Employees/Participants
How Much do You Really Need When You Retire?
We tell employees, “As a rule of thumb, you need to save at least 10 percent of your pay to replace enough of your current income to have enough money to pay for all the things you’re going to desire to do when you retire.” If you’re in your 20s or 30s, it might be less than 10 percent. If you are over 40, it could be more, between 12–15 percent. Our 401(k) management service offers annual participant One-On-One meetings. We create a retirement readiness report that will help you determine your strategy based on portfolio, age group, savings rate by age, years to retirement and income replacement percentage.
How do You Determine How Much is Enough?
In the financial services industry, we use what we call the income replacement formula or the income replacement ratio. It works like this: On average, you’ll need to replace 70, 80, or 90 percent of your current income, plus a factor for inflation, so you’ll have enough money throughout your retirement years.
Why Social Security Might Not be Available When You Retire.
No one knows for sure what’s going to happen to Social Security. We believe the system will change to an income means testing program. In other words, the government will look at how much income you have and, based on a certain income level, not pay any benefits or pay reduced benefits.
Optimizing Your Social Security Benefits
For many of your employees, Social Security benefits may represent one of their largest financial assets. Unfortunately, most Americans decide when to begin Social Security benefits without any advice. A majority of Americans have no idea how important selecting a Social Security strategy can be. A smart “claiming strategy” can often mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in added benefits over a retiree’s lifetime.
Why a 401(k) is the Best Place to Save
The best place to begin is with your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, because that’s where you can save money automatically, through payroll deduction, very easily throughout their working years. The employer can help the employee to save more through automating savings and investing.