How is your retirement planning coming along? If the answer is anything less than excellent, then it is time to examine closely on how to invest for retirement. Are you meeting your investment goals? Is your nest egg coming along fairly well? Have your expectations for your senior days changed?
With the right retirement investment strategy, you can enjoy days of reading Agatha Christie mysteries, sleeping in whenever you want, going for long hikes across Europe, and drinking buckets of coffee all day long. Oh, and spending time with your grandchildren too!
Every so often, even if you are on track, it is a good idea to give your path to retirement another look. Need help? Here are the ten best ways on how to invest for retirement:
1. Invest in Retirement Income Funds
When you are retired, your income is rather limited as you have stopped working and begin to rely on your savings, investments, and the returns on those pecuniary vehicles. Retirement income funds may be what you need as they accomplish two things: a monthly income and principal preservation.
Retirement income funds are a specialised kind of mutual fund that transfer your money to a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, which is done by owning a plethora of mutual funds. The primary purpose is to produce monthly income; some funds produce higher monthly income and utilise the principal to match payout targets, and others extend lower monthly income that preserve the principal.
2. Go for Low-Risk Investments
While interest rates are still below historical norms, they are better than what they were a few years ago. As a result, you can get a modest return on your capital by parking it in low-risk investments like the Guaranteed Investment Certificate or certain tax-free savings accounts, or TFSAs.
Every year, you are permitted to deposit $6,000 into a TFSA, and you can earn decent interest depending on where you have your TFSA. Whatever the case, it is best to build your TFSA savings without any risk of the equities market.
3. Invest in Your RRSP
The registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) continues to be the most or second most popular investment mechanism in Canada today. You can use an RRSP, whether it is for savings or mutual funds, to defer your tax liabilities until you retire. There is a debate as to whether you should utilise an RRSP in an era of the TFSA.
Indeed, some consumers are better suited for the RRSP, such as independent contractors, freelancers, or the self-employed. Full-time workers, however, may be more suited for the TFSA.
If you want to invest for retirement, it mostly depends on your personal financial situation. Most financial advisers will recommend using a blend of TFSAs and RRSPs.
4. Invest in Dividend-Yielding Stocks
Stocks that have a strong track record of paying out dividends – monthly or quarterly – are a great investment tool. The objective behind this strategy is not so much to gain a profit from a higher share price but to hold a stock that pays out a dividend every three months. The more shares you hold in a dividend-paying company, the better you are able to invest for retirement.
For instance, Pizza Pizza is a stock that offers a monthly dividend of $0.07. So, if you own $1,000 worth of shares, you can receive $7 a month. That’s pretty good, considering its stock costs only $10.
5. Experiment with Supplemental Income
Are you falling short of your nest egg? The simple solution is to fund a part-time job or look for supplemental that could be earned from the comfort of your own. This supplemental income can then be allocated to your investment goals, whether it is adding to your TFSA or buying dividend stocks.
6. Address Your Retirement Investment Shortfalls
When you invest for retirement, it is important to assess your nest egg and determine if there are any shortfalls. Is your investment short by $500 a month? Are you only getting a rate of return of 2.5 percent, which is below your initial pursuit of five percent? Are you four years behind?
You may have holes in your retirement ship, so it is imperative to address these shortfalls now before it is too late. And that is the best strategy of how to invest for retirement!
7. Avoid Huge Investment Loss
This is a common scenario for a lot of people – young and old. You have a fear of missing out on the next big thing in the stock market, or you want to get in on the meteoric ascent of one of the FAANGs. As a result, you put in a huge chunk of your principal into this stock but then it cratered 20 percent. Now, you have lost a significant amount of your retirement fund.
8. Avoid Job Loss
You have seven years until retirement, but your employer gave you the pink slip. This throws a wrench into your plans because now you have lost income and you need to look for a new job right away, and there is no guarantee this new position will offer the same income or benefits.
9. Avoid Divorce
They say the No. 1 cause of divorce is marriage!
All kidding aside, divorce can be costly in more ways than one. From attorney fees to alimony to double the expenses, you can suffer a lot of financial pain when you are in the middle of a divorce. Indeed, your wallet would be better if you just stayed in a miserable, unhappy, and disastrous relationship.
10. Avoid Long-Term Retirement
You have come down with a sickness or you got injured. Unfortunately, you require serious medical care for a long period. In other words, you are sitting on the sidelines and you cannot earn an income. Or, if you still can earn a paycheque, your earnings might not be comparable to what you were making before. This can sidetrack your path to retirement income.
