Retirement Planning is a Life-long Endeavor

by

Michael S. McGee

The important thing is to be focused on your objective while you keep moving in the right direction.

Slow and Steady

Start with a small savings account; deposit the minimum amount that the bank will allow without charging fees. Some banks don’t have a minimum as long as you have a checking account too. Check around. Small deposits are better than none at all. If you think you are unable to save money because your bills exceed you income, think again. What if you just deposit $1.00 to your savings account this week? Maybe you will have a good week and be able to deposit $5.00 next week. Every little bit helps. If this is all you can do right now, your goal is simply to have more in your savings account than you had before.

Do not be discouraged if you are not able to save a lot when you are young. The important thing is to be disciplined enough to save whatever you can. If your bills exceed your income, you won’t be able to pay them all anyway! You might as well hold back a little for yourself. Of course things cannot go on this way forever. You will need to look for ways to cut back on expenses while also searching for better employment.

Picking up the Pace

As you get into a good habit of saving money and things improve; you get a raise or complete your education to become qualified for a higher paying job, you will find that you are able to increase your deposits to your savings account. This should be a priority over a more expensive apartment, new car or the big screen TV. Savings and lifestyle are both important; your savings should increase as the quality of your lifestyle improves.

The next step is to see what the minimum deposit is for a CD which gets a little more interest than a savings account. Usually, the interest is better if you open a longer term CD, but be careful. If the rate isn’t too much better, you will be further ahead with a short term CD, just in case the rates increase. You don’t want your money to be tied up in a 5-year CD at today’s rates if they should increase significantly in the next couple years.

Once you have enough money in the bank to sustain you for 3 6 months should something unfortunate happen, like injury or job loss, then you can think about other investments, like stocks or mutual funds. Remember to keep some money handy for a rainy day, but on the other hand, think of the long-term and invest wisely.

Michael McGee provides financial planning, retirement planning and financial advice to people of all ages and income levels, including young families, business owners, entrepreneurs and more. Michael can help you with everything from college planning to retirement planning, establishing a 529 college savings plan, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, 401-K, family savings and more. Learn more at http://retirementplanningoaklandcounty.blogspot.com/

Michael S. McGee provides financial planning, retirement planning and financial advice

everyone, including average people who work hourly rate jobs, small business owners, self-employed entrepreneurs, affluent individuals, corporations, associations and foundations. Michael works with young families to establish college plans for their children and savings and retirement plans for their own futures.

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