Financial milestones to reach before retirement

Financial milestones to reach before retirement
Pre-retirees are advised to have an emergency fund that can cover three months of living expenses before they leave the workforce for good, according to this article on personal finance website Motley Fool. Paying off the home mortgage, as well as credit card debt, before retiring can also improve financial prospects in the golden years. Clients should also have a sizeable amount of savings in their retirement accounts, as they have to replace roughly 80% of their pre-retirement income after they retire.

Mortgage interest tax deductions cost the federal government $68.2 billion in 2012, according to an expert.
A real estate sign is displayed on the front lawn of a house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Toronto home prices climbed 5 percent in April, suggesting the Ontario government's foreign buyer tax and troubles at Home Capital Group Inc. haven't yet cooled the market. Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg

Be careful: RMDs and taxes can undermine retirement plans
Retirees could face a heavy tax burden when they turn 70, as they are compelled to start taking required minimum distributions from tax-deferred retirement accounts, according to this article from Kiplinger. While these distributions are taxed as ordinary income, retirees might also move to a higher tax bracket because of an increase in income from Social Security, pension and other sources. To minimize their RMDs, retirees should consider buying insurance products, converting a portion of their savings into a Roth account, and holding their growth-oriented investments outside their IRAs.

3 tips from the very rich that can help improve retirement
For rich people, retiring is not based on age but on the ability to maintain their preferred lifestyle even after leaving their career for good, according to this article from Money. Wealthy investors also continue investing in stocks even after they retire, as they understand that they need to grow their investments for income. Rich people also believe that there are other factors aside from building a nest egg to have a "successful" retirement.

How this man was able to retire at the age of 33
An investor shares that he managed to amass more than $1.2 million in retirement funds and retire at the age of 33 by simply saving aggressively and reducing household expenses, according to this article from Forbes. "I committed to saving a significant percentage of my paycheck," says the investor. "It made our paychecks artificially tiny. But maxing out savings options is like putting your net worth on steroids."

Clients can't buy a house? Here's how they can still build wealth
For clients who cannot afford to buy a house, saving in a 401(k) plan or an IRA is another strategy to build wealth, according to this article on CNBC. "If you have access to a 401(k), if you can open up a Roth IRA, those are great places to start," says a financial expert. Younger workers may want to start contributing to a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA and "invest it for long term growth."

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