Top 6 Tips For Protecting Your Retirement Portfolio

A secure retirement is a goal for many people. The recession and an uncertain financial future have caused many people to question their savings plans. In this article, we will discuss the top 6 tips that you can use to build a solid foundation for your retirement portfolio.

Start A 401(k) And/Or An IRA

This one seems obvious enough but considering how many people don’t even deign to open up a simple savings account (here’s looking at you, millennials), then it seems like a good idea to remind everyone about the benefits of these investments.

Both are incredibly easy ways for workers both employed and self-employed to save money every year towards their retirement portfolio; what makes them stand out is how much money can be saved annually through their tax benefits. 401(k)s offer an immediate tax deduction on the total amount contributed per year, while IRA accounts offer a significant tax-deferred interest rate on the same annual contributions up to $5,500 for individuals under 50 or $6,500 for those over that age bracket.

Gold IRA accounts are also excellent safeguards against uncertainties in the economy during retirement. There are plenty of online resources, guides, and reviews if you want to find out more about gold IRA, standard IRA, or 401(k) account options. It’s not enough that you are contemplating starting these investments.

Another crucial factor here is timeliness. The earlier you start your investments, the better you can establish and diversify your assets for your eventual retirement.

Take Advantage Of A Roth IRA – If You’re Eligible

The caveat of investing in a 401(k), is that when it comes time to take out money during retirement – you will have to pay taxes on all gains earned in your account. If this sounds like something you want to avoid at all costs, then consider rolling your 401(k) into a Roth IRA where the funds can be withdrawn tax-free during retirement. To be eligible for this, your adjusted gross income needs to fall below $117,000 (single) or $184,000 (married filing jointly).

Invest In A Well-Balanced Portfolio

If you have all of your money in an S&P 500 fund, then you are putting all of your eggs in one basket and taking on significantly more risk than is necessary for this investment strategy. If the market corrects by 50%, which has been known to happen from time to time, then you will lose half of your nest egg instantly! This isn’t a joke! It’s important that diversification be part of any sound investment plan. The easiest way to spread out investments is through low-cost index funds, where the fees involved factor into their future performance less and less. These funds offer diversity and ease of maintenance, speeding up the process of putting together a diverse portfolio.

Stay Away From Penny Stocks And High-Risk Funds

One would think that it’d be best to take on as much risk as possible in order to squeeze out every ounce of growth (and return) from your investments, but this is detrimental thinking for retirement portfolios. You see, when you start investing for retirement – you should stop seeing your nest egg as an asset to gain maximum value from and start seeing it as your source of income that needs to be protected at all costs. This means that it’s crucial that you intend on retiring before trying to invest for retirement because being unaware of this shift in thinking is how people end up investing with absolutely no clue what they’re doing and consequently lose everything.

Start Investing As Early As Possible And Use The Power Of Compounding Interest

Both of these tips are woefully underutilized by most people but are the single best way to ensure that your retirement portfolio will provide you with a decent income when it’s needed. The power of compounding interest is so strong that even someone starting at age 25, saving $500 per year into an index fund with 7% growth would have over $1 million saved by age 55! That same person, but only saving $250 per year, would be short $250,000 by that same age. Only investing early allows you to benefit from the power of compounding interest which is why it’s so crucial to start saving as early as possible.

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize: Retirement

Lastly and possibly the most important tip of all is that you must keep your eyes on the prize: your retirement. This means not thinking about how much money you’re going to make next week by selling everything and moving into a shack in the mountains with no connection to society – I mean, unless that’s what you want to do with your life.. but if it isn’t, then remember to treat your nest egg as your retirement fund and nothing else. By doing so, you’ll be less likely to do something stupid like invest everything in the latest get-rich-quick scheme because it’s so much more than just money – it’s your future.

All of these tips are designed to help you more efficiently protect your retirement fund and ensure that it exists for a very long time. Taking these steps will give you a better chance at living comfortably during your golden years, so don’t hesitate to implement them into your life as soon as possible!