Retirement Budgeting for the Long Haul

One thing that young investors have an advantage in, is time.  Young individuals have time in order to make mistakes towards saving and be able to bounce back from that mistake.  As a person gets older it is more important to make wise investment choices.  The best investment choice that a person can make is to choose to save or investment for retirement as soon as possible.  Retirement can last up to 30 years and unless retirement is planned carefully,then you may be forced to enter the job market again.

Budgeting part of your paycheck aside for retirementis the easiest method for savings, especially if it comes from your paycheck automatically.  However, there are some steps you may want to consider when budgeting with retirement as a goal.

• Get rid of extra expenses
  In order to budget with retirement in mind you need to be able to have some cushion in your budget. Consider finding the cushion in your budget by canceling some subscription that you no longer read, eating at home more, or choosing to walk to work once a week.   When you trim your budget to be comfortable, but not living beyond your means, then you can gauge how much to save.
• Plan on making things personal
  When it comes to budgets, one size does not fit all. A budget is very personal and it needs to be something that is simple but interesting to you.  The same applies if you choose to invest some of your retirement in the stock market.  You will need to choose stocks or mutual funds that are interesting to you which will give you incentive to watch the process of your investment.
• Get professional advice
  Research and find a financial planner that you trust. Even if you are a stock market genius you may want to find someone that does not have an emotional investment in the decisions in order to get unbiased feedback on investment choices.  Before employing an investment professional ask questions to determine how much return is average for their current portfolios.  That being said, if you have an investment professional who is currently working with you or has worked with you in the past and you believe that they took advantageof you, then reach out Thomas Law Group at to get a professional opinion if you may be able to gain representation.
• Understand your income sources
  There are a few areas that a person can gain an income from when they retire. One is their own savings and there needs to be a plan in place for using the savings wisely and not withdrawing too much too fast.  Another is to understand Social Security.  There is a difference in income amount when you take Social Security at 62 and when you take it at 72.  The longer that you wait to take Social Security the more income that you typically receive.  Lastly, don’t leave any past employer’s 401k behind.  If you do not roll over a 401k to an IRA you have no control over your asset.