Getting all of your financial ducks in a row isn’t always as easy as it sounds. That’s because life tends to happen, and the curveballs that come our way never seem to be projected ahead of time. We’re caught off guard with unforeseen emergencies, bad investments which don’t yield high returns, difficult planning and financial forecasting, and yes, a mistake or two of our own doing.
If you’re in your 30’s, 40’s, or even 50’s, you may need to start taking a hard look at your savings. Are you on the right track toward financial success and a happy retirement? If not, then the time to start is now. While the dirty little secret around the industry is that you simply can’t make up for lost retirement planning time, there are a few steps you can take in order to better your situation.
What are they? In this blog, we’re going to take a look at a few of them in order to help you make up for all of that lost time. Whether you had unforeseen circumstances hinder your ability to save, or if you simply didn’t think about it until now, it’s imperative that you get started as soon as possible. What way, when the time comes, you can experience peace of mind, financial security, and possibly receive a stable income on a monthly basis from an investment in the Fixed Income Fund. Keep reading to learn more about the steps you can take to make up for lost retirement planning time.
Cut Down Debt
This is one of the most important things you need to start doing. As a young to middle-aged professional, there’s a good chance you spent most of your younger days utilizing credit cards and fighting to take a chunk out of your student loans, car payments, and even mortgage payments. Well, now that retirement is more than just a farfetched pipe dream, even though it still could be 20 years away, the time to cut down on that debt is now.
Make eliminating the balance on your credit cards a priority, and don’t use them as a crutch anymore. Be sure to focus on the ones with the highest interest rates first. Once that debt is paid down, consider making an extra payment or two on your student loans or car payment. The sooner you can get that debt cut down to next to nothing, you’ll be able to use your surplus earnings to set aside for retirement.
Stop Impulse Spending
One thing we are all typically guilty of is impulse shopping. Whether it’s the latest cell phone or tablet, or the hot new car, or a flashy new gigantic television, there are always things that we look at and think, “Yeah, I can treat myself to that.” The problem is, we typically use things like credit cards or our savings on these types of purchases, which can be detrimental to our financial planning and health.
Make a monthly budget for yourself and allocate a reasonable amount for your expenses and savings, first and foremost. Then, whatever is leftover can be used as extra spending cash. But it’s important to stop impulse buying and start to consider how that money could be better spent. Maybe you can even cut out that overpriced coffee every day, or at least every other day. Saving $10-15 per week on a coffee can add up after all. For instance, spending just $10 less on coffee each week and instead putting it into a savings account can add up to $520 in extra savings throughout the year!
Utilize Your Retirement Accounts
Hopefully you’ve already opened and contributed significantly to your employer-sponsored 401K, or even your own personal IRA accounts. If not, then you need to open one and start hitting your maximum contributions immediately. If your job offers a 401K, then you need to make sure you are contributing at least the minimum amount so that your employer will match, which they have the potential to do up to three percent of your income. That’s free money that you could be missing out on, simply because you didn’t bother to fill out the paperwork.
Retirement accounts like a 401K and IRA are allowed to grow on a tax-deferred basis, and they are even tax-free in the case of the Roth IRA, which can help your wealth grow significantly over time. If you are over the age of 50, you are allotted an extra $1,000 on top of your maximum yearly contribution for a “catch-up” period, so if you qualify you should certainly take advantage of that perk.
Be Realistic
Look, if you don’t have enough money saved for retirement, then you can’t allow yourself to retire. It’s that simple. Chances are Social Security and other welfare programs aren’t going to afford you the opportunity to live at the standard to which you are accustomed.
If you hit the age of 65 and you still don’t have enough, consider working for an extra two, three, five, or even 10 years before you call it quits. That way, you can build up your savings and wealth even more and be comfortable in retirement.
Explore High Return Investments
Another way that you can compound your wealth is by making safe, calculated, high-return investments. When you were younger, you were probably introduced to investments in the form of savings bonds and possibly even annuities. While fixed annuities allow you to make a principal payment to a company in return for monthly income, the problem is that they carry too many management fees or brokerage fees, and the low rates of return make it hard to generate actual wealth.
What’s the solution? Making a high return investment within the Fixed Income Fund can help you make up for a lot of lost planning time while still setting yourself up for success in the future. The Fixed Income Fund is simple, carries no management or investment fees, and helps provide a stable, consistent monthly income at a high rate. After making your principal investment, which can come from your existing retirement account, you’ll get interest returns deposited into your bank account on a regular basis.
We invest in mortgage and trust deed loans in historically stable markets and with advantageous values, so you can rest assured that the assets in which your money is invested are always backed by real value. Plus, our pooled investment strategy and established contingency reserve helps protect you further against risk. It’s the ultimate low risk, high return investment for the modern age.
Contact Tactical Wealth today to get started, and help yourself to a brighter, more secure future.
