Retirement Planning for Night Shift Workers
Night-shift workers keep the world running while everyone else sleeps — and that same discipline can build lasting financial security. In this video, HR expert Carrie Nelson shares practical strategies to help you plan for retirement with confidence.
From understanding 401(k) and Roth options to setting realistic budgets and investment goals, you’ll learn how to make steady progress toward the future you want. Whether you’re just getting started or ready to fine-tune your plan, this guide shows how even small, consistent steps can grow into lifelong freedom.
Start shaping your tomorrow today. Watch now to learn how to build a retirement plan that supports your goals, your schedule, and your peace of mind.
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Hello, this video is about retirement
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planning.
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I'm Carrie Nelson. I'm an independent
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human resource consultant. I have 25
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years of experience in HR and an MS
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degree in HR management and a PhD in
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industrial organizational psychology. I
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have also managed retirement plans at
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many organizations.
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On our agenda today, we're going to
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discuss why retirement planning matters
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and it matters to everyone. Expenses
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during retirement,
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the benefits of planning ahead. Then
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we'll get a little more specific about
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traditional plans versus Roth plans and
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the tax implications.
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We'll review a retirement calculator and
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then discuss budgeting and picking
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investments.
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So, let's start with why retirement
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planning matters. Number one, and I
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think one of the biggest, is increased
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life expectancy. People are living
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longer than ever. If you're planning to
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retire at a typical age of around 65 or
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70, you can expect to possibly live 20
1:12
to 30 more years without an income. So,
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we need to plan ahead for all those
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years. There's also a rising cost of
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living. Inflation and roads purchasing
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power. So whether you want to buy a car
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or a cheeseburger today, 10, 20, 30
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years into the future, it's going to
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cost a lot more.
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Some people rely on social security
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thinking that's going to pay their
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expenses. But one, it might not be
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available at all in our future. And if
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it is, it is typically only a small
1:45
fraction of what we need for our
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expenses.
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Also, we have health care expenses. If
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you're working at a company, you might
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be part of a sponsored medical plan.
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When you're not working anymore, you
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will not have that plan. Uh, you might
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have Medicare, but you'll have to pay
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for it yourself. So, these are things
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that you'll need to think about.
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Medicare might also be enough for what
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you need. You might need to buy
2:10
supplemental plants.
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Number five, achieving personal goals
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and gaining financial independence. When
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you retired, are you going to sit around
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all day or do you want to have fun
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things to do? Hobbies, travel, spending
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more time with family, whatever it is,
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it might be expensive.
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And six, legacy planning. Many people
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might want to plan for their families,
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children, grandchildren, and taking care
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of them. It's not just about themselves.
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So, these are just a few of the factors
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to consider. All
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right, now let's fast forward. You're
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now in retirement. Let's discuss just
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some of the expenses you may have. I
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have to say for myself, I didn't start
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saving for retirement until I did this
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exercise and really sat down and thought
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about what it's going to cost me when I
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retire. And these are just a few things.
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Sit down and make a budget for yourself.
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housing costs, you know, your rent or
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mortgage, property taxes, utilities,
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insurance, maintenance costs, you know,
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a lot of the things you're doing now,
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health care and healthcare premiums,
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your daily living expenses, you're still
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going to have them. Transportation,
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entertainment and leisure, what are your
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retirement goals? You know, what is that
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going to cost? And then taxes. Yes, we
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still have taxes. So, I do encourage
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everyone to sit down, create a budget
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for your future.
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And then as you're doing this retirement
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planning, just know it's a lot of
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upfront work. It can be, but there's so
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many benefits. The peace of mind of
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knowing that you're going to be okay,
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your loved ones are going to be okay,
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the financial freedom that you'll have,
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not worrying so much about your health
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because you'll be able to pay for
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anything that may come up, and really
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doing the things you want to do,
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accomplishing your goals.
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So, how can your company help? Many
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companies offer a 401k or 403b type of
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plan. They might even have a different
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word for it. 403bs are for nonprofits,
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for example. But if it's offered, it's a
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tax advantage retirement savings
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account, and it can really benefit you
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in many ways. A traditional 401k you can
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contribute to before taxes are taken out
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of your pay. So, you're saving money on
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taxes upfront. However, when you deduct
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that money in retirement, that's when
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it'll be taxed. You can't avoid taxes.
