Do you want your retirement plan to flourish?
March 16, 2019With spring right around the corner, it’s time for fresh starts and new beginnings. One of the most important things you can do this spring
By taking a few small steps today, you can get your retirement assets growing in a direction that will help your accounts blossom and your retirement goal flourish!
A good retirement plan grows from well-tended roots. So, ask yourself:
- Where are my retirement statements?
- Why have I let them gather dust for so long?
- Why haven’t I moved them after I switched employers?
If you’re experiencing financial root rot, it’s important to get the root cause. For some, the challenge is a lack of interest or time. For others, it may be uncertainty or even paralyzing fear that they haven’t been active enough in retirement planning to move them toward their end goal. Understanding what’s going on helps you move forward to a solution.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at some of the steps you can take to help your retirement goals flourish!
Taking Manageable, Small Steps to Reach Large Financial Goals
We often choose to ignore the things in our lives that seem the most overwhelming. We would rather replace the uncertain with a more pleasurable experience. But the truth is, once we gain clarity around what makes us feel anxious, we are more energized to work harder to achieve our goals.
One of the big reasons people put off addressing their retirement plan until they are near retirement age is fear of the unknown. So, how can we make the unknown known before we reach our twilight years?
- Begin by looking at your monthly retirement plan statements. Speak with a financial advisor if you are uncertain about your investment choices, fees, and risk. The main goal is to not feel alone. By reviewing your statements and speaking with a financial professional about what is unique to you and your retirement objective, you will have accomplished steps leading to your big retirement end-goal.
Balance Lofty Financial Goals with Realistic Checkpoints
It’s good to set lofty goals, but sometimes a goal like
Celebrating small victories in your financial planning will feel just as rewarding as the final end goal.
- Set a monthly goal like having a percentage of your paycheck go directly into your retirement account.
- Then, set an annual goal to meet with your advisor to help you create a financial plan to move forward.
Once you understand how much you actually need for your future living expenses, taxes, and fees, your goal will be less uncertain, making it easier to attain. Small lifestyle changes like automating your retirement savings and tracking your progress are the small checkpoint victories that will lead you toward your larger retirement goal.
Factor Life into Your Retirement Plan
Life Happens.
One moment you’re socking away cash in your employer retirement plan or funding your personal IRA, and then suddenly you switch jobs or get called away from work to care for a child or a loved one with a health issue. Whatever the situation, life can completely throw a wrench in your retirement savings plan.
Since we can’t see the future, the best thing we can do is to plan for the bugs and glitches that may get in the way of our goals.
- Before you start socking away money in a retirement account, make sure that you have an emergency fund.
- Be certain that your retirement accounts are reviewed at least annually and that you have a diverse portfolio to help you ride out market volatility.
A solid retirement plan will be flexible enough to adapt to changing situations, and having extra eyes on your plan will help you adjust to the unplanned events that land in your lap. Any long-term goal that is worth having is also worth adapting and adjusting to the unexpected snags.
Be Kind to Yourself
As with all life goals, the challenge of a financial plan lies in sticking with it and staying the course. By building contingencies for unexpected hiccups and by breaking down large goals into manageable steps, the odds will be in your favor to help you stay on track. By spending a little more time reviewing your retirement plan and statements today, you will be able to craft and refine a more realistic plan to flourish during your retirement.
Start planning this Spring.