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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Retiring on Time: Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success

For an individual in their 20's, retirement can seem like something light years away. There are still decades of life and work between where they are now, and where they will be when they reach retirement age. This makes now the best time to plan for a successful retirement. By starting to plan for retirement early in life, a young individual is setting a solid foundation that is going to make it a lot easier and comfortable for them when they reach retirement age.

Believe it or not, for a person who starts early enough, retiring as a millionaire is a realistic option. You do not need a lot of money to start off with. What you need is a consistent amount of money that is invested over a long period of time. A person doesn't even need to be an investment guru like Warren Buffett. All they need to have is patience, self-discipline, and the mental fortitude to keep to their investment plan.


Take Advantage of the Time You Have



A person who is in their 20's and is able to stay relatively healthy, is probably going to work for the next 40 years. An individual who invests $100 every single month and receives 10 percent annual returns on their investment will have saved over $630,000 by time they retire. Increase that monthly investment to $250 a month, and now we are talking about retiring with $1.5 million saved away. Now if you really want to take this scenario to the extreme, a person in their 20's who starts investing $2,000 monthly in something that will give them a 10 percent annual return will retire in 40 years having saved $12.6 million. As you can see, it’s not necessary to invest a lot of money to retire well. It is necessary to take advantage of the time that you have.


Take Advantage of Your Raises



A young person who first enters into the work field is unlikely to be earning a higher end salary. However, they are likely to be in the middle of the highest growth potential in salary that they will have throughout their entire life. Basically, as their skills improve, their pay will improve. Why not leverage raises to increase investments? The money that you get as a raise, is money that you are living just fine without prior to the raise. So instead of spending it on gadgets and other things that you just don’t need, invest it in your long-term future.


How Much Money Will I Need to Retire?



The answer to this question is going to depend on how much you plan on spending. An individual planning to retire at 60 is encouraged to have saved at least 15 times what they want their annual salary to be. So, for a person who is looking at living on $60,000 a year, they will need to save approximately $900,000.

According to Gittens & Associates his number increases for those who are looking at leaving a legacy behind for their children. The amount of money that they want to leave behind in a will or trust needs to be taken into consideration. It would be a good idea to sit and talk to an attorney and discuss the specifics of making a living will and any fees that are associated with this. Discussing retirement plans, trusts, living wills and things of this sort with the power of attorney in Newfoundland or other parts of the world, is all part of successfully preparing for retirement and beyond.

When a person is in their 20's, life seems like it is in front of them. And that is true. However, the decisions that a person makes in their 20's will affect them financially in the future, and will decide whether retirement is something they look forward to with pleasure or something that they look towards with dread.

2 comments:

  1. As early as 20 years old, I think they should plan their retirement. Work hard and be wise on money that for me is a key.

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  2. Yes, you must start planning for your retirement as soon as possible. The more you plan, the easier the transition will be. Planning early can be the deciding factor on how comfortably you will be able to spend your hard earned retired years.

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