Since 2020 members of the Ruedi Wealth team have been writing weekly investing and retirement planning columns for our local newspaper, The News-Gazette.
According to the most recent data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans saved just 2.6% of their disposable incomes in the month of April. Is that enough to put them on a path to retirement?
Savers often get stuck choosing between investing their money or paying off debt. There are many things that must be considered when making this decision, both the objective mathematical considerations and also the human emotional side as well.
As retirement planners, we have to recognize the uncertainty of returns and make sure our clients’ financial goals are not derailed by something like a perfectly normal bear market. For this reason, we have to “stress test” any financial plan we build against a wide range of possible outcomes.
If you want to chip away at a monumental savings goal like funding a retirement, you can’t simply hope to save here and there when it is convenient. It won’t be done in a single year or lump sum. You will need to plan for years or decades of consistent saving before you notice any material progress towards such a big goal.
What happens if you do everything right to prepare for retirement, only to get unlucky with below-average stock returns during retirement?
Fortunately, despite all the moving parts, the options couples have for claiming Social Security are actually less complicated than most would think.