Next Steps

Congratulations! You have completed ICMA-RC’s Quick Guide to Retirement Planning. You are now one step closer to meeting your retirement goals. If you discovered that you need to save more to meet your retirement goals remember to take action by contacting Investor Services or employer now.

Investing

Once you are saving, take the time to learn about investing. According to a recent study by Dalbar, mutual fund investors are earning less than 3% on average on their long term investments. The study, which reviewed investor buying and selling habits, found that most investors are selling when the market goes down and buying when it goes up. They are buying high and selling low. You can avoid this pitfall by learning how to select and maintain an investment portfolio that fits you, one that you can live with through the normal ups and downs of the market. To learn more about investing Go to Investing.

Refine Your Plan

Your financial plan should be tailored to your needs. In this Quick Guide we used some basic assumptions in order to make the process simpler. Now that you have taken this first important step by completing the Quick Guide, we encourage you to go to our Advanced Guide to Retirement Planning. In our advanced guide you will have a chance to reexamine the assumptions we used in the quick guide to see if they fit your situation.