Take Time to Analyze

Have you stopped to think about where you want your life to be by the time you are 65? Where do you expect to be financially? If you haven’t taken the time to think about your future finances then you are not alone. Few people take the time to think about where they want to be by 65. Among those that do, most don’t actually do anything to get where they want to be.

Questions to Ask

Here are a few questions to ponder as you think about your future retirement. Are you saving for retirement? Are you putting that saved money into retirement accounts? Will you be able to continue your current lifestyle while retired? Do you have a budget? Do you know what you are currently spending your money on?
If you have not actually thought of these questions before it can be quite daunting. It can be scary to think about how far you really are to where you want to be. The closer you are to retirement age the scarier it is. The earlier you make the decision to start investing (saving) in your retirement the more financially safe you will be when that time comes.

Doing the Work

Step one is done. You you have officially thought about your current and future state of retirement. Now lets talk about what you should do. First you must start budgeting! To get to your wonderful retirement it is going to take some planning and real hard budgeting. The Today show has some great advice as to what your budget should look like. It is a great place to start.

Now Focus on Your Retirement

You have your budget in place. Now lets focus more on your retirement. Now is the time you figure out how much money you will need each year while retired. You should be looking at real concrete numbers here. The less vague you can be the more benefit you will be to yourself. The following Today show video is a great place to start for help with how much money you will need for your retirement.

Invest in What You Know

Now you should have an idea of how much money you will need for retirement. The more concrete the dollar amount the better. With that you should know how much you need to save each month. Hopefully you are now putting everything into motion for this to actually work. What next? Invest your retirement accounts into things you are passionate about. Traditional IRAs and 401ks do not allow you to invest in things like real estate, gold, silver and even businesses. If you don’t like the idea of your retirement account invested in the stock market a self directed IRA is perfect for you. Self directed IRAs allow you to invest in the non-traditional investments I named earlier. Self directed IRAs give you more control and they allow you to choose the investments you want. The list could go on and on as to the benefits that come with a self directed IRA. If you want more information do not hesitate to call us at Accuplan Benefits Services. We are here to assist you with all of your self directed IRA and 401k inquiries.

Sit Back and Enjoy Your Retirement

The earlier you plan the better your retirement will be will be. The more you stretch to save the better your retirement will be. Take the necessary steps now before it is too late.