Planning for Retirement?
Financial advice, guidance and planning for retirees and pre-retirees from Lundervold Financial, based in Oakdale, Minnesota.
We all know that one day we will retire. And it may be fair to assume that Social Security alone won’t provide enough to live on. Given this, we all know we should plan for our retirement. Yet, as one study found, 15% of Americans have no savings at all. And among those who do one study found that, only 10% believe they have enough for retirement.
Many people we work with are not sure if they have an actual retirement plan, or what their 401k entails. This is important. There is a big difference between having a 401k through your job and retirement planning.
Sure, the 401k is one type of retirement plan, but retirement planning involves more than simply choosing a retirement plan. Planning for retirement should involve your goals for your retirement, your dreams, and your ability to reach them.
When setting your goals, you will want to ask yourself,
- At what age do I want to retire? (Your age now lets you determine how many years you have to meet your goals).
- Will I have enough money to enjoy the lifestyle I want?
- How much do I need?
- How much more do I need to save?
- When should I start taking Social Security?
*Lundervold Financial does not provide estate planning or legal advice, but we can work alongside our clients’ estate planning attorney. If you are looking for an estate planner, we can refer you to professionals who provide the following services: trusts, probate, charitable giving, estate planning, and tax planning.
Ways to Save for Retirement
One way to save for retirement is to start saving now. Even if you only use a traditional savings account at your bank, open it and then get in touch with us. We can help you decide the next steps.
Of course, your bank is not going to provide you with a little better than a courtesy return on your money. even if you put your money into CDs (certificates of deposit), the interest rates may be low.
A CD could be good for someone with zero risk tolerance: a person who wants no risk, no loss. But the payout is often so low, not everyone may for their retirement plans. But this also does not mean that you must throw caution to the wind.
When considering ways to save for retirement, one of the most common retirement plans is the 401k. This is because the 401k is is provided by an employer and often the gateway to retirement planning for many. Someone starts a new job, enrolls in the 401k because hey, why not? The employee may not be very involved in the plan as it grows.
Suddenly, we might thinking about our goals in retirement. We check into our 401k. We see the growth. We decide to expand our savings and start looking at other financial tools to help us reach our retirement goals.
Even if that is not the path you took, if you are ready to start saving for retirement, let us know. We can help.
Retirement Planning Questions
Many clients come to us with plenty of questions. To help future clients, we provide answers to some of the common retirement planning questions we hear.
Q. What types of retirement plans are there?
A. There are numerous retirement plans which fall under two types: defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
With defined benefit plans, the monthly retirement benefit is set whereas with defined contribution, the amount paid in each month is set, the benefit is not.
Within these parameters, some of the commonly used plans are:
- Simplified employee pension plan (SEP)
- Profit-sharing plan or stock bonus plan
- Individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
- Roth IRA
- 401(k) plan
- Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)
- Cash balance plan
Q. Which is the best retirement plan?
A. The ‘best’ will depend on a number of things including your goals and your aversion to risk. The best plan for your best friend may not be the best plan for you. Your personal financial advisor can help you determine the best retirement plan that best aligns with your goals.
Q. Can I manage my retirement plan myself?
A. Yes and no. Although you can manage every decision in your portfolio, deciding which stocks to buy and sell and when to sell them, you still need a licensed professional to complete the transactions.
Are you ready to take the next step in planning your financial future?
For more information about any of our products and services, to schedule a meeting or to register for one of our financial and retirement planning seminars, choose one of the options below, or let’s talk the old-fashion way. Call us at 651.209.1906.
