Easy 3-Step Financial Review
Year-end is generally a good time to take stock of your plans for retirement so you can make adjustments if necessary. It won't take a lot of time. Just focus on these three essentials:
Step 1: Review your account balance
Checking your Personal Rate of Return can be a lot more rewarding these days as you may have watched results improve. Now there's no need to wait for a quarterly statement from your employer’s retirement plan to arrive in your mailbox or even log in to the account to get this key information. Take advantage of two new services that deliver information to you electronically:
- Add our new gadget to your iGoogle home page. The Principal Financial Group® Account Values gadget gives you instant access to important account information directly from your iGoogle home page. You can set up your page to deliver quick and secure access to the information you value most, though you’ll still need to log in at principal.com to perform transactions.
- Get weekly e-mail or text message updates about account information. Simply designate the day of the week and the time you’d like to receive them. You’ll stay up to date on the account balance and your personal rate of return.
Step 2: Consider your contribution rate
Enrolling in your employer's retirement plan was an important first move in helping you take steps toward securing your financial future, but a retirement plan isn't something you can just set and forget. Do you know your current contribution rate? Do you know if it's sufficient to receive your organization’s full match contribution (if one is offered)?
» To help rebuild retirement savings, consider saving more each year – or at regular intervals.
Step 3: See if you’re on track
Our interactive retirement planning tool can help you determine if you're on track to reach your retirement goals by:
- Identifying shortfalls in retirement savings
- Pinpointing other potential gaps in your retirement plan
- Drafting a retirement guide that is personalized to your unique situation
It takes only minutes to use, and it will show you the long-term effect of important moves like delaying retirement by a couple of years or boosting your retirement plan contribution by as little as 1 percent or an extra $100 a month.
» Get started: Try the online retirement planning tool and find out if you're on track
