You may be just starting off in your career, already balancing a mortgage and kids, or getting ready to retire and wondering how to confidently turn your retirement savings into lasting income. However, no matter what stage of life you’re in, National Financial Planning Month is a great reminder to take a closer look into where you’re financially, where you want to go, and the steps that can help you get there.
While everyone’s financial situation is unique, there are some key financial planning priorities that tend to arise during each life stage. Here’s what to keep in mind for each generation, as well as a few things you can start working on today to help plan a stronger financial future.
Gen Z: Create a Financial Plan That Grows with You
For younger adults who are just graduating college and beginning their careers, financial planning may feel like something you can put off. But time truly is one of your biggest advantages at this stage of your life. You don’t need to have your entire financial future figured out though.
Financial planning for Gen Z involves starting simple with the basics and building from there over time.
Top financial priorities for Gen Z:
- Create a realistic budget: Get familiar with how much money is coming in each month, and what it’s going toward. Develop a budget that’s practical and you can stick to.
- Start an emergency fund: Set a small amount aside every month to give you an extra cushion for when unexpected expenses come up.
- Pay attention to debt: Make a plan to pay down student loans, credit cards, auto loans, and other debt.
- Build healthy credit habits: Start building good credit by paying your bills on time and keeping credit card balances and other debt manageable.
- Start saving for retirement: If your employer offers a 401(k) or another retirement plan, explore your options and consider contributing. Even if it’s a small amount, it can add up over the years. Some companies even offer an employer match, which can help you grow your retirement savings even more.
- Start investing when you’re ready: Schedule an appointment with a trusted Financial Consultant so you can learn more about your investment options. Your investment strategy should factor your goals and comfortability with market fluctuations.
Try not to get discouraged if you’re only able to save a little bit right now. Building healthy financial habits now can be just as important as the amount you’re saving. And, as your income grows, you can always adjust your budget and increase your savings.
Millennials: Balance Current and Future Goals
After enduring the recession of 2007-2009, a lot of millennials have learned the hard way not to take a good job and solid nest egg for granted and prepare instead for possible tough times ahead. For many millennials, financial planning often involves juggling several priorities all at once. You may be busy paying off student loans, saving for a home, and raising a family. Trying to balance all these responsibilities plus attempting to advance in your career and prepare for retirement can feel quite overwhelming.
When it comes to financial planning for millennials, start saving as early as possible. Focus on strengthening your financial foundation while working toward your future goals.
Top financial priorities for millennials:
- Manage and reduce high-interest debt: If you haven’t already, now’s the time to try to really tackle high-interest credit card and student loan debt.
- Continue growing your emergency savings: In the event of a job loss or other major life event, aim to have enough in your savings account to cover expenses should an emergency occur.
- Save for important goals: Consider creating separate savings goals for whatever larger goals you may be pursuing (i.e. buying a home, growing your family, and traveling).
- Increase your retirement contributions: Take advantage of workplace retirement plans, IRAs, or other retirement plans that may be available to you. You may want to consider increasing your 401(k) contributions as your earnings increase.
- Review your insurance coverage: Your insurance needs may change as your family, income, and assets grow, so be sure to adjust your life insurance plan and other coverage accordingly.
- Keep investing for the long term: With potentially decades before retirement, you may have more time to weather market ups and downs. Depending on your goals and risk tolerance, you may choose to include higher-risk investments into your investment mix. Just be sure your investment strategy reflects your goals, timeline, and comfort level with risk.
Lastly, try not to let the feeling of “having to do it all” keep you from taking steps toward your financial plan and goals. Paying down a little debt, saving $50 a month, or increasing your retirement contribution by 1% can all be valuable steps toward better securing your financial future.
Gen X: Grow Your Wealth and Plan Ahead
For Gen Xers, serious retirement considerations may have gone from “someday” to “I should really start thinking about that more now.” If you’re in peak earning years, this can be a crucial time to take a closer look at your overall financial picture and increasing your wealth.
Financial planning for Gen X often involves investing in growth assets that help you get closer to where you want to be when retirement comes. For this reason, it’s typically a smart move to start planning for retirement at this stage in life.
Top financial priorities for Gen X:
- Take a close look at your retirement savings: Review your 401(k), IRA, and other retirement accounts to see whether you’re on track for your goals.
- Estimate future retirement expenses: Put some thought into what you want your lifestyle to look like in retirement. Then estimate how much income you’ll need to support this.
- Pay down high-interest debt: Reduce expensive debt so you can free up more money for saving and investing.
- Review your investment strategy: As retirement gets closer, make sure your investment approach still aligns with goals.
- Protect what you’ve built: Evaluate your insurance coverage and consider how your family would be affected by an unexpected event. Think about you and your loved one’s long-term security with risk management solutions like life insurance.
- Don’t forget about your other goals: Growing your wealth and preparing your savings for retirement are important considerations during this stage in life. However, other responsibilities may also need to be factored into your financial plan. This may include saving for your children’s college fund or caring for aging parents.
This is a great time for a financial check-in. So, take inventory of what you’ve saved, what you owe, what you spend, and what you expect to need in retirement. If there’s a gap between where you are and where you want to be, now’s the time to adjust your financial plan to help fill in the gap.
Baby Boomers: Turn Retirement Savings into a Plan
Retirement is here for many baby boomers, or at the very least, just around the corner.
At this stage in life, your immediate financial planning often shifts from building wealth to using it wisely. Instead of just asking yourself, “How much have I saved?” you’ll also want to plan how these savings can help support your lifestyle throughout your retirement years. While you continue to invest, you may choose to shift to a more conservative investment approach at this point in your life.
For many baby boomers, a key focus is to maintain and protect your wealth so that it lasts.
Top financial priorities for baby boomers:
- Develop a retirement income plan: Examine your savings, Social Security benefits, pensions, and other potential sources of income.
- Plan for healthcare costs: Healthcare expenses are likely to be a large portion of your retirement budget. Consider looking into long-term care insurance in case you need the extra support as you age.
- Think about when to claim Social Security benefits: Your claiming strategy can affect your benefits, so be sure you understand your options and consider how they fit into your overall retirement plan.
- Plan for required withdrawals: Know the rules that apply to your retirement accounts and when withdrawals may be required.
- Update your investment strategy: As mentioned above, it may be smart to adjust your portfolio to be more conservative when it comes to market risk.
- Get your estate plan in order: Review your will, beneficiaries, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents to make sure they reflect your current wishes.
Financial planning for baby boomers is about so much more than having enough money saved. Knowing how much you can comfortably spend, where your income will come from, and how you’ll handle unexpected expenses is just as important.
Financial Planning Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All
While your generation can be a helpful starting point for effective financial planning, each person’s plan should be unique to their needs. For instance, two people of the same age can have two completely different incomes, expenses, family and health situations, debt, goals, and retirement timelines. For this reason, your financial plan should be designed around your life, not a checklist based on your birth year or generation.
It’s also important to add that you shouldn’t wait for major life milestones to revisit your financial plan. A new job, marriage, divorce, new child, home purchase, inheritance, or approaching retirement are all good reasons to take another look at your finances.
Get Support for Your Financial Future
Since you can’t predict exactly what the future will look like, smart financial planning is about building a roadmap for yourself that you can adjust throughout your life. Whether you’re opening your first savings account, consolidating debt with a personal loan, or investing for your retirement years, there may be additional steps you can take in your financial journey.
Our Financial Consultants are ready to help you make informed decisions about your financial plan at every stage of your life, so you can feel more confident no matter what’s next in your journey.
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