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How to Monitor Your Retirement Benefits
You’re aware that saving for retirement is important. But as you save the money, are you good about tracking what happens to it?
Here are thoughts on monitoring your retirement accounts and making sure your savings are managed well — to your benefit!
When should you monitor?
Not every day! Investing for retirement is not like shopping — you don’t need to act immediately to make sure you get a bargain. If you try to “time the market,” you may be losing money in transaction fees, and you risk panicking and dumping an investment that can serve you well later. Remind yourself that you’re in it for the long haul, and don’t lose sleep over a short-term drop in your investments.
After major life changes. If you get married or divorced; adopt or give birth to a child; buy a house; face military deployment or a job transfer; inherit money; or have to care for an infirm parent — any of these events might mean you need to rethink how your retirement money is being invested and how it will be used.
Once every quarter or so. This is just to make sure that things are on track and the investments are all in the right categories. If you have a financial planner, you can check in with him or her, as well, for peace of mind.
What should you monitor for?
Administrative changes. The company that administers your retirement benefits may have implemented new fees you hadn’t taken into account. Or it may be offering new investment strategies that suit you better.
A good balance of funds. If you initially decided how to invest years ago, the balance may not suit you anymore — you may want to put less money into stocks and more into bonds and Treasury bills, for example, as you get closer to retirement age.
Sudden withdrawals. If you didn’t take the money out, who did? Run an eye over the account’s transaction history to make sure you can account for everything listed.
Beneficiaries. Those major life events mentioned earlier? They may lead you to decide you want to change the designated beneficiary for your retirement account. You should be able to do this without too much trouble or paperwork; you may need to provide a Social Security number for the new beneficiary.
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Where do you get ideas on how to decorate your apartment?
- Magazines (36%, 4 Votes)
- The Internet (36%, 4 Votes)
- My friends or family (18%, 2 Votes)
- Television (10%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 11
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