When was the last time you reviewed your financial life? In the same way that it’s important to go to the doctor for a physical, comprehensive retirement check-ups are crucial to your financial success down the road.
In today’s technology-driven world, it’s easy to put your finances on autopilot. From automatic deposits, online statements and automatic 401(k) contributions, it can be easy to leave your retirement plan unsupervised.
But, how do you go about starting the retirement check-up process? Well, first and foremost, you need to consider what your goals are. Whether you want to travel, have a winter home in a warm state, etc., it’s important to have goals to frame your retirement plans around.
Another important part of a check-up of your retirement is to monitor your account balances. Most of your retirement accounts are accessible online now, so log in and see how much you are saving and the value of your accounts. Obviously, the more you squirrel away now, even if it’s only a few extra dollars here and there a month, means the possibility for more money in the future.
You may want to consider increasing your contribution amounts, even if by just a few percentage points. Some accounts allow you to set up automatic increases to your contribution that can go into effect each year.
Another aspect of your retirement check-up should be to ensure that your investment strategy makes sense. Staying in conservative investments may be appealing – especially to your emotions that may fear market crashes, but the yields that you will earn on overly conservative investments can be too low to provide the income and purchasing power that you may need down the road. This is especially true when you take inflation into consideration, or consider that your retirement may last over 30 years with the life expectancy rates of today.
When it comes to investing, you just need to find the right balance. At American Financial Investments, LLC, we can help categorize your assets so that they are in a good position to help you reach your retirement goals.
When you choose to work with a financial services professional, they are able to assist you in creating financial plans that will work for your unique situation. You may want to consult a trusted financial services professional to help you check up on your finances. QCBN
By Ronald Stevenson and Barbara Clark Stevenson
Ronald F. Stevenson & Barbara Clark Stevenson own American Financial Security, LLC. They specialize in Retirement Income Planning, Social Security Maximization, Tax Free Income Design, Personal & Corporate Tax Preparation and Planning. For more information, call 928-771-8368 or visit
AmericanFinancialSecurity.net, 3112 Clearwater Dr., Suite B, Prescott, Arizona 86305.
All written content is for information purposes only. It is not intended to provide any tax or legal advice or provide the basis for any financial decisions.
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