How to Save for Retirement Even if You are Late to the Game

Ideally, saving for retirement is something that you should start doing early on, long before you are even close to retirement age. However, saving for retirement isn’t always easy, especially when life throws you costly surprises along the way. If you do start nearing retirement age and aren’t quite where you want to be, don’t worry; it’s not too late to play “catch up” and to start saving for retirement. In fact, we’ve got some great tips that can help you to start saving right now, even if you feel like you’re showing up to the savings game a little late.   

Tip #1: Retirement Accounts are the Way to Go

To start off with, if you have access to retirement accounts, then these are definitely a smart thing to take advantage of. If you have a workplace-sponsored account, always make every effort to contribute to it as much as you can- at least as much as it takes for your employer to match your funds since this can essentially double your retirement money.

If you don’t, for whatever reason, have access to a workplace account, just consider making as many contributions as possible to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA); you won’t have the benefit of employer contribution matching, but you can still save a nice amount this way.

You can also consider a Roth IRA to build tax-free or nearly tax-free retirement savings, and, after age fifty, know that you’ll also be eligible to contribute more money than usual, referred to as a”catch up”amount, to your IRA and/or workplace retirement account until you retire, which can help to close the gap between what you hoped to save and what you’ve actually saved.

Tip #2: Save As Much As You Can

In addition to saving via your retirement accounts, you should also have a basic savings account that you dip into only for emergencies. Financial professionals recommend that you have at least three months of income in this savings account for those “just in case” moments in life. The nice thing is that, if you don’t end up depleting your savings on emergencies, you can use the money you’ve saved once you reach retirement, and, if you have enough of it, this can really help to hold you over during those tough parts of your retirement.

Tip #3: Use “Surprise Money” Wisely

Finally, whenever you come across unexpected money, like a nice bonus at work, an inheritance from a loved one, or anything else, do something smart with that money. Put it in your retirement account, invest it, or just add it to your savings. If you use all the “extra money” that comes your way wisely, it can really add up by the time you get to retirement.

By following these simple tips and, when possible, working with a financial adviser, you can reach retirement ready to enjoy your golden years without worry.

Money Matters No One Likes to Talk About

You may have been taught that it’s “tacky” to talk about money, or you may just be the type of person who really hates talking about money. Even if you’re the opposite and actually LIKE talking money, there are definitely some financial topics that it seems nobody really wants to broach.

Spending Too Much

One thing that people often don’t want to admit is when they’re living above their means. When they’ve found themselves in debt because of it, they don’t want to admit it, and they certainly don’t want to admit it while it’s happening. It’s very rare for someone to have the gall to turn down paying for dinner or going out because of a lack of money.   

Though it may be difficult, however, honesty really is the best policy. If you can’t afford something, don’t buy it or ask your friends to opt for doing something cheaper. Your true friends will understand, and you won’t have to worry about being embarrassed over your debt later on down the road.

Getting Cheated

It can also be embarrassing to admit when you’ve been cheated or short-changed by poor advice from a financial consultant or illegal actions on the part of an accountant. People often think this reflects on them in some way. In truth, though, getting cheated is never the victim’s fault and should always be reported.

Furthermore, people should never have too much pride to ask for advice, help, and recommendations when it comes to finding good, reliable professional help.

A Bad Credit Score

Another thing that can cause embarrassment is a less than ideal credit score because of financial mistakes that you may have made in the past. However, don’t be too embarrassed to bring up this topic, especially to a skilled professional financial adviser.

Rest assured that these experts have heard it all before and have probably seen credit scores much worse than yours. If you’re willing to admit your problem and ask for help, you can find a way out of debt.

Many money matters can be embarrassing to talk about, but, more often than not,  being honest is the only way to truly improve your situation and to get over the embarrassment for good.

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The Surprising Ways a Financial Planner Can Help

You probably already know that a financial planner can help you with money matters. They can help you to increase your savings, to make some smart investments, to get rid of debt, and just to get to a better place financially. It might surprise you to learn, however, that these experts can also help you

with a lot of other things in the process. Read on to learn about some of the surprising, positive effects that hiring a financial planner can have.  

