Burning Questions, Answered: Louisiana Retirement Planning

Financial planning is a personal process. Origin Bank is committed to providing resources that address all your concerns–that's why we’re launching this market-specific series answering your burning questions.

Throughout this series, we’ll dive into your most-searched financial questions by state. From small business resources to auto loans, we’ll discuss top-of-mind topics across our markets.

This week’s post is all about retirement planning. Highly requested by Louisiana residents, we’re here to demystify retirement financing, clear up common misconceptions, and talk about financial planning for retirees.

Retirement planning made easy

The best retirement plan is the one you can start right now. Few people want to work forever or rely solely on government benefits. Planning ahead helps ensure you have enough money to fund your retirement dreams when that day comes.

1. Calculate your retirement age. You can retire whenever you have enough money to sustain your habits and expenses. But if you want to claim full Social Security benefits, you’ll have to wait until at least your late 60s. You can start claiming Social Security benefits at age 62, but your exact retirement age depends on when you were born. If, for example, you were born after 1960, the full-benefits retirement age is 67. But if you delay your retirement until you’re 70, you can increase your monthly benefits. Ideally, working adults can gradually ease out of the workforce rather than retiring abruptly,

2. Determine your cost of living. In order to retire comfortably, you need enough savings to sustain your lifestyle. The general rule of thumb is to replace somewhere between 70% and 90% of your yearly, pre-retirement salary with a combination of Social Security benefits and savings. This means if you earn $70,000 annually before retirement, you should prepare for about $49,000 to $63,000 after retirement. However you structure your post-retirement cost of living, make sure to factor in costs like home and car maintenance as well as potential medical expenses.

3. Start investing. If you’re nearing retirement age, hopefully you’ve already started investing. But if not, it’s never too late to begin! Start by taking advantage of the benefits your company offers. Most employers offer a 401(k) match program in which they match a percentage of your retirement contributions, so make sure you’re taking full advantage of those benefits. If you want your money to work even harder for you, you can open a brokerage account. If you’re looking at a long period of time before your retirement date, your investments could carry more risk, but if you’re close to retiring, low-risk investments will ensure you hold onto your hard-earned dollars.

4. Don’t forget about company retirement accounts! If you’ve frequently switched jobs, you may have leftover money in an old 401(k) or Roth IRA that you’ve forgotten about. To make sure you can access all your saved funds, track down your old plan statements or contact your old employer. Once you’ve identified the funds, you can roll them over into your current company’s plan and consolidate your accounts.

5. Reduce baseline expenses. If you have a healthy savings account and sound investments, you may want to work toward reducing your baseline expenses. You can always adjust what you’re spending on certain things, but if you lock yourself into high fixed costs, you’ll have less money available to save for retirement and unexpected emergencies. If you work to pay off high cost purchases like your mortgage or car as soon as possible, you’ll save on interest payments and increase your monthly cash flow.

 Ready to start planning for your retirement? Read our retirement guide for any age for more tips, and start saving with an Origin Bank personal savings or money market account to invest in your future. Questions? Contact us online or call us 24/7 toll free at 1-888-292-