Retirement Planning Tips
The term financial health refers to many things, from your personal credit score to your debt-to-income-ratio to your checking and savings account balances and more. If you’re working to improve your financial health by paying down debt or bulking up your emergency fund, it can be easy to overlook retirement planning.
Planning for your retirement is important because it ensures you’ll have the funds available to enjoy a fun, stress-free life post-employment. While you can start planning for your retirement any time, experts advise that the sooner you start, the more likely you are to achieve success.
At Origin Bank, we understand the importance of retirement planning. Our Trusted Advisors are here to help, with useful tips to guide you so you know where to start and how to stay on-track to reach your retirement goals.
1. Set a Goal and Start Early
Unfortunately, many don’t think about retirement early enough in their careers. By setting goals early, you’re starting to hold yourself accountable for your future. Whether your retirement plan is to travel, go back to school, or stay home and tend to your garden, having good practices set in place early can help ensure you reach your retirement goals. Plus, the earlier you start the longer you have to take advantage of compounding interest gains on your retirement accounts.
2. Create a Budget
Whether it’s early or late in your career, setting and sticking to a budget is extremely important. While creating a budget can feel daunting, it doesn’t have to, and there’s plenty of resources to make it easy like Origin’s Personal Financial Management tool. Understanding how you spend your money and making sure enough is going towards your priorities is the key to achieving your overall financial and specific retirement goals.
3. Contribute to Your Employer’s Retirement Plan
Most employers offer some type of retirement savings account, like a 401k or 403b. Contributing at least enough to get the maximum employer match is one of the easiest ways to help save for your retirement. There are usually tax benefits, such as contributing pre tax dollars, with these types of plans, so be sure you understand all the ways you can maximize your employer’s sponsored plan.
4. Increase your Savings Each Year
As your wages increase or you free-up funds in your budget by paying down debt, you should increase the amount you save, both in your personal savings accounts and in what you contribute to your employer sponsored retirement fund. Make increasing your overall savings a part of your regular financial routine so it becomes second-nature; your future self will thank you.
5. Assess and Adjust Annually
Once you’ve established your retirement savings and investment plans, it’s best to take a watchful approach. Check on your investments from time to time and make periodic adjustments, keeping in mind that investing is a long game so it’s best not to make rash changes based on short-term fluctuations in the market.
Origin Bank offers a number of personal savings and money market accounts to help you invest for your future, and our Trusted Advisors are available to help answer your retirement planning questions. Contact us online or call us 24/7 toll free at 1-888-292-4037.