Introduction to Retirement Investing

Whether you’re planning ahead for your retirement, a soon-to-be retiree, or already retired, understanding the fundamentals of retirement investing—and implementing prudent strategies—can help you better enjoy your financial future.

In this series, you’ll learn about the importance of investing for your retirement and what you should know to prepare. The focus is ensuring you have sufficient financial resources to support yourself and sustain your lifestyle once you stop working.

As life expectancies lengthen, individuals assume more responsibility for financing their own retirement. Our goal is for investors to feel empowered to make informed decisions about their unique circumstances.

Defining Your Goals

The first step involves assessing your current financial situation, defining clear retirement goals, and then developing a budgeting, saving, and investing strategy to achieve them.

When defining your goals, how much do you need to save? Carefully consider your post-retirement expenses. Think about paying off your mortgage, traveling, and healthcare costs—including unanticipated medical expenses and other uncertainties—and don’t forget to include the ever-increasing cost of living.

The amount you’ll need to save to ensure financial security in retirement and cover your expenses will vary depending on these and other factors.

Solely depending on Social Security may not be enough to maintain your desired lifestyle.

And, without a plan to save for your future, you could experience financial insecurity in later years—lacking the savings to cover unexpected expenses, struggling to pay bills on time, or worrying about not having enough money to retire at all.

Invest for the Long Term

So, it’s crucial to start investing early, consistently, and for the long term. The earlier you begin investing, the more time your investment has to grow.

Unlike investing to achieve short-term financial goals—such as saving for a wedding or vacation or paying off a credit card—long-term investing prioritizes patience, discipline, and the ability to focus on the fundamental aspects of your investments.

That involves determining what types of accounts can help you save for your retirement and then understanding how to invest your earnings so you can continue to save, and your assets can grow.

A good course of action is to work with a Financial Advisor who can help you craft a savings plan tailored to your needs.

This material is for educational purposes and intended use is for financial professionals. Symmetry Partners, LLC (“Symmetry”) provides this communication as a matter of general information. Information contained herein, including data or statistics quoted, is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed or warranted. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may not be reflective of current opinions or positions. All content is for educational purposes and should not be considered investment advice, recommendation, or offer of any security for sale. 

Symmetry is an investment advisory firm registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or excluded or exempt from registration requirements. Registration with the SEC or any state securities authority does not imply a certain level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the SEC.

Symmetry charges an investment management fee for its services. All Symmetry fees can be found in the Symmetry Form ADV Part2A located at www.symmetrypartners.com. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All data is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed or warranted. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, product, or any non-investment-related content referred to directly or indirectly in this material will be profitable or prove successful. As with any investment strategy, there is the possibility of profitability as well as loss. Please note that you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this material serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Symmetry.

Symmetry does not provide tax advice. Please note that (i) any discussion of U. S. tax matters contained in this material cannot be used by you for the purposes of avoiding tax penalties; (ii) this communication was written to support the promotion or marketing of the matters addressed herein; and (iii) you should seek advice based on your particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor. 

Investing involves risk, including the loss of some or all of your principal. Diversification seeks to reduce volatility by spreading your investment dollars into various asset classes to add balance to your portfolio. Using this methodology, however, does not guarantee a profit or protection from loss in a declining market. Please check with your firm’s Compliance and/or OSJ for usage requirements.