Nearing retirement can be exciting, but you also need to be financially prepared. If you’re not sure where you currently stand, George Kamel, personal finance expert and popular Ramsey personality, has plenty of advice for you.
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Hopefully you’re already on the right track, but if not, following Kamel’s guidance can set you up for success — whatever the current state of your finances. Here’s a look at his top four tips to help you avoid financial disaster in retirement.
Don’t Rely Solely on Social Security
If you’re planning to live solely off of Social Security in retirement, Kamel said this likely won’t provide you with enough money to uphold your standard of living.
For example, the estimated average Social Security retirement benefit, according the Social Security Administration (SSA), is around $2,000 per month. That’s a new high but still equates to just $24,000 per year.
Given this, Kamel said it’s important to calculate what you’ll need to live in retirement. Having a specific number to work toward — more on this next — will allow you to know exactly how much to save each month and determine what age you can afford to retire.
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Save Enough Money
It might sound simple, but many people retire without having enough money saved. As noted above, you need to calculate how much you’ll need in retirement — then actually commit to hitting certain savings goals each month.
If you start saving for retirement at age 50, you can have $1 million in a retirement account by age 70 if you save $1,160 per month — assuming an 11% rate of return — Kamel said in a Facebook post. He noted that the S&P has had an average annual return of 11% over the past 30 years.
Diversify Your Investments
Financially speaking, Kamel said putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t a good idea. Since no one can perfectly predict the markets, he said it’s important to diversify your portfolio to keep it balanced.
For example, he advised diversifying evenly between four different types of mutual funds — growth and income funds, growth funds, aggressive growth funds and international funds. Each type of fund would get 25% of your portfolio.
“This is the same exact portfolio that I have in my retirement account that Dave Ramsey has in his retirement account,” he said.
Don’t Retire Too Early
Retiring early might sound appealing, but Kamel said stepping away from the workforce too soon can be detrimental to your finances. Specifically, if you’re under 59 1/2 years old, he noted that you’ll have to pay penalties on withdrawals from retirement accounts, and you’ll also miss out on compound interest.
For example, he said a couple who starts investing 15% of their $71,000 per hour household income at age 35 would have $2.5 million if they retire at age 67 — assuming a 10% rate of return and no employer match. However, if they retire at age 62, they’d have less than $1.5 million, so staying in the workforce an extra five years really pays off.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: George Kamel’s Top 4 Tips That Will Save Retirees From Financial Disaster
