UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- With National Retirement Security Week running from Oct. 18 to 24, the Penn State Office of Human Resources is encouraging employees to take this opportunity to assess their savings progress.
If you’re not where you should be, now is a good time to do something about it. Experts suggest you’ll need about 80 percent of your income in retirement, but that’s just a general gauge. What’s your personal plan for retirement and are your savings on track to get you there?
To help you answer these questions, the Office of Human Resources has partnered with the University’s retirement plan provider, TIAA-CREF, to help employees protect their future financial well-being using the following tips and tools:
- You can perform your own retirement savings checkup using this checklist. It will help you consider your retirement goals, the contributions you’re making to savings, your investments and how they’re performing. Take time during National Retirement Security Week to see how many checklist to-dos you can complete, then commit to finish the others by year-end.
- Consider increasing your Penn State retirement plan contributions. Saving more today may bring you closer to the kind of retirement you want and deserve. You can contribute as much as $18,000 in 2015 (up to $24,000 if you’re 50 or older), in a Penn State supplemental retirement plan and you won’t pay income tax on pre-tax contributions until you withdraw them in retirement.
- Take advantage of advice. Schedule an advice session with a TIAA-CREF financial consultant dedicated to Penn State employees. It’s available at no cost to you as part of your retirement plan. You’ll receive fund-level, personalized recommendations to help you make informed choices, no matter how much or how little is in your account. Prefer to do it yourself? A retirement adviser tool, available 24/7, also delivers specific plan-level advice. Use it to test different investment allocations or changes in future contributions to help you decide whether to save more or how to manage risk as you approach retirement. More than two-thirds of people who’ve received TIAA-CREF’s personalized advice took action to help improve their financial future.
- Review your beneficiary selection. Log in to your account to double-check your selection. You can change it online if it’s not correct, or you can request a paper form by calling TIAA-CREF at 800-842-2252.
Remember that saving for retirement requires ongoing commitment. You don’t have to go it alone. In addition to one-on-one advice sessions and the retirement adviser, TIAA-CREF’s online Advice and Guidance Center is always available. It includes tips, tools and other resources you can access wherever and whenever it’s convenient for you. Also, live recorded webinars are offered so you can learn more about issues that concern you. You can even join an online community to see what other people are thinking about retirement planning.
For more information on Penn State retirement plan options, visit the Office of Human Resources website, or call 814-865-1473.