Tips For Better Ways To Invest 401K Money

By Gregory Miller


Reaching retirement age is the part of life that people enjoy and look forward to. The plans that need to be made in order for this to be a time of success are many. The biggest plan that should be made as early as possible is regarding financial security. The are several suggestions for better ways to invest 401K funds so that you can reach your goal and have a nice secure retirement.

The most important advice given in this aspect is to start early. There are numerous calculations that show that even starting with a small amount before your thirties is better than starting with a larger amount when you're older. The small amount gets interest added to it and continues to grow. Plus, this is a great habit to start young and continue to your retirement date.

Many employers have matching funds. The employer matching is usually between one and five percent match of your contributions. This means whatever you contribute to your salary, up to the matching percentage, the employer will match it dollar for dollar. For instance, if your matching amount is two percent of your salary, the minimum you should put into the company 401k is two percent. The company will match it and make it a total of four percent without costing you anything extra. That's basically free money.

Using compound interest to your advantage funds your retirement. The way it works is in year one, interest is paid based on the amount in your fund. The second year, the interest is paid based on the what was there before, plus the interest that you got from year one. Each year, the interest from the previous years helps grow the fund by gaining more interest.

Evaluate your risk tolerance when investing. Many different plans have different growth rates. The rates are based on risk factors. The risk is that if the stock market goes down, your fund might lose money and therefore not provide growth. However, if the market goes up, the investment of the fund is in higher yielding stock that provides a higher payout. There are funds that range in little to no risk all the way up to high risk. Each type of risk offers growth based on the risk factors. Low risk offers smaller gains. High risk offers higher gains.

Paying taxes now or later is a big issue. The tax laws change constantly and no one really knows what the rates will be when they retire. The Roth IRA is a fund that pays taxes on gains earned as you go. This means when you retire, you won't have to pay any taxes on your retirement money. Other IRAs do not pay them up front and you will have to pay when you retire. The advantage here is having more money stay in the funds to grow while you wait for retirement.

Never ever pull money out of your retirement. This advice is critical. Even taking a loan from the fund can prove difficult to repay in time to avoid penalties. There are usually severe penalties to removing or closing your fund before your retirement age. This also means the money won't be there when you're ready to retire.

Getting to retirement age is a joyful experience for many people. Having the funds available to live a comfortable life is part of the reason we look forward to retiring. Invest early and leave the money untouched until you retire in order to be in good shape the rest of your life.




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