The Busy Years Checklist
Often, many of life’s biggest milestones occur during your 30s to 50s — whether it's having children, buying a home, putting a child through college, or dealing with aging parents. Here's how to prioritize your retirement.
- Pay yourself first! The most important thing during this time is to pay yourself first. The best way to accomplish this is through your employer provided retirement plan. Invest as much as possible within your retirement plan and make sure to take full advantage of any company contributions.
- Continue budgeting to become debt-free. Even after you become debt free a budget will keep you debt free and on track to financial success.
- Reassess how much is needed to fund retirement. Review your current savings level and determine how much you will need for retirement. You may need to increase your current savings rate.
- Review current investment allocation. As life events occur your investing preferences may change. It is a good rule of thumb to re-evaluate your risk tolerance each year to measure if any changes to your retirement plan allocation are necessary.
- Ensure a proper Emergency Fund is in place. Depending on the amount of your monthly expenses, make sure you have 6-9 months worth of expenses in your emergency fund.
- Keep your will up to date and start to consider estate planning. Getting married, having kids, getting a divorce or losing a loved one are all reasons to re-evaluate your will, beneficiary information and other estate planning documents. Make sure these are up to date and correct.
View/Print the checklist here.
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