Retirement Planning Education
Smart Strategies for Investing During Retirement
If you’re investing during retirement, you’ll likely be placing a premium on immediate income generation. Investing during retirement doesn’t provide you with the same luxury of time or alternative income sources like pre-retirement investing. This means that the investments themselves must yield consistent income.
If you’re retired or will retire soon, you also have many other things to consider in your retirement plan, such as how to pass on value to future generations, estate planning, and how much you can safely withdraw each year without compromising your portfolio
This guide will help you clarify your plans and realize your goals.
Consider these strategies:
1. A dollar today will not be worth the same as a dollar tomorrow.
Inflation has shown to be a game-changer in in the economy for the past several decades and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
- It’s important to consider including some medium risk investments in your portfolio to help offset the effects of inflation. Having too conservative of a portfolio could mean that your yearly earnings will lag behind the rate of inflation.
2. How much can you withdraw? This may be one of the single-most confusing areas for retirees. Often individuals approaching retirement may plan on withdrawal rates as high as 10%.
- A more realistic number is 3% to 5%. By opting for a lower asset withdrawal rate, you’ll be able to help ensure that you don’t outlive your retirement savings.
3. Costs, fees and penalties.
Some companies may offer attractive-sounding fee percentages at just one or two percent. However, in some situations, these fees can amount to thousands of dollars in lost earnings.
- Additionally, some savings have fees and penalties associated with early withdrawals and this can end up costing you a pretty penny as well. Depending on the type of account, the fees can be as high as 35%!
- Before you invest, find out all the fees you may incur, including any for early withdrawal. Ask when would be the earliest date you could withdraw without extra costs. Then determine if this date fits your needs.
- Ensuring that you understand the fees associated with your accounts can save you a considerable amount of money.
4. Work with an advisor. It may be possible to do it all yourself, yet chances are you could benefit from the added experience that a trusted financial advisor brings to the table. This is not the same thing as working with a broker, which could cost you additional and unnecessary fees.
- A financial advisor can help you navigate your retirement investing with ease. An advisor can also help you develop a withdrawal strategy that is both tax-efficient and helps minimize penalties or avoid them altogether.
Investing during retirement may seem intimidating, yet it pays to be smart. Being aware of potential pitfalls puts you in a better position than most people,
who base their whole retirement plans on false pretenses and inaccurate assumptions.
Whether you’re currently retired or planning ahead, it’s never too late to begin taking steps to maximize your earnings when investing during retirement.
Welcome to The Road to Financial Empowerment, where we're "Unlocking True Financial Freedom, One Step at a Time." I'm Darnell from Empowering Your Finance,
Financial empowerment begins with education. Equipping yourself with essential financial literacy skills transforms you from a passive participant in your financial journey to an active future architect.
Social Security benefits have been significantly reduced, potentially slashed to just $750 monthly. This change means that some defaulted borrowers could be left with a monthly Social Security benefit of as little as $750.
After five years of pandemic-related relief, federal student loan collections are officially back. On May 5, 2025, the Department of Education resumed its collection efforts.
"The Social Security Administration (SSA) has recently announced a significant policy shift regarding overpayment recoveries for beneficiaries. While an earlier announcement indicated a return to a 100% withholding rate effective March 27, 2025, the SSA has since revised this policy, and effective April 25, 2025, the default overpayment withholding rate will be 50% of a recipient's monthly benefit.
The markets are reeling after President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports. Are we on the brink of a financial storm, or is this an opportunity for savvy investors? Let's dive into what you need to know to protect your portfolio!
Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck: Financial Basics for Millennials
Are you tired of feeling broke all the time? Do you dream of achieving financial freedom and security? As a millennial, you face unique financial challenges, from student loan debt to a competitive job market.
Visiting a campus in person is the ideal approach to making a decision about where to go to college. As a parent, being informed about the process can help you guide your child towards making the most of their college years and preparing for their future.
Budgeting What is budgeting? Budgeting is a process for tracking, planning, and controlling the inflow and outflow of income. It is a process that we all begin soon after we get our first spending money. Relying on our overloaded minds to manage such a complex process has many shortcomings. The solution is to analyze your current situation, determine your goals, and develop a written plan against which you'll measure your progress. How does the budgeting process work? The budgeting process begins with gathering the data that makes up your financial history. Next, you use this information to do a cash flow analysis. You will calculate your net cash flow, which tells you whether cash is coming in faster than it's going out, or vice versa. Then you will determine your net worth. Simply stated, this is the sum of everything you currently own less the sum of everything you currently owe. Having a snapshot of your present financial situation, you'll then define your financial objectives and create a spending plan to achieve them. Finally, you will periodically check your progress against the plan and make adjustments as needed. Analyzing cash flow is little more than adding and subtracting: Add up your income, then your expenses, and subtract the latter from the former. The result is your net cash flow. If it is positive (hopefully), you're earning more than you're spending. If not, then budgeting is not really an optional process. You must do it to avoid losing more ground financially. To the extent that you can make cash flow strongly positive, you will be able to save for upcoming needs and investments.
While some fads come and go, some timeless things always ring true. Money has been around in one form or another for ages; it only makes sense that certain truths have been discovered wisely to use this asset wisely. Here are ten rules that will never steer you wrong: 1. Practice intelligent risk management. Unless you have a large income and are very frugal, you're never going to amass a fortune by putting all your money in a savings account. That 0.31% interest might be about as safe as you can get; however, higher-risk investments are preferable over the long term to low-interest income-producing investments. In today's terms, think of stocks for long-term investments rather than low-risk bonds or savings accounts. 2. Have an emergency fund. With some savings to handle the inevitable hiccups that happen to everyone, your long-term plans can be in good shape. With an emergency fund, when a significant financial challenge comes into your life, you can avoid having to dip into your retirement to pay your bills. 3. Diversify. Putting all your eggs in one basket can be catastrophic if something happens to that basket. A significant financial loss to your portfolio can take ten years or more to recover from. Diversifying your investments limits the amount of your losses. 4. Be patient. Successful investors spend most of their time sitting, not buying or selling stocks. When you find an outstanding stock to purchase, it can be several years before the price matches the value. Many investors have sold too soon, only to discover they should have waited.