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The Roth is the opposite. So, you make
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after tax contributions now and then you
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don't have to worry about being taxed
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later on. There are a lot of choices to
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make when you initially start investing.
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Don't get overwhelmed. I really don't
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think there is any wrong answer. Just
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think about what might be right for you.
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One easy tip for this is do you are your
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expenses more now or are your expenses
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more then? Uh whichever one is higher,
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you don't want to be taxed on. You want
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to be taxed during the time that it's
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lower. Save a little money on that tip.
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Now, you might not have a 401k plan or
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access to anything through your company.
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And if you don't, that's okay, too. You
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can do it yourself. You can do your own
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research. You can Google it. You can
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look up things like YouTube videos and
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uh learn how it works. This small video
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is going to give you just a taste of
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what you can do. Uh but you can open up
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your own accounts with something like an
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errade or a merit trade. Uh or you can
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go direct with a brokerage like a
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Vanguard or Fidelity. Vanguard or
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Fidelity are going to direct you more
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towards their own programs, their own
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funds, but that's okay, too. They're
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fantastic. It's a great way to get
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started and, you know, start early, save
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a little, and learn the process.
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So, saying, "Oh, I'm going to do all of
5:55
this work. Where is it going to put me?"
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Let's do a little retirement calculator.
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This is another thing that you can
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Google. Just Google retirement
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calculator. There's one here at
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calculator.net/41k
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calculator. And let's just say you're 35
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years old. You make $75,000 a year.
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You've put $1,000 away for retirement
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and let's just say you plan to save 10%
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of your salary per year for this
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retirement plan. So every $100 you make,
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you're going to put $10 into a
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retirement plan. And let's say in this
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example, you do have a company sponsored
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plan and there is an employer match. If
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your employer has a match, you always
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want to try to take it advantage of it
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and contribute as much as the employer
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match so you can get that free money.
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Let's say they they match 50% of the
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first 3% that's goes in. Uh so you're
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again you're 35 now in this example. You
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plan to retire in 30 years at 65 and
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your life expectancy is to 85. And let's
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just say you know your annual return 6%.
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That's a pretty safe return. I can't
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guarantee anything here but you know the
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the stock market is is paying much
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higher than that right now. Uh, so what
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do you think you will get if you
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contribute $7,500 a year for 30 years?
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And this is just an estimate.
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Go to the next slide. It says you can
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get nearly a million with that
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investment. $10 for every $100 that you
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contribute. And uh there are some cases
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where it will be less. There's some
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cases where it will be more. We can't
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predict what stocks or mutual funds will
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do. But uh seeing numbers like these
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could really motivate you now to get
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started and to save more. So I encourage
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you to look up a calculator and put in
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your own calculations of what you
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expect.
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So hopefully if you do that exercise,
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you'll be excited and you're like,
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"Let's go. I'm ready." Well, set a
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budget. What's right for you? You can
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start really small. So $5 a day. Even if
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it's$10 or $20 a week, I encourage you
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to get started. Just start putting it
8:02
in. Watch the money compound over time
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and it'll motivate you to do even more.
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Sign up. If you have an employer plan,
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sign up right away. You can usually sign
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up anytime if you're eligible. If not,
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you know, look into your own plan.
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One thing you'll need to think about is
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picking your own investments. So most
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companies, if you have a company
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sponsored plan, they'll have about 10 to
8:25
25 options. But again, like I said, if
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you do your own research, do that E
8:29
trade, merit trade, look, Google things,
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you'll have a much wider variety of
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options.
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Before I get into those options, I did
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want to talk about for company plans,
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you will have a limit. These are IRS
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rules. So, the standard employee
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contribution for next year in 2026,
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we're there already, uh, is expected to
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be 24,500.
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So, it means you can't contribute more
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than that in an entire year. If you do,
9:00
you get it taken back. The IRS only lets
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you do that pre-tax to a certain amount.
