Retirement Planning Blog

Friends and coworkers often ask me how they should get started investing. The quick and easy answer is: contribute to your 401(k). It's the best deal going (especially if your employer matches your contributions) and having fewer investment options makes it easier to stick to a plan. But if you are already doing that and want to put a little extra money aside or to gain some skills investing in the larger market, a Roth IRA is a great place to do it.

Great tax benefits aside, there are fewer restrictions for withdrawing contributions from a Roth IRA compared to a 401(k) or traditional IRA (rules are different for funds converted from a regular IRA, so consult with a financial professional before making any decisions). For those who resent the idea of saving today's money for a far-away retirement, this flexibility makes a Roth an easier sell. Just don't call it a retirement account.

There are limits on how much you can contribute to a Roth IRA each year, and not everyone can own one. This is not an account for the top 1% or even the top 5% of earners. But if you are just starting out and hope to join the ranks of the wealthy, your future self will thank you for investing in a Roth IRA.

I'm not someone who flits from job to job, but I have had more than a few in my career. With each new job, I have to make a decision about what to do with my previous employer's 401(k). At first, I would move the money into the plan at my new company. But when one company went bust, and I lost my job without warning, I set up a rollover IRA and moved the money there. Now when I leave a job, I have a place to put my funds.

Moving money with you to the new job's 401(k) is a fine strategy, particularly if you really like the investment options offered by your new employer. (It's also nice to see a healthy balance in your 401(k) -- it always makes me feel my retirement is on track.) But in a rollover IRA I can invest in whatever I choose, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and real estate investments. That's a lot of freedom, and it's not for everyone. But I could just as easily put my money into a plain-vanilla S&P 500 index fund, which tracks the larger market. But that's only one benefit. I mostly like the ease of having one consolidated account allows me to keep track of my performance, fees and diversification. A rollover IRA does that.

As of March of next year, Social Security payments will go electronic. The U.S. Treasury says as of 2013, all Social Security and other government funds will be delivered electronically.

You'd think the over-60 set might be worried about receiving funds electronically, but the Treasury reports that 90 percent of recipients already do, and today's new accounts are automatically electronic. In fact, paperless Social Security is safer for retirees. A Treasury Department official says that more than half a million paper federal benefit checks were reported lost or stolen in 2010. It's also a cost saver. The government expects to save $120 million a year under the electronic system.

I think it's great that the government is improving the efficiency of how Social Security works (although this can't be good for the Postal Service). What do you think? Will retirees miss the regular trips to the bank?

Have you ever tried to use one of those retirement savings calculators on financial websites? I've sampled quite a few, and I personally find them frustrating. They require a lot of information, the kind of information that I don't have at my fingertips or can't answer (will you get Social Security? Um, I hope so?) and the results are often confusing. I can have $1 million at age 65 if I invest X and get Y percent return. But will $1 million be enough?

You can try to estimate the amount you will need to retire. Say I want to retire at 60. Knowing the average life expectancy in the U.S. (78 in 2011) and my family history, I expect to live until about 85. But I'll round up just in case and decide I'll live until at least age 90. That's 30 years I will need to fund with my retirement savings. Say I think I can live on $50,000 a year, adjusted for future inflation. That's 30 x 50,000, meaning I need $1.5 million to reach my goal. That's my number. So what do I do with that information?

I have no idea what I need to do to reach that number, so for now I'm doing as much as I can. And when anyone asks me how much they should be saving for retirement, I offer the same advice: start by saving whatever you can.

Each year at around this time I receive a call from my accountant. I know exactly what she is going to say: "You owe tax."

Yes, my accountant waits until almost the last minute to tell me this. But, as a freelancer, I have come to expect owing the IRS at the end of the year. She always offers me two options: I can pay the IRS all of the taxes I owe, but if I want to reduce my tax bill, I can contribute a certain amount to an individual retirement account (IRA).

I always choose to put a little more in my IRA and give less to the IRS. I think of it as paying myself first, and the funds do add up. And the IRS encourages you to do this, by giving you until April 15, 2012 to make contributions to an IRA for 2011. So now's the time to look into these accounts.

For all the emotional stress a long term care stay can cause, the financial strain can be equally as disturbing. Despite decades-long diligent saving, an uninsured nursing home stay can wipe out a substantial amount of a retiree's net worth.  Although many think Medicare or Medicaid will help them stave off financial hardship, the truth is far grimmer. Learn how long term care can wreck your retirement if you aren't careful.

As a result of the recent debt deal, everything - even Social Security - will be on the table as a possible way to close the enormous budget gap.

For most people, a mortgage is their biggest monthly bill.  Although few realize it at first, their mortgage also represents one of their biggest savings each month. Since a part - a growing part - of every mortgage payment represents the repayment of principal, part of that big monthly bill is actually savings.  At the end of the typical 30-year mortgage, you'll own your home free and clear.  Depending on what happens to the value of your home over that time, you might find yourself with quite an asset.

While a mortgage is certainly no substitute for a 401(k) or IRA, it's certainly better than that other big monthly bill - the credit card.

Is your mortgage part of your retirement plan?

Many of your Congressional representatives have been forced to show their true color as a result of the bickering and bartering over the new debt deal.  With that in mind, which political party do you think is doing the right thing for current retirees?  (I asked a very similar question about current retirees in a past poll.)

It's impossible to predict the financial markets. Why? Sure, economists can do a good job explaining what has already happened.  But with millions of variables, it's impossible to credibly and repeatedly predict how things will move going forward.  Does that mean you should give up on trying to do the smart thing with you investments?

Hardly.

Instead, be sure to follow proven strategies.  Although proven strategies such as periodic rebalancing won't make you immediately rich, they can do wonders to keep you from losing your shirt.  Learn how periodically rebalancing forces you to sell high and buy low.