Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Magazine | Page 28

SAVING FOR RETIREMENT
Little Things Make
Big Things Happen
A
varsity coach of mine often
said that little things make
big things happen. In many
sporting events, particularly
Indiana high school basketball,
a lot of games are won (and lost) by a
small margin of only one or two points.
While the outcome of the game is usually
remembered by the last few minutes of
intense play, the final winning score is
truly the outcome of every minute both
teams were on the court. Every possession
counts when your team has the ball and
those “little things” that happened early
on in the game ultimately impact the
end result of the game which is the “big
thing” the team is striving for. Whether
it’s a cross-town rivalry win, a winning
record for the season or a championship
title, something that seems insignificant in
the moment becomes clearly significant as
time ticks off the game clock.
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Sports are a great analogy in any area of our
life where we are pursuing success, where
we are pursuing the “win.” Retirement
planning and investing for you and your
employees are no different. However, the
“win” at the end of this effort is likely more
important to you and your families than a
winning sports record! The day is coming
when you won’t earn a paycheck from
your employer anymore, and time tends
to slip away faster than we would like it
too. In fact, I haven’t met anyone yet who
arrives in retirement and says, “I saved
too much money” or “I started saving too
early.” The opposite is usually true and a
common regret for many people is that
they wish they would have started saving
and investing sooner in life. Unfortunately,
you can’t go back in time and change the
past, and that’s ok. Let’s look forward.
Today, you can make positive decisions and
changes that may substantially improve the
potential for building your retirement “nest
BY: DANIEL TODD
FINANCIAL ADVISOR,
INVESTMENT ADVISER REPRESENTATIVE
egg” into more spendable and enjoyable
income in retirement. This is where good
financial advisors get excited because
we love to help people align every dollar
they are saving today with the future
that they would like to live in tomorrow.
Good financial advisors are also very well
educated on the “little things” you can do
today that will better align your retirement
savings for a possible 20, 30 or even 40
years in retirement. That’s a “big thing!”
Let’s get started!
If your company has a retirement plan
such as a 401k, 403b, Simple IRA or another
savings plan, you have laid the foundation
for you and your eligible employees to
accumulate wealth for use in retirement. If
you have a “company match” and/or “profit
sharing” available to plan participants,
there is an even stronger foundation and
potential to accumulate savings over time.