By: Joe Caputo | Chief Information Officer and Associate Portfolio Manager
Investing at an early age is now more important than ever. With pensions becoming a thing of the past and uncertainty surrounding the future of Social Security, self-funding your own retirement plan is essential. The right investment plan can better position you to retire comfortably.
BWFA not only helps meet the needs of retirees and pre-retirees, who have already built their retirement nest eggs, but also assists individuals and young families who are just beginning to plan their financial futures. Without the proper investment plan, achieving life’s milestones can be difficult or even impossible. You might be considering how you’ll pay for:
- Your children’s college education
- A new home
- A new business
- Your retirement
If you’ve already figured out how to meet your family’s everyday needs, you’re ready to establish a sound retirement investment plan and consider how to build personal wealth. Too often, people younger than 35 feel they are not in a position to invest for the future. However, beginning to save for retirement is easier to accomplish if you phase in the savings. Here are some practical steps to help you:
- Use systematic savings. We’ve found that clients have greater success saving if they “pay themselves first.” in other words, have your savings automatically deposited into your retirement account from your pay-check, before these potential savings can be spent out in the marketplace.
- Reduce your payroll withholdings on Form W-4 (only if you received a tax refund last year) to free up funds that can then be saved.
- Pay down high-interest-rate credit cards. The interest you are paying to credit card companies could instead be augmenting your savings.
- Review your discretionary spending (dinners out, entertainment, etc.) and decide where you can reduce expenditures.
- Allocate to savings at least a portion of any pay increase, bonus, or unexpected windfall you receive.
BWFA has the knowledge and strategies you need to create your own retirement savings plan and achieve your financial goals. Our Wealth Accumulation platform can provide you with a diversified portfolio that is customized to match your investment objective, risk tolerance, and time horizon. We use low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds to help you build your wealth in an IRA or in a regular investment account. When the thrill of saving becomes more important than the thrill of spending, you’ll know you have begun to walk down the path to successful retirement planning.
At BWFA, there is no minimum account balance to start, so why not make investing a priority in your life today?