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As healthcare technology advances and we learn more about human health, people live longer lives. Currently, the average person lives to 77. Even if you only live to your late 70s, you'll need a retirement fund that will be sufficient to support you for a minimum of 15 years. If you live longer, you'll need even more retirement savings. This is a concern that affects millions of Americans because very few people really save enough to retire on time. Learning more about this retirement crisis will give you the information you need to make changes now to ensure you can fully retire later.
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How the Retirement Crisis is Affecting the Average Senior
The practical effects of the retirement crisis on seniors can be seen when looking at the number of retirement-age adults who are still working. Some seniors prefer to work in their full-time positions past age 62 to compensate for their insufficient funds. Working full-time for longer means you'll need less money to retire on, and you'll have a few more years of saving and investing. Working an extra five years can help older adults give them enough to retire on in a crunch.
Other older adults seek out part-time jobs to compensate for their insufficient retirement wealth. If you choose this path, you might find it necessary to continue working a part-time job indefinitely. You won't be able to fully retire because you'll still need to rely on that extra income to supplement the wealth you have accumulated for retirement.
The best alternative is to create a better plan earlier in life to make sure you will have enough wealth to retire on. In creating an investing strategy, you should calculate a retirement goal that will help you meet your post-retirement financial obligations. This means having enough money saved to cover your normal living expenses, recreational activities, medical care, and any assisted living services you might need as an older adult.
What You Can Do to Make Sure You Have Enough For Retirement
Here are a few tips to help you develop a better investing strategy. In addition to helping you reach your goal earlier in life, these suggestions can help you protect the wealth you grow through the years.
Pay Down Your Debt
Depending on your stage in life, you might already have amassed significant debt. This is the time to pay it off. Once you pay off your debts, avoid amassing more unsecured debt and use that extra disposable income to save for your retirement. The snowball method is the most popular debt reduction strategy because it allows you to increase your disposable income as you pay off more debt. Alternatively, you can pay off the debts with the highest interest first. This can also save you money by reducing your interest payments.
Start Saving Now
As soon as your debts have been settled, you should start saving for retirement. As a good practice, you should save 15% of your annual salary for retirement. You can tell if you're on track to reach your retirement goals by using the following benchmarks:
Plan to Downsize
As you get older, you should have a plan for downsizing your lifestyle. This might include selling your home and buying a smaller house or condo. Get rid of unnecessary subscriptions and memberships. Look for more ways that you can live comfortably on less since spending less will help you stretch your retirement dollars further.
Diversify Your Investments
As you begin amassing wealth through your retirement investments, you should alter your investing strategy. Instead of devoting all of your savings to a high-risk/high-yield strategy, some of your wealth should be put into less aggressive investments. For example, precious metals offer steadier growth with lower risks. If a market crash or recession affects your 401k investments, your gold and silver holdings will be protected. Early in life, invest up to 15% of your savings in precious metals. As you get older, you should protect as much as 30% of your savings in precious metals.
Use Precious Metals to Diversify Investments
There are a couple of different ways that you can use your 401k funds to diversify your investments with precious metals. The easiest method is to look for stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs that deal strictly with gold and silver investments. These options allow you to indirectly invest in gold and silver by holding an interest in companies that discover, mine, and process precious metals. While this option allows you to enjoy some of the benefits of investing in precious metals, you won't experience the advantages of owning your own gold and silver products.
Unfortunately, you can't use your 401k funds to buy precious metals directly. However, you can roll those funds over into a self-directed IRA. Once the self-directed IRA is funded, you use that money to buy IRS-approved bars and coins. The gold and silver products you buy must be overseen by an IRA custodian and stored in a depository that has been approved by the IRS. While this might seem like a complex process, it's simplified when you work with a reputable precious metals IRA company. The company's customer service representatives will help you choose an IRA custodian, roll your 401k funds over, and determine which precious metals will best help you reach your retirement goals.
The Top 3 Precious Metals IRA Companies
There are plenty of precious metals IRA companies, but they are not all equal in the quality of service they offer. To choose the company that will best fulfill your needs, try to focus on the top three companies listed below.
Augusta Precious Metals (WINNER)
It's easy to see why more people choose Augusta Precious Metals when you look at the high rating they consistently earn from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB site and many other consumer support websites can help you read the vast number of positive reviews the company has earned. Investors love them because they offer extensive customer support from the moment a new customer opens an account with them. If you decide to work with them, they will assist you with setting up your self-directed IRA and conducting your rollover. They also offer an extensive media library that will help you learn about investing in gold and silver.
#2. Goldco
Another established precious metals company with a history of serving satisfied customers is Goldco. In spite of their name, they offer other precious metals in addition to gold. They will provide you with a free informational kit when you contact them about starting an account with the company. Their customer support team will help you set up your rollover and get started in buying precious metals.
Like the other companies on the list, Goldco partners with self-directed IRA custodians and U.S. depositories. Their partnerships help simplify the process of investing in precious metals and storing them in compliance with IRS regulations. They also offer a wide range of educational materials to make it easier to learn about gold and silver investing.
You'll find comprehensive customer support with this company as well. They have maintained high ratings and positive reviews throughout their years of service in the precious metals market. In addition to offering outstanding customer service, another advantage of working with this company is their transparent fee schedule. They started out as a small family business, so they value honesty and transparency in dealing with their customers. You'll know all of their fees in advance, and they try to keep those administrative costs low to help their customers get the most out of their investments.
Their educational resources are developed by professionals in the industry, and they provide up-to-date market information. Their relationship-oriented approach is designed to help every customer reach their retirement investing goals. As a new customer, you'll have access to a dedicated customer service representative who can answer all of your questions about your account and investing in the precious metals market.
Conclusion
It's important to try to anticipate every financial need as you plan for your retirement. From covering your living expenses to dealing with medical care, you might need more than you anticipate. When you invest in precious metals, your holdings will continue to grow in value even after you start your retirement. This means you'll have a little extra wealth to cover unexpected costs for medical care or assisted living services. In short, your gold and silver holdings will help you fund your retirement for longer.