Financial advisers constantly stress that young people must plan early for retirement. Where is the advice for people actually closing in on retirement like 50-year-olds? With only 10 to 15 years left before retiring, 50 is an important age to take stock and make sure everything is heading in the right direction.
While you won’t have the broad time horizon that a 20-year-old would, you still have enough time to make changes that have a big impact. Experts recommend adding the entirety of your life savings, including investments and money stashed away and dividing it by 25.
If you can live on that amount of money for a year, you are on track for retirement. This approach assumes you withdraw 4% per year from your funds. Freedom Debt Relief goes over additional advice to keep or get you back on track for retirement.
Asset Allocation
Freedom Debt Relief knows due to a broad time horizon young people can afford to have risky investments. The high risk allows them to potentially make a lot of money while still being able to bounce back if things go wrong.
This is the opposite of how a 50-year-old needs to invest. When there is less time left before retirement, your portfolio may not be able to recover from a decline in the stock market. Change your asset allocation to minimize risk by investing in CDs, bonds, and annuities.
Look at Health Care Coverage
Health care can be an enormous expense in your later years. Getting covered at 50 will be a lot cheaper than trying to get covered at 65 or 70. Freedom Debt Relief recommends getting properly covered in health care now so you don’t spend all your money paying for medical expenses in retirement.
Max Out Retirement Contributions
Freedom Debt Relief advises contributing the maximum to all your retirement investment vehicles. This advice is the same for young and old investors. 50-year-olds are eligible to increase their 401(k) contributions by a significant amount, so take advantage of it.
If your employer offers a match, not contributing to your 401K is like leaving free money on the table. 50-year-olds can also increase the contribution to their IRA or Roth IRA. Maxing out your contribution is one of the best ways to save money.
Reconsider Insurance
Responsible adults purchase insurance when they have young children or spouses reliant on their income. Evaluate your insurance to make sure everything you pay for is still relevant.
If your children are financially independent, drop unnecessary insurance and put the extra cash towards your retirement. Freedom Debt Relief always advises careful monitoring of where your cash flow goes each month.
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