Planning for Your Retirement

Retirement seems like a distant goal, but it has a way of sneaking up on people. The good news is, it’s never too late (or early!) to start saving for retirement. Every contribution, no matter how small, will have an impact on your financial future so it’s important to start planning now. New Era is going to give you some advice on ways you prepare for a financially stable retirement.

Retirement Planning Tips

Get out of debt before retirement

Dealing with debt during retirement can be an extremely difficult task since many retirees are living on a fixed or otherwise limited income. Retirement is your time. It shouldn’t feel exhausting. The best thing you can do is come up with a realistic plan for yourself to achieve financial freedom before you get any closer to retirement.

Cut the costs you don’t need anymore

Have you broken up with cable yet? Stopped using that membership with the monthly fees that you never use? Small costs can add up just as fast as one large cost. Try using budgeting apps to help you see where your money is being spent each month. It’s an easy way to help you cut costs and potentially knock bad habits when you can visualize your monthly cash flow.

Save, but invest

We’ve preached for months about the importance of saving. You should also look into investing, especially if you’ve got a while to go before retirement. You can take advantage of tax-deferred and online savings accounts to multiply your funds. How does a debt-free retirement filled with traveling and family time sound to you? Sounds pretty good to us!

Consider a new home

Moving may not be at the top of the list of your priorities, but bear with us on this one. We’re not going to advise you to go crazy and blow your retirement fund on a vacation home in the Hamptons or a brand-new home in Beverly Hills. We’re actually suggesting the opposite. The kids are grown and you don’t need all that space. Can you downsize and move into a smaller home? Consider a condo or a smaller house to save on monthly mortgage costs.

Choose wisely with Social Security

The later you choose to collect Social Security, the more money you’ll get. Can you afford to wait? You can take Social Security from ages 62 to 70, but if you take it when you’re 62, you’ll receive about a quarter less than you would if you waited. Determine what you need now and if you can afford to live without it for the time being.

Be careful with kids and grandkids

Your wallet shouldn’t serve as a money fund for your kids or grandkids. There’s a difference between treating your grandkids to lunch and giving money to them every single week. We hope you’ll teach your kids and grandkids the importance of saving, especially for retirement.

Retirement Planning FAQs

Am I Saving Enough to Retire?

How much you need to retire will vary based on your financial situation, but the earlier you start your retirement planning, the better the outcome tends to be. Some major factors that can affect how much you need to comfortably retire can include your intended age of retirement, current income, and the total in your savings.

For years, $1,000,000 was used as the golden standard for how much an American needed to retire and live out 20 years of their life after working, but this may not be nearly enough to comfortably retire in today’s economy.

What is a Roth IRA?

A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account that allows you to contribute after-tax money up to a certain limit. These contributions can then be withdrawn, tax free, at retirement age.

The major difference between a Traditional IRA and a ROTH IRA is that the contributions to a Roth are taxed prior to contributing, whereas the contributions to a Traditional IRA are tax deferred until withdrawal.

Additionally, ROTH IRAs have no required minimum distributions (RMDs) unlike Traditional IRAs. This means that you can continue contributing and growing your investments in this account without having to worry about any IRS penalties for not withdrawing funds on time.

Reduce Debts Before Retiring

New Era Debt Solutions wants to help you become debt free, especially before your retirement. Contact us today for a free consultation so we can help you choose the debt relief solution that will work best for you.