 

An Improved Marriage

Did you know that financial stress is one of the leading causes for failed marriages? In fact, in a recent study on relationship stress conducted by SunTrust, 35% of people in strained relationships listed finances as the main problem in their relationship.

The fact of the matter is that, no matter how much you love your partner, if you’re struggling to stay afloat and disagree on how to spend money, you’re probably going to have a lot of stress and get into more than your fair share of related fights.

When you hire a financial planner, it’s like hiring a mediator to help you and your partner discuss your finances openly and honestly. Together, you can figure out what’s causing your financial problems and what you can do to remedy them. Talking through your problems and then coming up with and working through a plan to make things better can bring you closer together and improve your marriage and your communication big time.

A Better-Functioning Family

Another thing that financial planners can help you with is developing a will and finding guaranteed ways to leave your money and other assets to your loved ones when you pass on. When you work with a financial planner to develop a clear and clearly detailed strategy for where your money will go after you pass on, you’re not only taking care of their financial needs; you may just be helping to smooth over potential fights or disagreements as well.

All too often, after the death of a loved one, family members find themselves turning on each other and squabbling over “who gets what.” When you’ve worked with a financial planner and made plans ahead of time, there is no arguing; the allocations have already been put in place, allowing your family to go on functioning happily and argument-free even after you’re gone.

Reduce Personal Stress

Finally, financial planners can help you to get rid of some of the stress and worry in your own life. If you don’t have a good financial plan in place, you probably worry a lot about the future, about saving for retirement, and even just about making ends meet. That can cause a lot of anxiety and unhappiness, which are the last things you want in your life, but when you work to create a doable financial plan with your financial planner, you strip away the stress and worry for good and can get on with just living and enjoying your life.

Financial planners do more than just help you get your finances in order; they help you to improve your life in multiple ways, and that alone makes them worth using.

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How to Retire the Right Way

Most people work their entire lives. And, even if they enjoy their work, in the end, they hope to one day retire so that they can relax and enjoy their lives and the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, though, a comfortable and leisurely retirement doesn’t just “happen.” You have to plan for it, and the sooner you start doing so, the better. If you have yet to get started, then there’s no better time than the present to start working toward your retirement goals!   

Save and Invest

In retirement, money doesn’t just come out of thin air! In fact, most people end up relying fairly heavily on money they’ve saved. If you don’t have anything in the bank, though, you don’t have anything to fall back on. As such, it’s important to start a retirement savings account early and to contribute to it regularly. You should also, ideally, have a diverse range of investments that you can use during your retirement. Don’t just start stashing money in the bank though; speak with a qualified financial advisor about the best ways to put your money to work for you and to grow it so that you have a nice nest egg to fall back on when retirement time comes.

Don’t Rack Up Debt

We all know that debt is bad, but unfortunately, a lot of us still find ourselves in it anyway. A lot of debt is accrued when we are young. We imagine that we have loads of time to pay off any debts we accumulate and tell ourselves that we’ll worry about them later. In truth, though, “later” always comes sooner than you expect. If you’re not careful, you could be paying the debts you wrack up in your heyday into and throughout your retirement. If you are in debt, start working to get out of it now. And if you’re not, keep on making smart choices with your money. A big, black cloud of debt is not something you want hanging over your head as you try to enjoy your later years.

Don’t Start too Late

Just as we tend to accumulate debt in our youth, we also tend not to think much about the future. Young people have a hard time imagining themselves as ever being old enough to retire, but age catches up with us all sooner than we think. Even if you’re just starting out in your life and your career, you’d do well to start thinking about retirement. It is never too early to plan for a bright and enjoyable future.

Managing an Inheritance

If a loved one has recently passed on, you may find yourself coming into a large inheritance. In fact, Interest.com reports that around two-thirds of people over the age of sixty intend to leave behind an inheritance to their children, and the Center for Retirement Research estimates that the average inheritance amount is a nice $64,000.

