Study after study has shown a large proportion of baby boomers do not have enough saved for retirement and many have nothing saved.
April includes tax day and National Retirement Planning Week April 3, and also is National Financial Literacy Month. It is a good time to take stock of retirement options and see what the personal financial picture looks like, says Cathy Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute.
“Tax day may be one of the most sobering days of the year for all of us,” says Weatherford. “We have to take a hard look at our financial picture.”
It should be a time to think about financial goals and retirement security; about what it will take on top of Social Security and Medicare to retire, she says.
IRI, along with other retirement-focused organizations, will kick off National Retirement Planning Week with events next week in Washington, including meetings with Congressional staffers.
“During this time, we want to promote heightened awareness of the need to save for retirement and to have a plan for financial security in retirement,” Weatherford says. A session on the challenges women face in retirement will be included in the events.
One of the options to consider for retirement are annuities, which are often misunderstood, she says.
“The potential to use annuities is one of the reasons investors need a financial advisor. He or she walk the client through the planning process and help them with their financial education,” Weatherford says. “The financial advisor gets to know the desires and risk tolerance of the clients.
“When boomers are asked what they would like to share with succeeding generations, it is that they wish they had saved more and that wish they knew more about health-care costs and Social Security. Those are the ways a financial advisor can help,” Weatherford says.