Getting From Here to There: Tips on Closing the Retirement Gap

Retirement planning is scary…but does it have to be?

We live in a time where people are living longer and need their money to last just as long.

We also live in a time where our retirement assets seemingly fluctuate from gains to losses on a daily basis.

So if this is what keeps your clients up at night, make sure they rest easy by reassuring them they are only a few short steps away from achieving the retirement that they worked for their entire life. Here are a few helpful tips to get their plans on track.

• Develop your retirement budget. There is no magic number to save for retirement that works for everyone like certain financial publications may have you believe. Your retirement should not be given the cookie-cutter approach, so dig up your bank statements for the last few months and see what adjustments you’ll need to take. Don’t forget to account for inflation, which tends to range from 3-5%.
• Make sure you understand social security. Most likely you’ll have at least social security coming to you, but what else? Oh, and make sure that you’re maximizing how much social security you can collect. Just because you CAN collect at age 62 doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
• Look at your retirement accounts, but not too often. You’ll need to track how your retirement accounts are looking as they will be a major component of your retirement. Are adjustments needed? Do you need to contribute more? Most important, don’t drive yourself crazy looking at your accounts every day, especially after a bad day on the market. Newsflash: Your account will go up and down in value every day.
• Get out of debt. If you own a home, awesome! You should aim to have that paid off by the time you retire. Makes sense, right? Have your biggest asset paid off in full. From there, follow suit with the rest. Credit cards, car loans, student loans, etc. should all be gone by the time you get to retirement. A nice, clean slate to start retirement is a wonderful sight, especially since retirement will probably come with a decrease in income.

Helping clients stick to these steps can make sure retirement planning isn’t as scary as they may have heard. Advisys can help you walk a client through each one of these and more with our library of over 600 concept articles and educational reports. Take a closer look at www.advisys.com