Getting such a large sum of money all at once might sound like a great thing, but what would you do with that money? Would you know how to manage it effectively? Most people don’t, which it’s why it’s extremely advisable to seek assistance from a wealth management company.

Before you do that, however, understand that actually acquiring the money can take awhile and you should give yourself a little “downtime” before you start

rushing into any plans. Focus first on things like funeral planning and grieving. Then, once you’re able to move on a little bit, you should open a new checking account for your funds and pay off any outstanding debts.

Then, and only then, should you start thinking about investing the money and making it go further. For assistance with this or any part of the wealth management process, know that you can always contact Platinum Financial Associates, Inc. of Naperville.

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Best Places to Retire

Are you planning to retire soon? If so, then you’ve probably been looking into cities that would make great locales for your retirement. While most people think of places like Florida when they think of retiring, the truth is that it’s always best to retire somewhere where the cost of living is low. That way, your money can go further, and you can save money to pass on to your children or grandchildren.  

One great place to retire, for example, is big, bustling Dallas. Though Dallas might not seem like a “cheap city,” reports show that the average income is around $50,106 while the average expenditure is only about $40,843. That means that residents have the potential to save as much as $9,264 per year.

If you play your cards right when it comes to retirement planning, you could earn just as much as the average “working person” in your golden years. Of course, if you’ve truly done a good job planning and saving for retirement, it won’t really matter where you live. Definitely look into cheaper options though. And, if you haven’t yet started planning for retirement, it’s not too late to start! Get help with retirement planning and saving today from Platinum Financial Associates, Inc. of Naperville.

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How Americans Waste Their Money

USA Today recently exposed twenty of the major ways in which Americans are wasting their money—money they could be using to plan for the future. It’s no surprise that credit card interest costs were included as one of the “money wasters” on the list. The article even provided some not so nice figures: the average credit card debt per household in the United States is a whopping $15,270!   

Articles (and numbers!) like that one should really make you take a close look at yourself. Are you anywhere in that average credit card debt range? Maybe even above it? If the answer to either question is “yes,” then that’s probably a good indicator that you’ve been doing some poor financial planning and making poor financial decisions.

It’s never too late to turn things around though, especially if you get professional help! The financial gurus at Platinum Financial Associates can look at where you currently are financially (no judging!) and come up with a financial planning strategy to help you make smarter decisions in the future and maybe even ditch that credit card debt.

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Who Pays the Lowest in Taxes

With tax time just behind us, it’s not at all uncommon to hear people griping about how much they had to pay or how little they’ll be getting back this year. If you’re in one of those “unhappy” groups, get ready to be jealous! USA Today recently named the state with the lowest taxes, and it’s not Illinois.

Unfortunately—at least for Naperville residents—the state with the lowest taxes is Wyoming. Its average annual state and local taxes only total up to around $2,635. That’s an astonishing 66% less than the national average.

While Illinois might not be able to compete with Wyoming at the current time, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still pay less on your taxes or fare better financially.  

In fact, if you take advantage of companies that offer things like tax help and investment services, you’ll see that it doesn’t really matter how the rest of the state is doing because you’re doing just fine.

To get that “just fine” feeling, contact Platinum FinancialAssociates.

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Retirement Tips

The US News & World Report recently released a list of helpful retirement tips, and most of them were pretty solid. The top tip on the list, for example, was to pay off your mortgage as soon as possible, the rationalization being that those who do will virtually be living rent-free during retirement.

retirement (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

Another tip was to take advantage of senior discounts in order to help save for retirement. But there’s a big problem with that particular tip. By the time you’re qualifying for senior citizen discounts, you should already have your retirement planning (and funding!) taken care of. In fact, you should probably already be retired or very close to it.

While it’s fine to follow helpful tips and guides to a point, remember that they are no substitutes for serious retirement planning. If you’re ready to start preparing for your retirement—something you should start doing at as young of an age as you can—then contact the financial experts at Platinum Financial Associates of Naperville.

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