5 Retirement Planning Tips You Should Get from Your Financial Advisor

A comfortable retirement often boils down to having confidence over your savings. There’s indeed no magic number ensuring that you won’t spend your nest egg too fast. But, it stands to reason that the more you’ve saved, the higher your chances of sustaining a lifetime income stream.

If you’ve already thought of an amount to save for retirement, you’d have likely underestimated it. But don’t fret—you still have enough to make tweaks in your portfolio, whether you’re in your 20s or 50s.

Planning for retirement is a complex process. You need a financial advisor to discover any unexpected areas for improvement.

Here are a few retirement planning tips financial advisors swear by.

1. Determine Your Sources of Income

Current retirement savings should have a large part of your monthly retirement income. But, extra income should come in as well. Look at different areas beyond savings and consider those sources also.

Many employees qualify for Social Security benefits. These perks depend on the length of service, age at which you take the benefits, career earnings, and more. Workers lacking current retirement savings may consider this their only retirement asset.

2. Analyze Your Situation Right Now

Start by assessing how much you’ve saved in retirement-designated accounts. This should include balances in workplace retirement plans such as 401(k) or 403(b). You also need to consider all balances in individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Only include taxable accounts if you intend to use them for retirement. Don’t include money saved up for emergencies or major purchases (like a new car or a second home).

3. Review Your Plan

Once you’ve created a retirement plan, you need to go over it regularly. Like in a long-term investment, you can’t just leave money somewhere and forget it ever existed. Instead, review it with your trusted financial advisor. This ensures your investment, goals, plan, and other important factors are up-to-date.

4. Check Your Risk Tolerance

Risk tolerance changes as you move through your years. As you get closer to retirement age, portfolio allocations should become more conservative. This can help you preserve your savings better. It can be tempting to hike up your portfolio risk if you think you’re behind on your savings.

Although this may work in some cases, it often produces mixed results. Investors who take high risks can make things worse as they commit to riskier assets during the wrong time.

5. Set Your Retirement Age

Think about how many years your retirement may last. A retirement lasting 30 to 40 years looks a lot different than one that spans half that time. Early retirement is the goal of many, but it’s better to set a reasonable target retirement date. This gives you a balance between the length of retirement a nest egg can support and the size of your portfolio.

Consider Hiring a Financial Advisor Near You

Planning and budgeting for retirement go hand-in-hand. When preparing for the future, a few small changes can lead to significant results. You may work a bit more every month, adopt healthy habits, or work a few years longer. These small changes will add up to a much more stable retirement later on.

At Prosperity Financial Group, we’re more than happy to serve you. Speak to a trusted financial advisor to learn more about creating a secure and enjoyable retirement.