance of managing your investments as you age. 

 

A typical retirement savings account strategy is to allocate more percentage of your funds into safe investments like CDs and bonds.  Though safe investments offer less return in interest, they also do not lose value in an economic downturn, such as what we are currently experiencing. 

 

Individuals near retirement should take a look at their personal retirement savings today to ensure that they are not losing precious retirement monies invested in dwindling stock values.  Ask a qualified retirement expert such as www.kenhimmler.com for great advice on your retirement plan allocations.

 

How Much Will You Need At Retirement?

 

Most individuals and families, when setting up a retirement plan, do not evaluate their potential retirement needs on a regular basis.  Though a retirement budget is based on an individual or a family’s desired lifestyle, usually around 70% – 80% of regular full-time income at retirement age, most do not realize that they may not be saving enough.  With longer life expectancies, as well as the exponentially rising cost of healthcare, what you have allocated for your retirement may not be enough to support you through your golden years. 

 

Your retirement budget will probably come from three typical sources: Social Security, company pension, and your personal retirement savings, such as a 401(k) plan.  The only one of these that you are in control of is your 401(k) plan, or other personal retirement savings account – and it is these funds that will provide most of your retirement budget.  If you do not save enough from your own wages during your working career, you could face a very limited retirement budget.  Make sure you review your retirement budget needs and make retirement plan contribution changes as necessary every year based on your updated retirement savings calculator figures. 

 

Retirement never seems to be an important issue in the here and now.  However, economic downturns like the current one can affect millions of soon-to-be retirees.  And even if you’re still 30 years away from retirement, you could be short-changing yourself by not contributing enough.  Take a moment today or this week to review your current retirement plan and speak with a retirement planning expert at www.iamllc.biz.  It could help you enjoy a more fulfilling retirement.

 

 

Authored by Kenneth Himmler, Sr.

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