Prepare for Retirement

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5 Ways to Prepare for Retirement

Prepare for Retirement

As you move from thinking about building your retirement income strategy and closer toward using it, there are five ways to prepare yourself for this new phase in your life.

1. Review Your Financial Situation

If you haven’t done so already, create a retirement budget to determine the amount you will need to live on each month in retirement.
Take a look at your retirement account to see if you have accumulated enough to cover those expenses. If not, there's still time. Contact your financial professional to discuss what you can do to get closer to your goal.

2. Know Your Options

You have several options for what to do with your retirement account when you retire.

Roll over into a Traditional IRA
Purchase an annuity
Keep assets in the retirement plan
Take a lump sum
Begin taking distributions

3. Think About How You Will Invest

Continue to invest and review your investment mix to make sure it's still appropriate for you. Investments need to be conservative enough to preserve your income during retirement but aggressive enough to stay ahead of inflation and grow your investments over time. Find out what your investment style is using our Asset Allocation Calculator.

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What type of investor are you?

As an investor, you want to find a balance between financial stability and potential asset growth — a balance that makes you comfortable with how you allocate your assets. Most investors fall into one of five types, depending on how much they value stability over growth. Get a feel for your financial risk tolerance when you answer these questions.

Determine your investor profile

I expect to begin withdrawing money from my retirement account in:

Once I begin withdrawing money from my retirement account, I expect the withdrawals to last:

I would take money out of my retirement account to pay for a large, unexpected expense.

To meet my financial goals, my investments must grow at a high rate of return.

I prefer investments that are a low risk, even if the returns are lower than the rate of inflation (the rise in prices over time).

I prefer an investment strategy designed to grow steadily and avoid sharp ups and downs.

When it comes to investing, protecting the money I have is my highest priority.

I am unwilling to wait several years to recover from losses I could incur in an extended down market.

I always choose investments with the highest possible return, even if the investments may frequently experience large declines in value because of higher risk.

10.

If I had $1,000 invested in an account, and its value dropped to $850 after six months, I would move all my money to a more conservative account.

Note: Investment information is provided for educational purposes only.

Group variable annuity products are issued by American United Life Insurance Company^® (AUL) and registered group variable annuity products are distributed by OneAmerica Securities, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC, a Registered Investment Advisor, One American Square, Indianapolis, IN 46282, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AUL. McCready and Keene provides administrative and record keeping services and is not a broker/dealer or an investment advisor. Neither AUL, OneAmerica Securities, McCready and Keene nor their representatives provide tax, legal or investment advice.

Investing always involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Participants should carefully consider their risk tolerance, investing time horizon, needs and objectives as well as the specific risks and limitations associated with each of the investment options before investing.

What type of investor are you?

Your answers indicate that a retirement portfolio similar to this may suit your investment type.

This risk profile is a sample only. The proper asset allocation for your situation may differ. In applying any one of the profiles to your individual situation, you also should consider your other assets, income, and investments (including home equity, savings accounts, and other retirement plans), as well as your needs, goals and aversion to risk. If any of these factors change, you should review your investment allocation.

4. Determine Your Withdrawal Strategy

It is important to have a retirement income withdrawal plan because you may be drawing retirement income for decades.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when determining how and when to access your retirement account:

At age 59½, you can start withdrawing money from your employer-sponsored plan without penalty.
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019, and changed the required beginning age for RMDs from 70½ to 72. Individuals born on or after July 1, 1949, must take their first RMD by April 1 of the year following the year in which they turn 72 and by December 31 each year thereafter. Individuals born prior to July 1, 1949, must take their first RMD by April 1 of the year following the year in which they turn 701/2 and then by December 31 each year thereafter.
You might want to withdraw from taxable accounts before tax-deferred accounts.

5. Consider Your Legacy

Pre-retirement is a good time to create an estate plan with your attorney. You'll want to take into account all of your assets (including investments, retirement accounts, insurance policies and real estate) in determining your financial legacy. Log in to your account to take stock of your retirement account and discuss your options with a financial professional.

Please visit our One Day Is Today section. We've created these pages to help you get more information and tools so that you may fully enjoy retirement.

NOTES: Please note that the use of asset allocation or diversification does not assure a profit or guarantee against a loss. Provided content is for overview and informational purposes only and is not intended as tax, legal, fiduciary, or investment advice.