Retirement accounts are accounts that you start while younger, that allow you to see financial comfort when you retire.
Let’s face it, the money you will receive from Social Security is a nice start to your retirement. But it is probably not sufficient for you to retire comfortably.
Social security determines retirement between the ages of 66 and 67, depending on your current age. Your Social security benefits are usually $1400 per month, if you’ve worked for at least 8 years. Your social security payments into the system over the years, now become payments back to you.
There are many vehicles that can help you to save for your retirement.
- 401(k) plans – offered by an employer, taxes paid on withdrawal
- Roth 401(k) – offered by an employer, taxes paid during deposit
- IRA plans – offered by financial institutions, taxes paid on withdrawal
- Roth IRA – offered by financial institutions, taxes paid during deposit
- Savings accounts – money “put back” for long term needs, no penalties
- Investments – these can be in stocks, bonds, metals, real estate and more
Each retirement investment vehicle can carry its own measure of risk, and reward.
The general opinion is to mix your retirement planning to incorporate at least some of each of the above. The worst thing to do is to wait, or (and this is really bad) not have ANY retirement account planning.