- June 10, 2016
- Category: Retirement
If you haven’t opened a retirement account yet, you’re not alone. According to nationwide surveys, more Americans cite not saving early for retirement as their biggest financial regret, putting this mistake ahead of other common missteps such as taking on too much student loan debt, running up large credit card bills, buying too big a house, and not saving enough for emergencies.
The good news is, you still have enough time to recover from this late start and still build a respectable nest egg before your golden years arrive. Here are some tips on how to get on track and overcome the financial regret of not saving early for retirement.
- Start today: Open an IRA today and make the maximum contribution allowed for your age group and income level. If you don’t have that much money available right now, invest what you can and continue making contributions throughout the year until you hit the max.
- Diversify your portfolio: Avoid putting all of your retirement funds into a single asset class such as traditional stocks or bonds. Instead, look to diversify your portfolio by spreading your money into different investment categories both at home and abroad.
- Add gold, silver, or other precious metals to your IRA: Precious metals not only help diversify your portfolio, but also protect against many market ills. One of the biggest benefits of gold, for example, is to serve as a hedge against inflation and act as a store of value for your money if the dollar collapses. In an inflationary crisis, any cash holdings would lose significant buying power while any gold investments would hold steady.
- Make plans for future contributions: While opening an IRA is a great first step, it really is just the beginning. Make plans now for future contributions (always aiming for the maximum amount in each tax year) and manage the rest of your finances around these contributions.
While not starting your retirement savings early enough is a big mistake, it is not necessarily a catastrophic one—especially if you take the recovery steps listed above. Set your plan in motion by contacting American Bullion right now to learn how to open a precious metals IRA or to add gold to an existing IRA, or to rollover your 401K into Gold IRA.
Although the information in this commentary has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, American Bullion does not guarantee its accuracy and such information may be incomplete or condensed. The opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. American Bullion will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and should not be used to make buy or sell decisions for any type of precious metals.