Planning for Retirement


There’s a lot more to retirement than just no longer going to work and if you’re like most people, you don’t want to work for the rest of your life. Retirement will come much sooner than you think and to be ready for it, you need a plan – a saving and investment plan, that is.

If you don’t want to lower your standard of living when you retire, most financial professionals agree that you will need about 70 percent to 90 percent of the income you had before you retired. Generally, your pension benefit and Social Security will cover only a portion of this amount. The rest will have to come from what you do on your own – from how much you save and how you invest.

We have some tools that can help. First, ask your employer for a copy of the Retirement Systems’ “Investing for Your Retirement” video, which provides an introduction to investing. For more detailed information about saving and investing, take a look at our Investing for Your Retirement guide.

The good news is you don’t need to be a financial or investment expert to save for your retirement. You can choose from selected investment options through the South Carolina Deferred Compensation Program and can have your contributions deducted pre-tax from your paycheck. The investment options range from guaranteed certificate funds to higher-risk stocks.

When should you start planning and saving for your retirement? Why not start today? It’s never too early or too late to start saving and investing for your retirement. The more you save and invest now, the better your chance of meeting your financial needs in retirement.