Itâs understandable, given the many hats plan sponsors wear, that mistakes will be made. The challenge is to not dwell on them, but to have a reasoned and determined process to address and correct them.
Education
As you reach your seventh decade (that would be turning age 60 for those who forgot your first decade includes only your single digit years), you find yourself fast approaching that universal goal line known as âretirement.â Donât let the nearness to the final goal may fool you into inaction.
Thanks in part to media reporting, retirement savers objectives are often misplaced. Striving for a high return or outpacing a particular index does not make for a successful retirement savings strategy.
âWhile it is preferable to start at a young age, you are never too old to start making good financial decisions. If you have made mistakes in the past, it is important that you recognize where you went wrong, and start taking the proper steps to fix any issues you may have created, so that you can move towards a healthier financial state.â
Comprehending the tax code is not an activity for the faint of heart and most retirement savers would faint if they saw the actual codebook. The problem with current tax code is that it may not be the same in the future. This realization can have profound impact on the retirement savings strategy one undertakes.
Quite the opposite from being âover the hill,â those in their forties may find theyâre still slogging up hill in terms of saving for retirement.
Itâs often difficult for those not immersed in the everyday concerns of retirement saving to know what to ask (let alone how to interpret the answers). Itâs up to plan sponsors and the service providers they employ to guide plan participants along the proper route.
This is the decade in which retirement savers need to accelerate their savings efforts in order to take full advantage of the positive impact time has on the growth of that savings.
Itâs not rocket science, but itâs not easy â either saving in the first place and then investing for the long-term, which means 20-year olds better be as comfortable riding the market as much as they are riding an amusement park roller coaster.
Remember, itâs not what you know thatâs important, itâs knowing that you donât know whatâs important thatâs important.
