Retirement Planning
Retirement planning, in a nutshell, is the process of determining retirement income goals and what you need to do to achieve those goals. It is the allocation of savings or revenue for retirement to achieve financial independence in life after paid work ends. We, at R. Allan Miles Insurance, are here to help you identify sources of income, estimate expenses, implement a savings program and manage your assets. We offer products called annuities that protect 100% of your money 100% of the time.
What Is An Annuity
An annuity is a financial product that pays out a fixed stream of payments to an individual, primarily used as an income stream for retirees. You put money on deposit with an insurance company that later pays you a set monthly amount. Annuities were designed to be a reliable means of securing a steady cash flow for an individual during their retirement years. They are also in place to reduce fears of outliving your assets. There are many options with annuities. One of our knowledgeable retirement planning specialists will assist you in making the best choices based on your retirement goals.
When Should I Start Saving For Retirement?
Saving for retirement is a marathon, not a sprint. But it’s never too early—or too late—to start saving! Based on how close or far you are from retiring, we can give you advice on how and how much you should save.
At R. Allan Miles Insurance, we understand that the emphasis you put on retirement planning changes throughout different life stages. In addition to annuities as an option for retirement planning, here are some savings suggestions and tips based on where you are in life.
Young Adulthood (ages 21-35)
Those beginning adult life may not have a lot of money free to invest, but they do have time to let their investments mature. Our recommendations for young adults include:
- Take advantage of employer-sponsored 401K plans.
- Look into other tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts like IRA and Roth IRAs.
As a general rule of thumb, we recommend that you save an amount equal to your salary by age 30. If you haven’t—don’t worry—just get started as soon as you can.
Early Midlife (36-49)
Despite financial strains early midlife tends to bring, including mortgages, student loans, insurance premiums and credit card debt this is a critical time to save. The combination of earning more money and the time you still have to invest and earn interest makes these years some of the best for aggressive savings.
Our recommendations for people in early midlife include:
- Continue to take advantage of employer-sponsored 401K plans and max out contributions.
- Consider life insurance and disability insurance to ensure your family could financial survive if something happened to you.
We suggest you save 3 times your salary by age 40 and 6 times by 50.
This is also the time to consider the non-financial aspects of retirement: how to spend time in retirement, where to live, when you completely quit working, etc. Our experienced retirement planning specialists can help guide you through this entire planning process.
Later Midlife (50-65)
As you age, your investment accounts should become more conservative. While time is running out to save, there are a few advantages. Higher wages and potentially having some of the expenses you faced in early midlife paid off can leave you with more disposable income to invest.
Some of our recommendations for people in later midlife include:
- Continue to take advantage of employer-sponsored 401K plans and know it’s not too late to start!
- Max out your contributions. From age 50 on, you can contribute an additional $1,000 a year to your traditional or Roth IRA, and an additional $6,000 a year to your 401K.
- Look at Medicare supplements to fill in the gaps of what Medicare will not cover. We can help with this!
- Look at long-term care insurance which will help cover the costs of a nursing home or home care should you need it in your advanced years.
- Get a sense of what your Social Security benefits will be and at what age it makes sense to start taking them.
Contact us today to speak with one of our experienced and knowledgeable retirement planning specialists who can assist you in your retirement planning.