Projecting & Planning for 2021

Scott discusses reflecting on your 2020 savings goals and evaluating how your investments did last year. He also shares ideas to help max out your savings in 2021.

Income Planning
Projecting and Planning for 2021

Do you have New Year’s Resolutions for your finances? What should you focus on when setting financial goals for the new year?
Kickstart the new year by focusing on a few key factors that have long-term impact on your Income Planning for retirement.
2020 brought major disruptions or loss of income for many. Let me assure you, you can recover. Don’t worry over one missed year, and don’t feel guilty.
Pick up the pieces now, and focus on these Key areas of Projecting and Planning for 2021:

Reflect on 2020 Savings Goals.

Did you hit your savings goals? Did you have a number you were reaching for? Now is the time to evaluate your progress.

Did you max out your retirement accounts? Maxing out your retirement accounts is not just contributing the max that your employer will match. You can contribute $19,500 to your 401k even if your employer does not match all of it. If you are over 50, you can make an additional catch-up contribution of $6500.

No access to employer plans? Contribute to a Traditional or Roth IRA. The maximum contribution for both is $6000 for those under 50 and $7000 for those over 50.

2 Ideas to Help you Max Out Your Savings in 2021:
Automate
Increase your income contribution by 1%.
Set a reminder to continue to increase it by 1% every month or couple of months to avoid frustration and adapt gradually. You will automatically ramp up to success while decreasing the impact on your monthly take-home pay.
Contribute Your Stimulus Check
We anticipate another stimulus check of $1400. Put that in your IRA by April, and it will still count towards your 2020 contributions.

Evaluate How Your Investments Did in 2020.

Did you stick to your plan or did you make changes? Discuss with your advisor to figure out now what you can do, what your risk tolerance is, and what allocation of your funds you can stick with.

The best investment plan is the one you can stick with.

When you rely on investments for income, it will make a major impact on your Income Planning. Talk to your advisor to have confidence in knowing where your income is coming from, especially if you are already retired.

Now is the time to set goals for the year. With proper projecting and planning for 2021, you will look back next year and feel good about hitting your projections and being on track with your Income Plan.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 844-CARLSON (844-227-5766).

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