Want to ensure a comfortable retirement?
We've worked with hundreds of clients from all walks of life across the country on their retirement and investments. Here's a list of the 5 things that we've found create a very comfortable and successful retirement for them...
1. Make a Budget
In the years prior to actually taking the leap to retirement, it's crucial to have a plan in place. This plan needs to start with a very precise budget of what you expect to receive in income each month, and you're anticipated expenses. It's best to create a simple excel file that lists all the monthly bills you will have to pay, as well as the dollar amounts for each. List every single item you can think of including, housing, food, insurances, healthcare costs, utilities, cars, debts, gas, etc.
Once you compile a specific list, consider which of these will still be needed in retirement, and what debts you expect to still have to pay down. After you have a final figure of your monthly bills, consider inflation. Each year our expenses tend to increase around 3% on average overtime. That means those costs will increase for you as the value of our savings is depleted by inflation.
2. Net Income
Next it's time to determine how much net income you'll be receiving each month in retirement. Retirees receive income from 3 sources generally. Social security, pensions, and their retirement assets they've accumulated. If you do not have a pension, you can remove it from the list. Start with social security benefits. You can research your own anticipated payouts for retirement by visiting the Social Security website here ssa.gov.
Once you have a gauge of what you expect to receive each month, you must remove taxes of course! That will give the final net income you will receive each month from your benefits. If there is a gap between this number, and the monthly expenses you already calculated, that means your retirement savings must make up for the difference.
3. Investment Plan
If there is a gap from your expenses to planned monthly income, you need to make up for that with your investments. This can be done with interest payments, rental income, dividends, and creating your own pension plan. This will require an indepth conversation to consider risks, access to the investments, fees, tax implications, and more. A specific investment strategy should be created to include the income you need, growth to outpace inflation long term, and having accessible funds if you need them in an emergency.
4. Emergency Fund
Everyone, especially retirees need an emergency fund. This is a portion of your wealth in a savings account that is accessible at any point in time. We recommend at least 4-6 months to be set aside in cash. If you have an unexpected expense with the house, medical emergency, or anything else that pops up in life, you'll need access to cash quickly. Having cash available to handle those emergencies and still cover months of your anticipated expenses is the key to reducing stress with your financials, and proper planning for retirement.
5. Grow your wealth
Once you've solved for any monthly income gaps, have excess cash set aside for an emergency, the remaining focus needs to be on growing your wealth. As stated above, each year inflation slowly erodes your savings if you aren't growing it. We want to still continue growing retirement assets as much as possible. Whether its for a bigger purchase, travel, inheritance to the kids, donations, or whatever your goal is, growth is the key. Focusing on long term investing with low fees will continue to compound your wealth overtime so you can utilize your excess savings the best way possible for your goals.
This simple outline has been proven to work for clients of all ages and backgrounds. While it is just an overview of the in depth planning required, it should be a great brainstorming activity.
***Investing requires risk and loss of capital, this is not a solicitation of securities and purely for educational purposes."
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