Planning for retirement is a lot like maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A lot of people say they want to work out or go on a diet, but a shockingly low number of people actually go through with it.
According to a study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Compensation Survey for 2019, only 56 percent of employees participated in a workplace retirement plan in 2018. Also, 52 percent reported that they were behind their own savings goals for the future, 16 percent said that they were right where they needed to be and only 11 percent said they were ahead of where they planned to be.
Meanwhile, a study from BankRate in October of 2019 showed that 20 percent of respondents didn’t know where their retirement plan stood.
Planning for retirement doesn’t have to be a daunting experience. It’s common to think, “I don’t have the time or money,” “I’m too young or too old to start planning,” “I don’t know where to start” or “I’ll just save more next year.”
This is where planning can help to provide a clear path for your future. These thoughts stem from uncertainties of the true state of your personal finances, talking about uncomfortable topics and how to go about planning for retirement.
Unfortunately, we won’t see a reversal of the low retirement planning statistics until we find ways to overcome these thoughts that block future action. The following steps can be used to drive new behaviors — whether creating a healthy lifestyle or setting up an individual retirement account (IRA) with an annuity from F&G.
Multiple studies show that a person with a positive vision of how they will live in the future is much more likely to save money today.
Put your running shoes on. Your financial fitness awaits.
Start planning for retirement with an F&G financial professional today.