Rice Business Report April Rice Business Report 2019 | Page 23

RICE BUSINESS REPORT APRIL 2019
Retirement Planning: 4 Simple Steps
For many, nearing retirement age can get frustrating and confusing. Many fail to properly get their fi-
nances in order to be able to enjoy retired life and thus, frustration takes root and tolls heavily on the
person. being forty-five or fifty-five, very few people are satisfied with what they have saved for their
retirement days. The list of regrets may not end there. Without getting an early start, many things can
go wrong. Those that well into their forties and fifties are bound to lag behind. So, here are some practi-
cal and simple steps to getting really into retirement planning if you're a professional, business owner or
just someone who cares about the future!
Firstly, the lessons of life are learned by personal experience or by the experience of others. Smart peo-
ple learn from the latter in order to never experience bad situations after retirement. The very first les-
son to learn about retirement planning is to start saving sooner rather than later. It's not complicated
and it doesn't require you to be a finance guru either. With some willpower, guidelines, and knowledge,
planning your retirement can be easy, convenient and above all, blissful
Invest
Every paycheck should have about fifteen percent invested into retirement. It can be a savings account
or a small side business that, if managed properly, can become something to rely on later on. Retire-
ment saving goals are great but enjoying less of your income today would enable you to afford expenses
tomorrow! Forget about your employer's retirement plan, your own gross income must have this per-
cent stashed away in any form for the golden years ahead.
Recognize Spending Requirements
Being realistic about post-retirement expenditures will drastically help in acquiring a truer picture of
what kind of retirement portfolio to adopt. For instance, most people would argue that their expenses
after retirement would amount to seventy or eighty percent of what have been spending previously. As-
sumptions can prove untrue or unrealistic especially if mortgages have not been paid off or if medical
emergencies occur. So, to better manage retirement plans, it's vital to have a firm understanding of
what to expect, expense-wise!
Don't Keep All the Eggs in One Basket
This is the single biggest risk to take that there is for a retiree. Putting all money into one place can be
disastrous for obvious reasons and it's almost never recommended, for instance, in single stock invest-
ments. If it hits, it hits. If it doesn't, it may never be back. However, mutual funds in large and easily rec-
ognizable new brands may be worth if potential growth or aggressive growth, growth, and income is
seen. Smart investment is key here.
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