10 Things You Must Start Doing If You Want to Retire on Time
By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized
by Brian Bagnall
Almost all of us want to retire on time, with the exception being people who are in love with their jobs. We work hard up until a certain point and we are told it so that we no longer have to work when we get older. With how unstable the economy can be there are certain things we need to do to be prepared to retire. Mainly we need to invest in our retirement.
1. Analyzing What You Will Need
In order to know you will be able to retire you will need to know what you need to retire. For that reason you should thoroughly investigate how you spend your money and how much you will need to retire on time. That isn’t where it stops though. You should regularly check in on the status of what you have saved and insure that your original numbers are still the amount you will need. The economy is constantly changing and more than likely when you start out at 18 it will be different than when it’s time to retire at 65.
2. Select the Right Plan
If you want to retire on time with a decent amount of money you will need to think hard about how you want to save your money. One of the best options for you is to choose an employer plan, as mentioned later on employers try to find the best deals for their employees so they can keep their workers. Failing that you should compare plans and not just choose the first one that you find. You want a plan that will earn you a good amount of money over time and also offers you as many benefits as possible.
3. Set Money Aside Each Month
In order to retire on time one needs to insure that they are setting money aside each month. Some of this should go into a retirement fund and some of it should go into investments. That way you have some money that is guaranteed and some that has the potential to grow. The professionals recommend getting aggressive in order to build a bigger retirement fund. The money you set aside should be for both investing and your rainy day/emergency fund.
4. Watch How You Spend Your Money
You should watch how you spend your money. The more larger purchases that you make the more you are taking money away from what you could be investing for your future. If you are going to go on a vacation or buy a new car use a separate account to purchase it. Do not draw from your retirement fund. Doing so will only hurt you later on. If at all possible withdraw any emergency money from your rainy day fund not your retirement savings. Before you go out and buy the next big electronic device think about whether it is something that you really need and if it is something that will bring you happiness.
5. Save More
As you progress in your career your pay should go up, with that you should start saving more. The same thing goes for bonuses. If you receive a bonus from work, and almost everyone receives at least one sometime in their life, save at least part of it for your retirement fund. That way you can meet your goals quicker. It also never hurts to have extra money saved up in case of an emergency.
6. Save a Rainy Day Fund
Emergencies happen. You get in an accident or hurt yourself and you need money to pay for your bills. Having a rainy day fund will help make sure that you do not need to dip into your investments. It will provide you with a mental pillow so that you don’t have to worry what will happen when you withdraw all of that money. Don’t pull money out of this fund for every day items if you can avoid it, treat it like your investment plan.
7. Extra Investments
Most retirement plans have a minimum amount of money that you can invest each month. Depending on the plan you have the option to invest more money as you grow older. If your plan has this option it is wise to increase the amount of money you invest as it earns interest. Most experts recommend that you invest the maximum amount you can. For most plans that offer this option it kicks in around the age of 50. When looking for a retirement fund they will usually tell you if this is an option before you start to invest.
8. Participate in Employer Retirement Plans
Employer retirement plans are almost always as good option. They set up deals with banks and investment agents in order to provide their employees with a good deal. Remember employers want to keep their employees! Sometimes these plans will also come with matching investments (especially 401Ks). Companies will offer anything from partial matching to full matching. If your employer offers matching of your investments make sure that you take them up on that offer as much as possible.
9. Monitor Your Portfolio
People who rely on their stocks for their income are constantly checking their portfolio. If you are investing for retirement you don’t need to check your stocks hourly or even daily. Instead as long as you check your stocks at least once a year you will be okay. When you check your stocks you want to make sure that you are keeping your portfolio in positive positions. If your portfolio is losing money and not going anywhere you might want to consider redistributing it.
10. Increase the Return on Your Investment
This is absolutely crucial to ensure that you retire on time. In fact, if you are able to obtain better returns on your investments than those of the average American, you can both drastically reduce the time it will take you to retire and considerably increase your monthly budget once you do so.
The best way to understand this is by looking at it graphically. Let’s use an example of someone who starts to save $100 a month for his retirement at age 35, and wants to retire at 65. We’ll project how much his annual contribution of $1,200 will total by the time he retires (30 years later) with a 5% interest rate (what the average American earns on his money) and a 15% interest rate (what my average clients earns).
| Annual Contribution | Interest Rate | Total at age 65 |
| $ 1,200.00 | 5% | $79,762.62 |
| $1,200.00 | 15% | $521,694.18 |
| *This numbers were calculated using Bloomberg’s retirement calculator at: http://www.bloomberg.com/personal-finance/calculators/retirement/ | ||
Shocking isn’t it? Well, this is the impact that investing your money like a pro can have on your long term financial future. There are two ways in which you can make this happen. You can (and probably know you should, bust just don’t have the time) invest some serious time and money into your financial education. After a couple years of reading books, attending seminars, buying courses and experiencing the inevitable failures that come with learning, you will most definitely be able to achieve a ROI (return on your investment) of 15% and even higher.
The second way for you to make this happen is to hire a coach who has a proven track record of consistently helping his clients earn outstanding ROI on their investments. Spending even an hour of your time with someone who has years of experience, knowledge and success under his or her belt can skyrocket your results, especially if they help you design a custom tailored strategy for your specific investment goals and current situation.
While there are many renowned experts who can help you boost your investment’s ROI, there are also many “experts” who will do more harm than good. So always, always, make sure you perform an extensive research before you trust someone with your financial future.
Now, if you have come to trust me as an expert in my field, there is a way in which I can help you design a custom tailored plan of action that’s specific for you, your current situation and your goals. Every month, I hold 10 Investment Boosting sessions in which I get on the phone with people who are committed to improving their financial future.
While the spots may be filled out by the time you read this, you can learn more about how the process works and apply for an Investment Boosting session by clicking here.
If I do get to jump on the phone with you, you’ll walk away with a plan of action that you can implement immediately to double and even triple your current ROI.
If for any reason we don’t get to talk, I still strongly encourage you to find a coach who has a proven success record. It can cut years off your retirement plan and seriously increase the money you’ll have available once you do.
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