Guidant Financial Group Blog

Because of the services Guidant offers, we often focus on ways to grow your retirement accounts. But what about ways to prepare for the actual act of retiring – which is, after all, the whole point of growing your account?

Guidant’s self-directed IRA and 401(k) small business financing solutions are designed to help you grow your retirement dollars in ways that you feel are more lucrative and more secure than the options offered by the securities market. (Don’t worry – with our services, you can still invest in securities too!)

But what should you do when you’re ready to stop saving and start spending?

Wallet Pop has an interactive slide show that provides five tips for preparing for the day your actually retire (see Last Minute Retirement Tips). While it can be as simple as drawing out your mandatory distributions each year, the smart way to spend those retirement dollars is a little more complex.

The number-one tip is balancing your asset allocation as you near retirement age. Because you have less time to recoup losses, many financial experts recommend that you get progressively more conservative with, and hold more cash in, your retirement accounts.

For self-directed IRA holders, this could mean several things, such as switching to rental properties instead of rehab flips, or maybe moving out of the real estate market altogether and focusing on secured notes and loans.

Whatever your investment interest may be, you and your financial advisor can find ways to incorporate more conservative investments in your self-directed portfolio as you near retirement.

Everyone’s retirement plans are different, and everyone’s investment interests are different; but, by learning early on what you can do to ensure a healthy retirement, you can work out a plan well in advance that will work for you and your goals.