Retirement Plan Participant

Lay the foundation for your financial future. Begin to contribute to your retirement plan and other savings vehicles, while establishing personal financial goals. Minimize your debt from credit cards and other sources. Starting early with proper planning can really pay off in the future. Time is your greatest asset at this point in your career.

At this age, you probably can afford to be aggressive with your investments. A potential portfolio mix would have 70% to 90% in aggressive options like stocks or stock mutual funds and the rest in conservative options like fixed income investments.

This should be the time of your highest earning and saving years. It is also a good time to reevaluate for your financial future while resisting the temptation to use retirement savings to meet current and near future obligations such as college tuition. Once you reach age 50 you can make “catch-up” (extra) contributions to your retirement plan.

As you get closer to retirement, consider reducing aggressive options and adding more conservative, income-producing investment options. A potential portfolio mix would have 50% to 70% in aggressive options like stocks or stock mutual funds and the rest in conservative options like fixed income investments.

This is a good time to adapt your budget to projected retirement income levels by gaining an understanding of your retirement benefits from your various retirement savings vehicles (401ks, IRAs,) and pensions (Social Security and private pensions). In addition, carefully reconsider your consumer debt and various insurance and how that will affect budgeting in retirement.

As you get closer to retirement, consider reducing aggressive options and adding more conservative, income-producing investment options. A potential portfolio mix would have 30% to 50% in aggressive options like stocks or stock mutual funds and the rest in conservative options like fixed income investments.

Now is the time to implement the planning you completed in pre-retirement. Continue relying on resources available to reaffirm your financial plan in retirement.

Determine a distribution strategy from your retirement plan that meets your goals while in retirement. If you plan to work part-time, find out how this will affect your benefits and your plan. Continue managing debt conservatively.

Lean towards conservative, income-producing investment options, but don’t rule out aggressive options. A potential portfolio mix would have 20% to 40% in aggressive options like stocks or stock mutual funds and the rest in conservative options like fixed income investments.