Avoiding Outliving Your Retirement Savings! #SHGenworth

Disclosure: Information for this post is sourced from Genworth Financial but feature my own thoughts and opinions.

Okay so lately my husband has been on a “planning for the future” frenzy.  Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic that he is thinking about our future, especially since I am so clueless about it, but he is driving me crazy with financial terms.  So I decided I should start doing some research of my own.  I mean I know there is Social Security for our future, but then again who knows if it will even still be around when we need it.  I have heard mixed opinions where some are saying the government won’t have money to cover everyone’s Social Security later in “X” amount of years.  Even if we do get Social Security though its not a lot of money.

Since we are still young, my husband is looking into investing in the stock market since we have some time for it to hopefully pay off.  We haven’t decided on an amount yet we are going to try and invest, but I think its a good idea to be a little risky sometimes.  We are fortunate too that he makes enough to invest in a 401K, plus his company offers a pension.  We are also figuring out an amount to invest monthly into a plain ole’ simple savings account!

According to an article in Yahoo! Finance, here are “5 Ways to Avoid Outliving Your Retirement Savings“:

• Social Security – Make sure you also have at least 35 years of covered earnings, claiming spousal payments and delaying claiming your checks up until age 70.

• Pension – Some workers are fortunate enough to get a pension in addition to their 401K, which they can cash out after retirement.

• Annuity – Some annuities allow you to invest your retirement savings to an insurance company in exchange for a guaranteed monthly payment for the rest of your life.

• Systematic withdrawls – Many financial advisors recommend withdrawing no more than about 3 or 4 percent of your retirement savings, keeping inflation in mind, each year.

• Pay off your house – Since your mortgage is probably your biggest monthly bill, paying it off allows you to use your savings for other expenses.

Its crazy to think about retirement while we are in our early 30s, but I don’t want to be last minute or un-prepared.  Genworth Financial has a great worksheet on “10 Things to Ask Your Financial Advisor.”