Saving for retirement … we’re encouraged to start investing in our 20s, but are we doing it right?
According to a recent Breakthrough Research survey1, not exactly – 43% of Floridians don't know how much they’d have to save before retirement at age 67 to live on an income of $48,000 per year. And among those who think they know, 69% would save TOO LITTLE to live on that retirement income...
So we asked Seacoast’s wealth management experts to share their top financial planning strategies for retirement.
The idea of retirement may feel overwhelming and difficult to wrap your head around when you’re decades away from it, but having a retirement savings plan when you’re young provides two key advantages: time and interest.
“That time value of money is a very powerful thing. The more time you have, the better off you're going to be – even if it feels like it's just a small amount,” says Seacoast Wealth Advisor Group Director Celeste Byers, CFP® or Certified Financial Planner.
Ray Zick,CFP®, AIF®, CPFA®, Seacoast Wealth Planner and Qualified Plan Strategist agrees, “Compound interest accrues over time, and the longer you wait, the less impact your savings will have toward your overall retirement strategy.”
While starting your retirement planning in your 20s is the ideal scenario, anything you can save before you retire will pay off – even if you’re starting in your 40s. You may no longer have the advantage of time, but you may have the advantage of more disposable income later on in your career. Find out if your employer offers 401k matching plans and consider investing a select amount of your disposable income each month into a personal IRA.
Almost half (44%) of Floridians consider "planning for retirement" to be the most stressful circumstance of turning 40, which further emphasizes the importance of planning for retirement early in life.
“When you plan ahead, you're removing future stressors down the road. It gives you the empowerment to do something today to help alleviate stress for you down the road, because it's not going to be any less stressful if you don't have enough money for retirement,” says Celeste Byers, CFP® or Certified Financial Planner.
Don’t feel pressured to know exactly how your retirement will look decades from now. Instead, Ray Zick,CFP®, AIF®, CPFA®, recommends that young adults should go ahead and “put a goal out there, take some meaningful steps towards it, even if you have to change the goal, because you're only 20 and you don't know what retirement is going to be.”
In addition to a 401k, consider setting up a personal IRA and creating a retirement savings plan that establishes a target retirement age and income level, as well as savings required to retire comfortably. Consider working with a financial advisor to help create your retirement savings plan, especially if you’re not sure where to begin.
The idea of saving for retirement often sounds overwhelming and ambiguous, especially when you’re young. Let technology do the financial planning work for you, so your retirement savings can grow without you even thinking about it.
“There are a lot of apps and providers out there that will let you do things like round up. So, they'll take from a transaction and they'll round up to the nearest dollar or $5 and they'll invest that difference automatically. There's also great technology out there that can help people overcome their own biases,” says Ray Zick, CFP®, AIF®, CPFA®.
Among Floridians who aren’t yet retired, just 16% are working with a retirement specialist to plan for retirement, while half (53%) say they’re doing retirement planning on their own. But Todd Feintuch, CFP® or Certified Financial Planner, Seacoast’s Executive Director of Wealth Management, encourages Floridians to feel empowered to ask for help from a financial advisor … at any age. “Younger people might be inclined to try to do it all themselves, but when it comes to their own money, they often hesitate before they push the button. Sometimes they need to talk to someone and get reassurance that they're doing the right thing before moving forward.”
Seacoast Wealth Management has a 62-year history in Florida with local teams providing financial planning advice and services. The information contained herein is general in nature. It is not intended, and should not be construed, as legal, accounting, investment or tax advice. Investments provided through Seacoast Wealth Management: Are not FDIC Insured – Not Bank Guaranteed - May lose value – Not Insured by any Federal Government Agency – Not a Bank Deposit. Consult your Tax Professional.
1The statewide survey of 600 Florida voters was conducted March 29-31, 2021 by Sachs Media’s Breakthrough Research division. Margin of error is +/ -4.4 % at the 95% confidence level.
Topics: Invest & Retirement
Equal Housing Lender. Member FDIC. NMLS# 608046
Share: