One of the biggest things I like to taught is early retirement planning. Arguably the best thing you can do for your retirement is to start the retirement planning, saving and investing process as early as possible.  There are so many things that can stop retirement planning early in our lives. One of the more common ones is the fact that we feel like we have so much more time in our lives to save that putting it off for a while to pay college debts, house debts or any other number of debts seems like a better option. Now I am not saying you should or shouldn’t do everything you can to pay off your major debts. What I am hopefully conveying is that if you can start saving for retirement as early as possible, even in your early 20’s or late teens then you will dramatically improve your chances of creating that retirement you dream of having. Sadly, there are many out there that don’t have the luxary of saving for retirement at an early age. For whatever reason they didn’t save as early as they could have and are now looking to start saving for retirement. So is it too late to save for retirement if you have less than 20 years to retirement? Let’s talk about that.

It can seem like a waste of time to save for the retirement you always dreamed of when retirement seems just around the corner but regardless of the age you begin to put away money for retirement you can make a difference that will impact your retirement in a strong and beneficial way.

40 Yrs Old and Below

You still have a significant enough time that you can make big strides to your retirement nest egg. If you fall into this category the best option is to get as knowledgeable as you can about your retirement and where you need to be and make a plan for your retirement including saving goals and nest egg goals and stick to it.

50’s

No matter what stage of life you decide to start saving for retirement the best option is to stash away as much as you can to your company sponsored 401k and if possible add on to a Roth IRA as well. If you don’t have any way to start saving for your retirement at this stage find a way! If it means taking on a part time job so you can stash some savings away for retirement, do it! If you have money making a market return it will typically double every 10 years or so. Now is the time to really push as much as you can into your retirement accounts.

60’s

Hopefully you have a nest egg by now and if so a good idea would be to start looking at limiting your risk. However, if you plan to work past age 65, you may not need to limit the risk as much just yet. Another very good option if possible is to hold off social security benefits as long as possible. This can drastically increase your monthly payout and in turn greatly improve your retirement.

Whether you begin to start saving for your retirement at a young age or much older age it is a very wise practice to talk with a professional and make sure they are doing everything they can to tailor your accounts and goals to your age and your needs for retirement.

Some things that you can look at doing is lowering your overhead. Downsize your home and stash away the leftover profits into a retirement account. This can help give you a decent lump some of money that you can then put into a retirement account and invest appropriately for your needs. It more than likely means investing this into a low volatility account.

No matter the age you start to save for retirement you can and will make a positive difference on your retirement. Of course the earlier you start the greater affect you will have on your retirement nest egg.

If you want more information on retirement investing in alternatives we can help, but no matter what you do, start saving and investing for retirement today!

Author: Nick Barker