Many of us set goals for 2014 and beyond, saving for retirement or retiring early should be on the list.  If you don’t plan, you may have to depend on others or the government for your retirement.

Don’t delay, we are on the verge of a Retirement Crisis in America.

Both Social Security and Medicare are extremely underfunded.  If you are lucky enough to have a pension, will it continue to be paid and funded?

More and more, investors need to save and invest on their own to secure their lifestyle in retirement.  Follow us on Facebook for more great information.

Here are some tools and resources to help you hit your retirement goals faster:

• Make saving and investing a priority and track your progress at least yearly.
• Automate good behavior, habits and processes around your plan – ie: set up a monthly auto-invest to place 20% of your income/paycheck into mutual funds.
• Track your spending with www.mint.com– it is a great free tool and resource.
• Live below your means and save at 15% to 25%+ of gross income.
• Pay off credit cards each month.  Pay cash for your car.
• Get a 15 year mortgage or make extra payments on a 30 year mortgage.  You pay it off faster and make sure you don’t overspend on your house.
• Set the goal to have your house paid off before you retire.
• Avoid Danger.  Learn about  7.5 Dangers That Can Destroy Your Net Worth!
• Get compounding working for you and your family.
• Fees matter!  Only hire a low cost, fee-only Advisor.  Get it in writing! This person must be a fiduciary for you 100% of the time!  85% of investors don’t understand this foundation of their Advisor relationship.
• Do you understand the “science of investing”?  Asset allocation determines about 90% of your portfolio return in any given year.  It is important to evaluate your portfolio by asset class performance and compare your performance to the appropriate benchmark.  Most active mutual fund managers fail to beat their benchmarks over 5 and 10 year periods.
• For do-it-yourself investors who have time, knowledge and significant discipline, we recommend low cost options like Vanguard or ETF’s.  Most investors need a coach, an objective, high quality 3rd party to help hit their goals.
• We believe a more optimal strategy is to build a global portfolio tilted toward value companies, small cap companies and companies with direct profitability.  We do this using a company called Dimensional Funds (DFA).  Click here to find out more regarding Why Dimensional (DFA) vs. Vanguard Funds.
• If you are unsure about your financial strategy, get a free 2nd opinion from a fee-only Advisor.

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Good Luck with your goals.  All the best in 2014.

Todd

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