How Should I Balance Investing For Retirement Versus Pre-retirement Goals?

This is an important question my colleagues and I get asked often. It’s important because it gets at the desire to live a full life both now and in the future.

Life is not about living only for today or only for tomorrow. No, it’s about having options for how you live today AND tomorrow. Options that help you achieve maximum fulfillment throughout all phases of your journey.

Without question, it’s vitally important to sufficiently invest for retirement. But, we’ve seen people go way beyond that. They have plenty more money in their 401ks than they’ll likely spend in retirement. Meanwhile, they have little saved for adventures and other goals during their working years.

Without question, it’s vitally important to sufficiently invest for retirement.

As with many things, the key here is balance and adequately saving for all of your future goals–ones you wish to achieve in your 40s and 50s as well as those for your 70s and 80s.

Alright, ready to get going? Here’s the simple path….

Start by creating a savings plan. List all of your major goals, the price tag and your timeline–when you wish to achieve each goal.

List all of your major goals, the price tag and your timeline–when you wish to achieve each goal.

Rank each goal in terms of importance to you.

Run each goal through an investment calculator to see how much you need to save each year. The actual number will depend on your investment style, your aggressiveness and how well your investments perform. We have a great tool on our website that’ll walk you through this process.

Now go back to your rankings and begin funding. Start with your most important goal. Allocate enough money to properly fund it. Then, start funding your second most important goal. Keep funding until you’ve allocated all of your savings. Hopefully, you’ll have enough to fund all of your goals. However, if you don’t like the result, go back and rethink your rankings. Maybe the order needs tweaked.

Now go back to your rankings and begin funding.

Finally, remember investing is a journey. Expect changes along the way. You may change your investment style or your goals. You may drop some and add others. That’s the fun part. The strategy changes with your life. So, think about repeating this process at least once a year. Maybe in the spring. Consider it Spring Cleaning for the soul! Yeah, that sounds good.

Investing is simply a mechanism for helping you achieve goals without having to save all the money upfront. Start as soon as possible and have fun along the way.

If you need help, reach out. We’d be glad to get you on your way.

If you need help, reach out.

This material is provided as a courtesy and for educational purposes only. Please consult your investment professional, legal or tax advisor for specific information pertaining to your situation.

Advisory Services Network, LLC does not provide tax advice. Federal and state laws are complex and constantly changing. You should always consult your own legal or tax professional for information concerning your individual situation.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website. Advisory Services Network, LLC is not responsible for and does not control, adopt, or endorse any content contained on any third-party website.

This site may contain links to articles or other information that may be contained on a third-party website.

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