Retirement Planning for Self-Employed People

There are certain perks of being self-employed. You are your own boss. You are not accountable to anyone. You can call an off for yourself without requesting formally for a leave. You can make business decisions swiftly according to your discretion. However, there is one aspect where you might feel stuck: planning for retirement.

Most jobs and employers sign you up for a retirement plan. Often they would also make the employer’s contribution to making your old age fruitful. The added advantage of being an employee is that your organization would often facilitate you with an HR team’s expertise that will guide you thoroughly through your journey of choosing a suitable retirement plan and a strategy to achieve your goals. However, if you are self-employed and your own boss, you must be used to handling things on your own, and deciding your retirement plan should be just another hurdle you can leap over to achieve your goals.

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Here are a few tips that should help you line your path to a sweet old age.

– Account for both, risk and retirement

Do not be overenthusiastic in planning for your retirement. First, make allowance for saving for a contingency plan. You must have realized how crucial it is to have a strong bank to save you in turbulent times like the coronavirus epidemic. Once you have made ample allowance for offsetting any financial troubles, you can safely allocate another 10% to your retirement plan.

Pexels | Without a proper plan, you’ll be lost

– Start saving early

Do not get confused with the misconception that you must always contribute a big amount to your retirement fund. In most cases, this will cause you to become reluctant towards saving for retirement when you are fresh out in the field.

This folly of yours can cost you thousands in form of compound interest. A good rule of thumb is always to save a percentage of your income that is half of your age when you start contributing to your retirement.

– Retirement fund is allocated before taxation

Often, saving for retirement means evading taxes. Thus, when you plan to save for retirement, do not get discouraged by the hefty taxes, leaving your disposable income shrunken. In most cases, withdrawal from retirement funds can be offset by a reduction in taxes.

Pexels | Saving goes a long way

If you have already embarked on a journey as a self-employed entrepreneur, you must have enough mettle to juggle most hardships that come your way, the first being planning wisely for retirement.