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Planning for the ages: It's never to early - or late - to set financial goals

By Iris Taylor

Media General News Service

Published: September 16, 2008

Are you financially ready for retirement? A lot of Americans aren't.

The younger generations aren't even thinking about it, said John MacDonald, spokesman for the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

"Younger people have other things on their mind," he said. "Generally, [the institute's] research indicates that a large number of working Americans are not prepared for retirement."

Americans' confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement has dropped to its lowest level in seven years, according to the institute's 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey.

Thirty-two percent of workers age 45 and older said they weren't even saving for retirement when the survey was conducted.

Yet, according to financial experts, every generation should be doing something to plan for the Golden Years.

They should try to save and invest even in today's bleak economic environment with stocks plummeting, gasoline prices fluctuating, home foreclosures spiraling, jobs disappearing, food and healthcare costs rising and consumer debt surging.

Financial advisers say that despite these hurdles, here's what people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s should be doing to save and invest now in order to have a comfortable retirement later:

20-somethings

Quick tips: Make a retirement plan. Create a budget. Save half your age percentagewise and save your raises.

Make a simple, written statement about what you want to accomplish, said Jeff Harris, owner of the Harrisonburg investment advisory firm Jeff Harris & Associates Inc.

Jot down, for example, that you want your money to grow at least 8 percent on average annually so that you can have the funds necessary to enjoy retirement.

Create a budget, advised the MetLife Retirement Strategies Group in New York. You may hate the B-word. But you need a spending and savings plan or you might wind up deep in debt living from paycheck to paycheck.

A budget tells you where to put each dollar of your paycheck, including buying fun stuff.

Start saving early. If you start saving $3,000 per year at 25 and your investments earn 8 percent annually, you'll have nearly $800,000 by age 65, MetLife said. Every time you get a raise, stash it away or invest it aggressively.

Try to save up to three months of expenses in a separate, easy-to-access emergency fund, said Chad Olivier, an independent Baton Rouge, La. certified financial planner.

Stuff happens. You could lose your job, have an accident or your clunker could conk out. You don't want to sink into debt trying to pay your way out of an emergency.

Look for the cheapest rates on student loans, car loans, a mortgage and credit cards, Olivier said. That's saved money.

Get some free money by joining your company's 401(k) plan and putting in enough for your company to match what you contribute. That, plus your emergency fund, count toward saving at least 10 percent of your income, said Gordon Holmes, a MetLife senior financial planner in Indianapolis.

30-somethings

Quick tips: Pay yourself first. Protect your most valuable asset - you. Don't buy a house until you're ready.

By now, you're welcoming children into your life and may, if you're financially ready, have bought your first home. Buying one can be a good investment.

Still strive to save half your age percentage-wise, MetLife said. If you're 30, for instance, that means saving 15 percent of your salary.

But don't get crazy if you can't.

"Start out with whatever amount you can," maybe 3 percent, Harris said. "Start somewhere and build on it."

If you are married, your spouse can help.

Keep up your emergency fund. This decade is when you're vulnerable to sudden job loss, home repair and surprise medical expenses.

Keep those savings in a money-market or other account that won't penalize you for withdrawals.

Protect your family, nest egg and future earnings power by purchasing the appropriate amount of life, health and disability insurance.

Don't buy a house unless you're ready. Too much debt from a mortgage - principal, insurance, taxes, maintenance, maybe association dues - plus new furnishings along with your car payment and the baby can be a killer.

Definitely don't get a mortgage with a payment that resets and increases later.

Stop fretting about the kids' college fund, MetLife advised.

Remember that financial aid, work-study, scholarships and grants can help get them through. There may be no such aid for you when you retire. Don't shortchange yourself.

40-somethings

Quick tips: Max out your 401(k) plan. Invest aggressively. Figure out what year you'll need to start withdrawing retirement income.

In your 40s, you're probably still changing jobs, helping your youngsters grow into responsible adults and maybe thinking about how prepared you are for retirement.

Maximize contributions to your non-taxable investment portfolio, whether it's your 401(k) plan or IRAs, advised Russell Lundeberg, chief investment officer and principal at Barrett Capital Management in the Richmond, Va., area.

Think ahead. How soon after retiring do you think you'll need to start taking money out? The answer to that question dictates how aggressively you should invest now, he said.
Everyone has a different investment time horizon based on their expenses, not just their age, Lundeberg said.

Stay diversified and balanced in your investment portfolio. As you get closer to retirement, modify your portfolio by reducing riskier assets, he said.

50-somethings

Quick tips: Pay off your high-interest credit card debt. Pay down your mortgage. Catch up your 401(k) contributions.

Get rid of your credit card debt - and avoid accumulating new debt, MetLife's Holmes said.
Try to have all of it paid off before you retire. Also, call your creditors and ask for a lower credit-card rate.

Move toward paying off your home by retirement, he said.

Play catch up if your 401(k) contributions are lagging. The Internal Revenue Service lets you save more than the regular contribution to your employer-sponsored plan now that you've reached 50.

Make sure your retirement portfolio has a mix of about 60/40, equities to fixed-income products such as bonds, said Kelly Campbell, a certified financial planner who is founder of Campbell Wealth Management in Fairfax.

Rebalance your investment portfolio annually.

Curb your spending. "If you choose to spend more and enjoy a higher lifestyle, obviously it's going to be harder to set money aside," Harris said.

Don't raid your retirement plan when you need money, Harris said.
"You won't have enough to retire on. The odds are extremely high that you will never put any of that money back."

60-somethings

Quick tips: Don't be ultra-conservative with your investments. Don't sweat the slow economy. Adjust your thinking about investment returns.

If you're within a year or two of retirement, you don't just flip a switch one day and get out of stocks and into bonds, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

"It's like the gradual descent of an airplane. You're going to gradually grow more conservative. The day you retire, you could be looking at 25-30 years in front of you," he said.

During that period, "your biggest enemy is not market volatility or a recession. It's inflation." Inflation cuts your borrowing power, he said.

Have an adequate dose of stocks so you can preserve the buying power of your money throughout your golden years.

Don't get ultra-conservative or panic and switch heavily into fixed-income products for safety, Campbell said. "You will not outpace inflation. You need 8 percent to outpace inflation."

Your portfolio could contain up to 70/30 stocks to bonds, if you're risk tolerant even if your near retirement, Campbell said.

On the day you retire, at least half your retirement money should be in stocks, McBride said. "What else is going to preserve your buying power until you're 95?"

Don't sweat the slow economy, McBride said.

Investing for retirement "has nothing to do with the slow economy. If you don't need the money for 30 years, you don't need safety, you need higher returns."