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Retire Well: Three Vital Components as You Plan for Retirement

In today’s day and age, it’s never too early to start planning for retirement. If you’re in your 30’s, you may already be a little late in the planning game, so start soon. Average life expectancy has increased, so it’s important to make sure you’re more than financially secure at the time you retire. Take some time to think through your goals in retirement. If you’re young, you may not know what you’ll want to do, but you may have some ideas. If you start saving at a young age, you may even be able to retire early enough to still have a lot of physical abilities and go on some grand adventures after retirement. Consider travel, adventures, the kind of home you’d like to live in, and the hobbies you’d like to continue after you age. Here are a few things to consider as you prepare for retirement:

Create a Budget

It’s never too early to start a budget that helps you prepare for retirement. Many companies have 401k plans or 403b plans that will help you save and maximize your money as you prepare. If your company doesn’t have something like this, talk to a financial advisor who can help you identify other investment accounts that may help you achieve your goals. When you live according to a budget, you’re more easily able to pay off debt, save up funds for emergencies, and still save money for retirement and the future. A financial advisor can help you set up the essentials and help you understand how to maximize your funds long before retirement, making your future planning much easier.

Pay Off Debt

Before you retire, it’s wise to be completely out of debt, so you don’t have any obligations hanging over you. A financial planner can also help you devise a plan to pay off debt long before retirement, so you can use all those payments toward saving for the future, once the debt is gone. The longer debt sticks around, the more interest you pay, and the more you waste money that could be working for you to afford the future you dream of. If necessary, make some sacrifices to get out of debt as soon as possible. If you do it early enough, you may even be able to do some fun things you’ve always dreamed of while you’re still young.

Decide Where to Invest

After you’ve paid off debt and saved up a 3-6 month emergency fund, one wise decision is to invest in some low-risk investments, which will gain you money over time. High-risk investments can get you a lot of money fast if they work, but they may not work in your favor. If you have time to wait, low-risk investments may work for you, but they will take some time. Talk to a financial advisor about what investments may work for you, and start maximizing your dollars – ultimately, it’s an investment in your future. 

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