It’s no wonder that people are asking what their retirement number is. If you’re using a 401(k) or any other qualified plan, finding your retirement number becomes essential to how much you need to save.
What Is My Retirement Number?
At Paradigm Life, we believe that “Knowing your Retirement Number” is just another marketing campaign designed to sell qualified plans. Qualified plans work on hope – those saving into a 401(k) or a Roth, hope that when they save enough money everything else will do the rest. From there, they can live in retirement until…?
Wealth Strategists from Paradigm Life are not the only ones skeptical about qualified plans. Typically individuals come to us come with three common fears (especially those on the brink of retiring):
-Outliving their Retirement Money
-Being able to Afford Rising Healthcare Costs
-Maintaining Independence
Gone are the days when companies commonly incentivized employees with retirement pensions. Now, the majority of Americans are responsible for their own retirement. Because many working individuals understand that their retirement lifestyle rests solely on the decisions they make with their money, anxiety and fear can increase.
There Is No Number – Change the Way You Look at Retirement
The best way out of your retirement “fear” is education. It’s important to understand that regardless of how much money you save into a qualified plan it will likely never be enough.
Qualified plans have too many restrictions, taxes and fees. Not to mention that by the time you are ready to receive distributions, inflation has devalued the money you saved. In addition, people today are living much longer than they were even 30 years ago.
At Paradigm Life, we look beyond the retirement number. When you use Whole Life Insurance for retirement you are not subject to the same regulations as a qualified plan. Whole Life Insurance – being a private contract from a mutual insurance company – allows retirement to begin for anyone at any age, whether you’re 30 or 65.
Whole Life Insurance Can Meet Your Retirement Needs
Whole Life Insurance comes with Cash Value. Many retirees use the cash value to supplement another income stream, or invest in other performing assets. This access to liquidity makes your whole life policy and its cash value a liquid asset that can be passed to your heirs through the death benefit, or can be placed in a family trust.
Unlike other qualified plans, whole life insurance is free from market volatility and earns a steady rate of return. This type of flexibility increases family wealth and security.
With Whole Life Insurance the only number that you really need to know is when (at what age) you want to “retire”.
For more information on Whole Life Insurance and retirement,
Read: Is Your Retirement Hanging Out to Dry?
Watch: Preparing for Your Complete Retirement Journey
Listen: The Economy and Your Retirement
