You’ve been grinding away at your day job, dreaming of that one day when you can confidently retire. For many people, retirement is a dream they cannot accomplish for many reasons. However, with some planning and saving now, you can achieve your retirement dreams. So want to know how to plan for retirement now? Our retirement planning guide will show you how to get started!

The Two Most Asked Questions About Retirement Savings

The two questions we, at The Retirement Planning Group, are asked the most often are 1) How much will I need and 2) Where will my income come from in retirement?

How Much Will I Need In Retirement?

This is the biggest question out there for retirement planning! There is a rule of thumb saying that you might need almost 70% of the pre-retirement income in order to comfortably live in retirement. However, it is only a general rule. Once we encourage you to consider what your actual expenses will be and create a retirement budget.

For example, if you plan to, or are able to, pay off your home, you won’t have a mortgage expense. If you don’t have great health, you may need to budget for long-term care or budget an expense for a care person or a care home, which can add up quickly. We cannot predict the future, but layout out the different options can help you understand just what it will take financially to ensure your best life.

Writing down your retirement goals is an important first step. Here are a few things to consider:

• Four walls: where do you want to live? How much will it cost? What factors would or could change where you live and the costs? Think food, utilities, taxes in retirement, etc.
• Health care: often a major expense. Will you and your family have Medicare? Consider your health now and what could happen, do you have the right health insurance or Medicare plan? Is it time to consider long-term health insurance to offset costs now?
• Lifestyle: are vacations and traveling a priority?
• Work: will you completely stop working, have a part-time job, volunteer?
• Income: What income will you potentially have? Pension, investments, social security for example

Where Will My Income Come From In Retirement?

You may not be working a traditional job, but you will still need an income in retirement. Many people rely on social security payments in retirement, which only applies to those who had a job and paid into this program. The amount you receive depends on the hours worked. To see how much you will expect to receive, request your social security statement or try the free calculator online at ssa.gov.

Beyond social security, here are some of the most common income sources people rely on for income in retirement:

• Pensions
• Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA, Roth IRA)
• Retirement savings plans (401k, 403b, 457, TSP)
• Real estate investments
• Other investments (Savings, annuities, inheritance, CDs, bonds, etc)

How To Get Started In Retirement Planning

Planning for your retirement is not a difficult task if you are not weighed down with all of the little details. Will I have enough money? What about taxes in retirement? How do you create an estate plan? Planning for retirement is like creating an outline for an essay. The outline will highlight some of the critical parts that you may want to include in your retirement plan.

With that, consider the following items as you create an outline in planning for your retirement:

Avoid short-changing your life expectancy

It is a fact that most pre-retirees underestimate the duration of their lives. You must not short-change your life expectancy. Of course, we all hope to live a long, and happy life but a longer life means that your retirement income will likely need to last longer than you might think. By doing this, your savings could run, but your social security will not.

It is unpredictable how long you will live, so you should be sure to plan for your future beyond the amount of time that you think you may have. This could save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Seek professional help

Planning for your retirement can be an arduous and time-consuming task. One of the best things that you could do for yourself would be to seek the help of an experienced professional. You can take your plans to a retirement planner and have them adjust or even add to them.

By hiring a retirement planner, they can guide you through the process and give you peace of mind that you may not have had before, and set you up for future success.

What To Start Saving For My Retirement Plan

Now that you are ready, how do you get started? Well, a lot of that depends on your age, when you plan to retire, and an estimate of how much you need.

Our team at The Retirement Planning Group specializes in helping you walk through all facets of retirement, understanding your goals, building a budget and plan, and helping you start saving now to achieve your goals. Our team of experienced wealth managers will work with you in a consultative approach. We act as fiduciaries, meaning we have your best interest in mind.

Ready to learn more? Fill out the form below or click here to schedule your 10 min introductory call with one of our wealth managers. No games, no gimmicks, no sales presentations. Just a call to see if there is a fit for working together on your retirement dreams.