Are You on the Right Retirement Track?

When planning for retirement, you must consider several factors.  Here are a few:

1. You must consider your age when you started saving. The higher your age when you begin, the more money you'll need to save in order to have the type of retirement income you need.  A 45 years old who just started saving money will need to save and invest more aggressively than a 25 year old. The reason is the 45 year old is closer to retirement than the 25 year old. Also, you must think about inflation and the cost of living increasing by the time you actually retire.
2. How aggressively do you want to invest? Are you comfortable investing your money in riskier areas that may pay higher returns? Or do you feel better about the more stable investments with smaller returns? There must be a level of comfort with any investments made. There are many vehicles to choose from including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, IRA’s and life insurance products. No matter what, always know where your money’s going and what it’s doing.
3.  Diversify your portfolio! Your financial professional should advise you to invest your money in yourself, in real estate, in securities, and also life insurance. Never place all your eggs in one basket. If that basket breaks, your nest egg may as well.

PROTECTING YOUR INCOME

For hard-working adults, it is essential to protect your income.  It is especially important to do so if you have family members who depend on your income to survive.  If you have a spouse, a child or a dependent relative for whom you provide care, you should take measures to protect yourself [and them] against the unexpected.  Ask yourself this question: If something were to happen to me tomorrow, will my family be able to maintain their lifestyle without my income?  If the answer is no, act now!  Income protection can be fairly inexpensive so you don’t have to “break the bank”, so to speak.  Put measures in place now so that in the future you will be protected.  We will never know what to expect, but at least we can prepare ourselves for what we might need in the future.