Imagine a paycheck that has to last for 30 or more years after you retire.  It’s a formidable challenge, but with the proper planning and the assistance of an experienced advisor you can meet that challenge with confidence. 

A Three-Step Process for Retirement Peace of Mind

Realizing your retirement dreams requires a sound financial foundation, and setting that foundation is grounded in three key steps.

Step 1: Determining What You Need to Save

Calculating a savings strategy involves determining a number of important factors, such as:

• Your desired income in retirement.
• When you expect to retire.
• A realistic rate of return on your investments.
• The future rate of inflation.
• Other legacy goals (e.g., charity).

The calculation can be complicated, but TIAA’s Retirement Advisor tool can help you easily estimate what you need to save today to reach your retirement goals. 

Step 2: Investing Your Assets

Using your investment objective, risk tolerance, and your investment time horizon, you can create a diversified portfolio designed to provide the optimal balance of risk and return.

Step 3: Income Projection

As you near your retirement date, you can begin assessing how much income the money you’ve saved may generate in your retirement.  Combining this number with other expected sources of retirement income (e.g., Social Security) will provide a realistic income estimate.

It’s smart to do this 5-10 years before you retire so that you have the time to make any savings and investment adjustments in case you find a meaningful gap between this estimated retirement income and your desired goal.

We’re Here to Help

A TIAA financial consultant can help to improve your confidence in your retirement income plan. To assist you, a TIAA financial consultant can meet with you on any CU campus, over the phone or in person by appointment at the Denver, Fort Collins and Boulder offices. To schedule your session, call 800-732-8353, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (MT) Monday through Friday, or visit TIAA.org/schedulenow.