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However, if you're over 50, they let you
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contribute a little more. And it's uh
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estimated to be 32,500 as a cap. And
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there's a brand new rule uh for people
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who are 60 to 63 for a super catchup.
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And those people can contribute even
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more to a maximum of 35,750.
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It might seem like a lot, but actually
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as you're nearing retirement, people
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tend to contribute more and more because
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they want to save as much as possible.
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So just keep that in mind.
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Okay. So let's talk about investments.
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We could talk about it all day. I just
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want to scratch the surface and some
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tips. Uh before you choose the specific
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investments that you want, there's two
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things to consider. Your age and your
9:52
risk tolerance. You know, if you're
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younger, you can ride the storm of the
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stock market that might go up and down
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and up and down over the years. So,
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people who are younger tend to be
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riskier in their options. It could be
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stocks, mutual funds, things like that.
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When people are older, they tend to go
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for safer
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funds like bonds or a money market or
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even savings accounts which pay less but
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are safer. So consider your age and then
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consider your risk tolerance. You know,
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you could save anywhere from 0% or even
10:30
a negative amount to doubling your money
10:33
every year if you want to take more
10:34
risk. Uh some people it stresses them
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out. If it's going to stress you out to
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have high risk, then stay in safer
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funds. See how it makes you feel. And
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again, you can change your mind over
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time and go into different things. But
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try at least try and get your foot in
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the door. So once you've thought about
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your age and your risk tolerance, then
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you need to start picking what do you
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want to choose? What would you like to
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invest in? There are dozens and dozens
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of options. I'm only going to go through
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a few right now. Mutual funds is one of
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the most popular for retirement
11:04
planning. They're professionally
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managed. It's a pool of capital from
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many investors. It's a mixed portfolio.
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So, I don't know, one mutual fund could
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have Apple and it could have McDonald's.
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You know, there are different types of
11:17
companies, but it could have different
11:19
kinds of stock all put together and and
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they're usually a safer bet because it's
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well funded. If one industry does very
11:26
poorly, uh the overall fund doesn't go
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down as much as an individual stock. So
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mutual funds are very popular. There's
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also bond funds. Bond funds invest in
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municipalities, corporations, or the
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government. Uh though they offer lower
11:42
returns but less risk. Then another
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option, again just one of the many
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dozens of choices, a money market
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account. Usually a company sponsored
11:51
plan has at least one money market type
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of account which is the absolute safest
11:56
but it's the lowest return and can also
11:59
be similar to a savings account. So uh
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that's typically only done when people
12:04
are closer to retirement really want
12:06
that security. It's up to you. Choose
12:08
what's right for you.
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There's one other option that I wanted
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to mention. These are target date funds
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and these are available whether you have
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a company sponsored plan or you choose
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to do this on your own. These target
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date funds which are also known as
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agebased funds or maybe life cycle
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funds. These are mutual funds like I
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discussed that are diverse but they're
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managed more closely by a company and
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they change their funds over time. When
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you join a target date fund you say when
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you plan to retire. Is it in 2040, 2050,
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2060? What year do you plan to retire?
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And then they allocate to riskier
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invest. They start with higher riskier
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investments in the beginning and then
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over time as you get closer to
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retirement, they go into safer and safer
12:58
funds. So, it's nice that way. It's sort
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of a set it and forget it thing where
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you can have it managed for you.
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However, there's higher fees involved in
13:08
that. So, uh, it might sound really good
13:12
and they might have a good return, but
13:13
they might be taking 20 or 30% of your
13:16
return. So, it's something to think
13:18
about. It's something if you're new to
13:20
it, you might want to start with and
13:21
then take the time, do some education
13:24
over the years. You might want to start
13:25
managing it yourself over time, but it's
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a great option that a lot of people
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take.
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That's really it. Wanted to give a
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little summary and under 15 minutes
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about retirement planning. Conclusion.
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Final thoughts. Understanding your
13:39
retirement options and making informed
13:41
decisions can lead to a secure financial
13:44
future. Start early, budget wisely, and
13:48
review your plans annually. Remember,
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planning today ensures a comfortable
13:52
retirement tomorrow. Good luck.