It’s never too early to start saving for retirement.
Even if you’re just entering the workforce; it’s never too early to start planning for retirement.
We understand that everyone’s retirement dreams look different. Whether it’s to be by a beach, rediscover a hobby, work part-time or travel, everyone’s dream requires money. For some people, this amount could be significant and require you to start saving now which is why it’s important to have a retirement plan.
Without a plan, your retirement dreams likely won’t come true. That’s because things like inconsistency and poor planning lead to delayed retirement ages and inadequate savings.
Given how valuable retirement planning is, we’ve listed our top five tips to stay consistent and with it.
1. Automate Contributions
Whether it’s a 401(k) or an IRA your contributions should be consistent and automatic. Be sure to set up your bank account to automatically transfer money to your retirement savings accounts each month. Doing this guarantees that money is consistently being transferred over.
2. Assess the Contribution Amount
It’s also important to note that retirement planning involves a number of variables to consider. For example, it requires people to estimate their retirement expenses, current debts, time horizons, and health conditions before determining how much to contribute. Since these conditions change over time it’s important to regularly assess that the contribution amount is where it needs to be in order to meet your retirement goals.
3. Contribute to An Employers Plan
One of the easiest ways to consistently meet retirement goals is through an employer contribution plan. If you’re working at a place that offers a retirement savings plan you should sign up and contribute as much as you are able to.
Not only do employers make contributing easy by deducting a pre-approved amount off of your paycheque, but these contributions even offset tax bills. Plus, most companies offer kick-in programs where they match contributions. In turn, helping people consistently meet retirement goals.
4. Don’t Touch Savings
Though it might be an obvious tip to not touch savings before retirement, it’s often one that’s ignored. That’s because people tend to be tempted by the idea of having immediate cash on hand and fail to think of the long-term consequences that making the withdrawal has.
For example, depending on the account, you can expect to lose interest or pay additional fees and taxes. These losses can be significant and cause a delay in meeting retirement goals.
So, try to avoid withdrawing from these accounts by only viewing the money as an absolute last option in the event of an emergency.
5. Meet with a Professional
The final tip we have is to schedule regular meetings with a financial professional to review your retirement goals. Someone like an accountant or financial planner will be able to sit down to review your current financial situation in relation to your retirement goals.
Once they get a good sense of where your financials are, they will then be able to come up with a realistic savings plan. They will also be able to suggest account types that would benefit you and determine the amount of money you should be contributing to it.
Plus, they will be able to track and assess your progress to ensure you’re staying on track.
If you need help planning or sticking to your retirement goals, consider getting some professional help by speaking with us at 407-328-5001 or emailing us here.
Image: Unsplash
