Retirement Planning

Category Archives: Retirement Planning

Common 401(k) Mistakes

Believe it or not there are many mistakes that can be made along the way when it comes to financial retirement savings and investing. Unfortunately a good many of these mistakes center around the 401(k), which can be a tremendous boost to your retirement plans when used properly in order to build your portfolio. The problem is that the mistakes are often the only things we hear when it comes to retirement plans and investing. I suggest begin with the mistakes so that we can move along to better information and advice in the near future.

The first and perhaps largest mistakes that people make when it comes to 401 (k) plans is not signing up. Yes you heard that right. What people do not understand is that this is something your employer offers so that you can have some security for your future. It is a manner of saving money for your future that shouldn’t be overlooked or taken for granted. Even a bad 401 (k) plan is better than no 401 (k) and with strict regulations those are few and far between. More importantly, if your company offers to match the funds in your 401 (k) plan not taking them up on that offer is literally tossing money in the garbage can.

Insurance and your Financial Retirement

When planning your financial retirement there are many things you should consider before taking the plunge and not all of them are overtly financial, though in some large way they are all very financial considerations, particularly if you don’t take the time now to consider their importance later. Insurance is an important consideration when it comes to retirement. Depending on your age at retirement you may or may not qualify for Medicaid, which could leave you in a bit of a pickle when it comes to covering the high cost of insuring your health.

If you have a spouse that will continue working for a year or two you may want to consider the cost of being added to his or her insurance coverage. Chances are it will be less expensive than striking out on your own for health insurance coverage, which tends to increase in cost with age and according to health.

Roth Iras for Financial Retirement

This is entirely an opinion based on the facts that I have available and should be viewed as nothing more than that. However, I feel I would be remiss in not pointing out the incredible value that Roth Iras can bring to the table for savvy people who are planning their retirements. There are actually advisors that straddle the fence on this particular issue and I can honestly see the validity of both sides. For me, a Roth IRA is preferable to the Traditional IRA for one reason and one reason only. I would much rather face the evil that I know and pay taxes on that money now than the evil that I don’t know by paying taxes not only on the investment but also the earnings later.