After working for most of their adult lives, the majority of Americans expect to be comfortable in their retirement years. But money doesn’t grow on trees. When you are unable to work to fund your living costs, you will invariably need to rely on savings and pensions to make ends meet. But without saving in advance of your retirement, you can expect your standard of living to dramatically suffer as a result. By the time a lack of savings proves a problem, it may be too late to do anything about it – that is why prudent Americans should feel compelled to start saving as quickly as possible for their retirement.
There are a number of different ways in which you can invest your savings to generate a return in your older age. Depending on how risky you want to be with your money, you can earn varying rates of return. But for many investing for retirement, the main concern is capital security, followed by the returns that may be available. This means it is important to look at the best types of investment for guaranteeing a return on your money, in addition to those that are slightly riskier but potentially more profitable.
Image source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/files/2010/08/6E177BBC53DCE27BB541F6322434E.jpg
Safe Investment Opportunities
Finding safe investment opportunities is an important part of saving for your retirement. There can surely be no sadder state of affairs than a saver who loses everything before their retirement – simply as a result of bad or unlucky investments. Safe opportunities include those that offer a guaranteed return. A savings account is a safe investment, for example, because there is no real risk attached to housing your money in a savings account – other than the risk of the bank going bust, your money is pretty safe. You can also expect to earn interest on this over time, although naturally the rates of interest payable will be less than those investments with a little more bite.
Certificates of Deposit are another option that can be used. These range from the safe-as-houses to the slightly more risky, and the interest rates returned for investing in these instruments will vary according to this. These instruments work by tying up the invested capital until a set future date, at which point the certificate will mature and the investment can be either rolled over or withdrawn. Certificates of deposit are usually insured, and at any rate are safe instruments in which to invest for the longer term. These can often provide better rates of return than simply keeping your money in the bank. Read more about CD interest rates to get a sense how this works.
Image source: http://www.g-forceemployment.com/upload/U254066_pensions.jpg
Pension funds and other types of savings plans could also be classified under the safe investments category. These types of investment products see professional investors managing your contributions for a profit. While there are management fees applicable, and the value of your contributions can go down as well as up, this is one of the main methods for savers looking to shore up their financial future.
Riskier Investments
There are, of course, many different investment opportunities available. The difference is that some are considerably more risky than others. You could leave your money in a bank account, or you could invest your money into a highly leveraged hedge fund – either has the capacity to grow your capital, but one is just far more risky than the other. Investors can speculate on stocks and shares in order to increase the value of their capital. But if the shares they invest in perform poorly, this type of investment strategy can cost money. That is why, when holding riskier assets, a balanced portfolio is vital.
Others choose to invest their money in a small business, either starting up themselves or investing in a small family firm. Either option no doubt has its risks, and will require huge personal and time investment. But the rewards from these options can arguably prove even more substantial for those that are able to achieve these results.
Not every type of investment is designed to be a safe way to make money, and some could very well reduce the overall total of your retirement savings. The key is to be prudent, and to be sensible about the risks that you embrace. The most important thing is that you are able to access your capital during your retirement, and you should take every possible step to keep this capital intact for the best long-term results.