Financial Fitness: Time for Your Annual Retirement Savings Checkup!

Submitted by Karen Loiacono, Manager of Benefits and Compensation, Office of Human Resources 

Where should you be?

The experts suggest you’ll need about 80% of your income in retirement, but that’s a general gauge. What’s your personal plan for retirement and are your savings on track to get you there?

You can perform your own retirement savings checkup using the following as a sort of checklist.

• Review your overall financial picture
• Increase your contributions
• Update your beneficiary information
• Diversify your Portfolio
• Rebalance your assets
• Meet with a Financial consultant

It will help you consider your retirement goals, the contributions you’re making to savings, your investments and how they’re performing.

What can you do to protect your future financial well-being? 

Enroll in your employer-sponsored retirement plan or increase your contributions. Automatic payroll deductions make saving for retirement convenient. And saving more today may bring you closer to the kind of retirement you want and deserve. You can contribute as much as $18,000 in 2015 (up to $24,000 if you’re 50 or older) and you won’t pay income tax on pretax contributions until you withdraw them in retirement.

Take advantage of advice. Schedule an advisement session with either a Fidelity or TIAA-CREF Financial Consultants. Watch for emails notifying you when they are available on campus. It’s available as part of your retirement plan at no additional cost to you. You will receive personalized recommendations to help you make informed choices, no matter how much or how little is in your account. 

Don’t set it and forget it. Remember that saving for retirement requires ongoing commitment.