To say that the retirement prospects for the current workforce kind of suck is an understatement. The economic crash left quite the mark on millennials, dashing many hopes for a calm, relaxed future. With parents that just had to work hard to earn an easy retirement, the idea that you would have to put in much more effort into earning that privilege is quite harrowing. Many people have given up on the prospect of retirement altogether and have simply made peace with the fact that they’ll be working for the rest of their lives.
All hope is not lost, however. While the situation may appear bleak at first glance, there are actually a lot of things that you can do if you want to make sure that you can spend your later years in peace. Here are a couple useful tips for getting your retirement game on.
#1 Don’t dilly-dally
We’ve been conditioned to avoid uncomfortable topics, and retirement is definitely one of them. The crash mentioned earlier aside, there’s just something about aging that makes people really uncomfortable. And so we all keep living as if we were going to be forever young, confident we’ll just cross that old age bridge when we get there. But the problem with that is timing. If you start thinking about your retirement plan just as you’re about to retire, you’ll find that you have no savings on your own and potentially risk just not being able to retire at all.
So suck it up and start planning now! Your future self will thank you.
#2 Come up with a plan
It’s important that you set up proper goals for your retirement so that you know what you’re trying to achieve. Of course, those goals have to be realistic. Think about the things you really need to have in order to retire – take a look at your current investments and income sources to determine how much you need to save every year in order to get where you need to be once you retire.
Once you’ve come up with a plan, you have to make sure that you follow it and track your progress. This way, you’ll be able to see how you’re progressing with your initial plan and make adjustments along the way.
#3 Create a financial safety net for you and your loved ones
While saving up for your retirement is important, it’s never a good plan to neglect your current insurance needs in favor of that. After all, should an accident of any sort happen, you stand to lose a lot more money on recovery costs or simply your inability to work. With the proper life and health insurance, you may need to pay a little bit instead of transferring that to your savings account, but you’re still actually saving money in the long run.
#4 Research health insurance and retirement saving options
Your health insurance coverage will depend on how early you plan to retire, so make sure you look into your available options for your planned retirement to know exactly how much money you’ll need to have saved.
You might also be interested in various retirement saving options that are available. Perhaps they won’t amount to as much as they would in the past, but they’re still a relevant option to help boost your retirement savings. You can choose among employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs and HSAs. The first option is one of the most popular, due to the fact that all contributions are made pre-tax, which greatly reduces your taxable income. They’re also becoming more and more portable, so you can transfer them into other retirement accounts without tax.
#5 Do as much as you can
The best you can do to make sure that you can rest easy during your retirement is take care of yourself now. Your financial well-being in the present will help you maintain good financial wellness, which in turn will result in a much better endgame. This is the time for you to learn more about various forms of income and savings. Make investments – keep them diversified and growing. If you can, see if you can get more income. If you have any debts, seek ways to consolidate them and pay them off as soon as possible. Lastly, look for ways to reduce your spending and eliminate any unnecessary charges.
All of the above elements might seem small, but when combined together, they can amount to quite a lot.
#6 Don’t be afraid to trust a professional
If you’re still unsure about how you should go about saving for your retirement, there’s always the option of professional help. Luckily, there’s a lot to choose from. Companies such as Responsible Equity Release will help you come up with a proper plan of action and execute it accordingly so that once you’re ready to retire, you won’t need to worry about the small stuff.