Six Steps to Developing a Strategy for Retirement

Step 1: Meet With a Financial Advisor
When you talk with your Edward Jones financial advisor, you will discuss your financial goals. Your financial advisor will help you to answer the following questions in order to develop a personalized retirement strategy.

Step 2: Where am I Today?
Preparing for your retirement starts by understanding your current financial condition. Gather the most recent statements from all of your savings, investment and retirement plan accounts as well as any loan, mortgage or credit card statements you may have.

Also, locate your most recent benefits estimate from the Social Security Administration. Review this information with your financial advisor to get a good sense of your current financial picture.

Step 3: Where Would I Like To Be?
The next step is to figure how much income you'll need when you retire. It's likely you'll want to maintain at least 80% of your current annual income, but this amount depends on what expenses (housing, health care, etc.) and activities (travel, hobbies, etc.) you anticipate for your retirement years.

Step 4: Can I Get There?
Knowing how much to save is critical to realizing your retirement dreams. Recent studies show that while seven out of 10 working individuals save for retirement, 60% of them are not saving enough.* After taking into account your anticipated Social Security and/or pension income, we'll help you identify how much personal savings you'll need to retire.

Step 5: How Do I Get There?
After we've identified how much personal savings you'll need to retire, we'll calculate what you'll need to save monthly or annually to reach your goal. Then we'll help you develop a personalized investment strategy to help achieve your retirement dreams.

Step 6: How Can I Stay On Track?
Once you've started saving for retirement, it's important to review your plan and investments with your financial advisor at least annually to ensure that your investments are properly diversified and that you have the right mix of investments for your situation. In addition, if your retirement goals or circumstances change, we can help you make the necessary updates to your retirement strategy.

When you retire, you'll need an income stream that keeps up with rising costs. Because many people are living 20 years or more in retirement, your retirement savings will need to last longer and do more.