To begin your retirement investor portfolio, the beginner investor asks the following question: "How much do I need to have in my portfolio to comfortably retire?" It is not easy to come up with this future dollar amount! There are many factors that influence the answer: age at retirement, your present income, your retirement lifestyle, and how aggressively you wish to build your retirement investor portfolio.
Planning your retirement investor portfolio is one of the most important financial decisions you will make in your lifetime. It is easy to get caught up in the financial needs of the present and put off thinking about how you will manage financially once you hit retirement age. Most of us cannot afford to rely on any one entity or company benefit to shield us from the financial expectations and obligations of retirement; we must grab the retirement bull by the horns and make sure that we will be financially prepared and comfortable on that first day of our retirement.
Planning your retirement investor portfolio is one of the most important financial decisions you will make in your lifetime. It is easy to get caught up in the financial needs of the present and put off thinking about how you will manage financially once you hit retirement age. Most of us cannot afford to rely on any one entity or company benefit to shield us from the financial expectations and obligations of retirement; we must grab the retirement bull by the horns and make sure that we will be financially prepared and comfortable on that first day of our retirement.
The Basic Types of Retirement Plans
There are different types of ways to save up for your retirement they include employer offered plans, government retirement plans and individually sponsored retirement plans. They all have excellent retirement investor incentives. Two plans you may run across as a beginner in retirement investing are the 401k and the IRA.
401k
This is a voluntary retirement plan that is often offered by employers to their employees. This plan allows for a set amount of your pretax pay to be set aside as a retirement investment. The funds and the growth on those funds are not taxed until your withdraw the funds at retirement. Most employers will match your contributions or match a percent of your contributions each year. There are restrictions that apply to when and how you can withdraw from your 401k without suffering penalties. You do the management of this type of fund.
IRA
This plan allows an annual contribution of 100% of earned income but only to a specified maximum amount. Traditional IRA's may be deducted from income tax, depending on your income and any coverage that your employer has sponsored if any. Depending on the type of IRA you have selected the earnings may be tax-differed or even tax-free. You have to investigate each type of IRA to determine the tax and income benefit of each before selecting what type fits your portfolio best.
As always there are professionals in the Investment field that can help and guide you through the multiple choices available to you. You should take advantage of this help always remembering that what you do today will definitely have an impact on your lifestyle at retirement. Starting as early as possible is the key along with systematic savings. If you tithe to your church then by all means tithe for your future and that of your family. A comfortable old age is your goal. As worry free as possible.
