Retirement planning is an important aspect of your overall financial health. It can help you achieve the lifestyle you want to live and will provide you with peace of mind as you age. But just how do you go about building the right retirement plan?
Determine Your Retirement Savings Strategy
Once you have determined your retirement savings strategy, it is time to figure out how much money you need to save and when.
There are many different ways to calculate this number. If you have a 401(k) or other workplace plan with matching funds, then that amount should be included in the total amount needed for retirement. Other than that, here are some common ways people determine their retirement savings goal:
• Determine how much income per year they want at age 65-70 (or whatever age). Then multiply this by 25 years (the average life expectancy), which gives them an estimate of how much money needs to be saved over time.
Make An Actionable Retirement Plan
So, you’ve decided to make a plan for retirement. That’s great! But what exactly do you need to do?
The first step is to decide whether or not you want an actionable plan–one that includes specific goals and steps toward reaching those goals, or just a general idea of how much money will be needed in order for your retirement dreams to come true, says Vincent Camarda. If there’s one thing we learned from our research it’s this: if it isn’t written down on paper (or typed into an Excel spreadsheet), then it doesn’t exist!
Vincent Camarda So get out there and start writing down all of the things that matter most for your future self so that when those days arrive where all of us wish we had something better than ramen noodles for dinner again…you’ll know exactly where everything went wrong…or right depending on how well things go.
