Your 20’s
Enroll in your company 401(k): If you do not enroll in the companies 410(k), you are essentially losing fee money. Invest early and you will give your money chance to grow. Don’t delay saving or you will regret it in the future. If you are self employed, decide on a Roth IRA or SEP-IRA at a discount brokerage like that of muriel Siebert or a low-cost fund company like Fidelity.
Stay On Top Of Your Credit Score: Your credit score is very important because this determines how much interest rate you get on your loans and credit cards. A good score to have is about 720. If you stay on top of it, it will help you out so much in the future when buying a house, car, etc. You can get your credit score at myfico.com and learn to improve it.
Debt: Paying off your debt should be your number one priority, to be financially free and comfortable.
Your 30’s
Save For A Down Payment On A Home: Try not to go for a mortgage that doesn’t require a down payment. If you don’t have the necessary percentage for a down payment then that is hone you should realize you are not ready to own your own home.
Build An Emergency Cash Fund: You should have a savings account that money is automatically transferred to from your checking account every month. After you have saved a particular minimum that you have set, transfer your savings account to a higher-interest money marketing account.
Your 40’s
Save for retirement before college tuition: Your children can get loans for college but there aren’t loans for retirement, therefore you should focus on maxing out your 401(k) and your Roth IRA before the kids college tuition. Once you are comfortable with your retirement savings, then look into saving money for your children’s education funds
Your 50’s
Speed Up Your Mortgage Payments: Try your hardest to pay off most of your mortgage if you plan on staying in the same home, so as to not have huge bills in you’re years of retirements.
Shift to Bonds: Once you hit your 50’s a lot of your money should be invested in stocks already, now it’s time to shift about 20% of your retirement assets to bonds.
Your 60’s
Opt For Social Security Benefits: This should be the time that you start considering opting out for early social security benefits. This will only be beneficial if your payout won’t be taxed, meaning you had to have made less than $12,000 in 2005. So if you earned more your early benefits will be reduced by a dollar for every $2 you make that reaches above the $12,000 threshold.
Your 70’s
Begin IRA and 401(k) Withdrawals: If you don’t start money out of these accounts at this time, you will suffer a penalty. Contact the bank you invested in for more information on how to collect your withdrawal.
