10 Basics For Getting Your Retirement Plan Up And Running

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1 10 Basics For Getting Your Retirement Plan Up And Running March 8, 2018 Susan Boles Senior Regulatory Compliance Analyst 2018 RegEd, Inc. All Rights Reserved

2 Investing and planning for retirement are pretty daunting tasks in today s financial climate. So it s even more important to have the necessary tools to make informed decisions. In today s webinar, we re going to take a look at some of the basic building blocks of retirement planning.

3 Building Blocks of Retirement Planning Get Out of Debt Plan For The Unexpected Build a Budget Create Buckets For Saving Beyond The Emergency Account Compute Your Risk Tolerance Create A Roadmap To Retirement Maximize Employee Benefits Know Your Retirement Vehicles Set Up A Will Revisit Your Plan Regularly

4 Get Out Of Debt Eliminating debt is one of the most important strategies prior to retirement. In retirement, income is normally reduced to a fixed level derived from various investments -- meaning there will not be more money or a raise coming The more debt you carry into retirement the bigger the drain on your retirement funds. And the bigger the risk of outliving your money.

5 Plan For The Unexpected There s nothing like a big, unexpected expense to derail a retirement plan. Unexpected home repairs and unexpected medical expenses are only two reasons to have an emergency fund. Stress reduction is another reason to have an emergency fund. Knowing you have funds available to deal with the unexpected leads to less worry. Emergency funds are like insurance, not all that exciting, but important to have.

6 Build A Budget And speaking of not very exciting things, creating a budget is another must have on the list of building blocks for a retirement plan. In order to live well in retirement and still have some fun along the way it s important to know exactly where your money is going. Effective budgeting is the cornerstone to make the other components of retirement planning run like a well-oiled machine.

7 Create Buckets For Saving Beyond The Emergency Account This building block plays into the getting out of debt block. Saving for things instead of financing (or using a credit card) is one way to stay out of debt. Want to buy a home? Create a separate account to put money into for a down payment. How about a new car? Create an account to put money aside and pay cash instead of financing. Vacation to the Bahamas? Create an account instead of charging it on a credit card.

8 Compute Your Risk Tolerance There s no gain without risk. But you need to figure out your personal risk tolerance level when creating a retirement plan. Risk tolerance takes into consideration multiple factors such as age, income and time horizon. All things that change over your life. Your risk tolerance at twenty will probably differ from your risk tolerance at forty. You should have a realist view of your ability to stomach large swings in the market that could create panic and selling that affect your plan in a negative way.

9 Create A Roadmap To Retirement What do you want your retirement to look like? Once you know what you want retirement to look like, it s easier to create a retirement plan that will get you there. Living in a beach house will likely require more funds than continuing to live in the home where you are now. Make sure you have a conversation with your spouse or significant other to ensure you re both working toward the same future. Conflicting pictures of retirement can lead to lack of funds to make it happen.

10 Maximize Employee Benefits Employee benefits are a great tool to have in your retirement planning box. If your company offers a 401k, it can be an excellent vehicle for putting away money for retirement. Employer matching funds are also a great tool. Exploring all the benefits offered by an employer can lead to extra money in your retirement plan.

11 Know Your Retirement Vehicles The most well known retirement vehicle is the 401k plan. However, there are numerous other vehicles for saving for retirement that you should familiarize yourself with and utilize in your retirement plan. Some of these vehicles are: Individual Retirement Account (IRA). There are different types of IRA s and also, if you are over age 50, there is a catch up contribution allowance. Annuities, both fixed and variable Personal brokerage accounts

12 Make A Will Making a will may sound like an odd part of retirement planning, but it is a vital part of it. If something happens to you, you want to make sure that your assets are distributed the way you want rather than the way the state may decide if you die without a will. Intestacy laws vary from state to state. Be aware that beneficiary designations on investment accounts override a will.

13 Revisit Your Plan Regularly Things change over time. Sometimes quicker than we realize. Children are born. Children go to college. We change jobs. Unexpected health issues arise. The list is long and varied of changes that can occur and because of this, a retirement plan should be reviewed at least yearly to determine if you re still on track for where you want to be in your golden years. Adjustments can be made to get you back on track if your plan isn t quite right without having to make any major changes to your current lifestyle.

14 Today we covered some of the most basic information for getting started on a retirement plan. This information is intended for general knowledge and not advice. A professional financial planner or tax consultant can help you make decisions about your own retirement plan. Thank you again to Barb and Mary Kay for the opportunity to present this webinar today and Thank You again to everyone who signed up and listened.

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