When you and your partner are at a certain point in your relationship, you need to get serious about your financial future. It’s best to work as a team.
This is a great way to get on track more quickly and efficiently. Couples really benefit from a team mindset because it’s likely that when it comes to retirement, each person brings different strengths (and weaknesses) to the relationship.
brides.com’s recent article, “How to Plan for Retirement as a Couple,” says that if you’re realistic about how much you need and you spend the time to see what options are available, you’ll be in a better place to move forward. Let’s look at what you need to know about saving for retirement as a couple.
Examine the situation for both of you. You may not have the same savings options available to both of you. One of your employers may have a great match and the other doesn’t, one of you is an entrepreneur and has access to a SEP IRA, which allows you to save for retirement while sheltering up to 25% of your income (up to $53,000 in 2018) from taxes. When you’re a couple, you want to look at all of your options to get a broader picture.
Consider how you want to retire. Be realistic about what you want from your retirement, and what kind of retirement lifestyle you expect to have. It seems so far off, but the sooner you can start saving and investing, the better off you’ll be.
Calculate the amount of money you’ll need. Knowing how much money you’ll need to live comfortably in retirement and how much to save now, depends on your current age, current savings, expected retirement lifestyle and life expectancy. Most of these variables are hard to predict. You can use an online calculator to determine roughly how much you need to save today to replace your income, when you’re in retirement.
Planning for retirement makes many people feel queasy, but it needs to be done. Making some small sacrifices now, can completely change the way you live in later life. Don’t delay. The sooner you start saving, the more time your money will have to work for you.
Reference: brides.com (June 1, 2018) “How to Plan for Retirement as a Couple”
Kyle Robbins
Kyle Robbins is the founder and sole owner of The Law
Offices of Kyle Robbins. He received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.S. in Food Chemistry and Microbiology from Oklahoma State University.
Rate this Post
Loading...