Setting Yourself Up For A Comfortable Retirement: What You Should Be Doing In Your 40s According To Financial Planner Darcy Bergen
Darcy Bergen Shares The Money Moves You Need To Make Today
In your 40s, the thought of retirement gets exciting. Suddenly, it’s not so far away anymore, and you want to make sure that you’re fully prepared to enjoy your golden years. In today’s complicated financial landscape, it can be tough to know whether you’re making the right choices when it comes to preparing for retirement. Financial planner Darcy Bergen is sharing how you can make smart financial moves now to fully prepare you to enjoy your life after you’ve finished a successful career.
First, Darcy Bergen recommends finding out exactly where your retirement accounts stand. Many people get nervous that they don’t have enough saved up for retirement and continuously put off finding out their situation for another day. Darcy Bergen recommends finding out exactly how much is in your retirement accounts and how much you can expect every month when you retire. From there, you’ll be able to decide if you need to make changes to have the type of retirement you envision, according to Darcy Bergen.
After you know how much you have, you’ll need to think about the amount you’ll need to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Don’t just guess what your expenses will be each month after you retire. If you currently have a mortgage, know whether you’ll still be making payments after you retire.
Darcy Bergen recommends considering all of your bills, plus recreational expenses – if you want to travel, visit family, or invest in property, be sure to take those factors into account. Darcy Bergen recommends figuring out your “must-have” budget and your “nice to have” budget. At the bare minimum, you need to be able to pay your bills, but you should be working toward the “nice to have” end of the scale.
If you haven’t already done so, Darcy Bergen says it’s time to start saving. Many experts recommend having eight times your final yearly salary in savings by the time you retire. If this seems like a far-off goal, start small. Look at your current budget and decide where you can cut down to start increasing your contributions to savings and retirement accounts. If the process feels overwhelming, Darcy Bergen recommends reaching out to a financial planner who can help you ensure you’re taking the steps you need to move toward the retirement you want.