Do You Recognize the 3 Myths of Financial Planning?

Most people have been given investing advice at some point or other in their lives. This advice is most often a well-meaning attempt to offer a solution. It can be repeated from person to person or generation to generation. In some cases, the advice being passed on is sound, but for others no matter how many times it may be repeated, it just simply is not true.

Vladimir Lenin said:

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.

So how is a person to know if the advice they are receiving is true or not?

With the changing times, strategies come and go. Sometimes ideas that worked for our parents are no longer valid. Can you easily recognize what still holds up and what has become a myth?

Here is a review of three concepts that need to be reevaluated for today’s investing needs:

Save 10 Percent Of Income For Retirement

This may have worked decades ago when our parents were working. That was a time when employees tended to stay with a company for life, received salary increases, pensions and had shorter life expectancies. The smart investor should now save at least 15 percent of their gross income beginning early on in their career in order to maintain their lifestyle in retirement.

If a person doesn’t start saving in their twenties or thirties, they will need to contribute a higher percentage. Starting to save in their fifties, a person would need to contribute much more of their income to make up for lost time. This can be thirty-five percent or more, depending on how late a person starts saving.

The myth here is that Social Security will be enough to meet expenses in retirement. This simply no longer holds true for most people. By the time a person is ready for retirement, they should have 10 to 12 times the amount of their final salary in savings. Annual income in retirement should be 70 to 80 percent of preretirement gross income to maintain the existing lifestyle. For most people, this amount is workable as fifteen to twenty percent stops being channeled into retirement savings. In addition, work-related expenses are no longer part of the budget and the family home is usually paid off by this time.

Of course, more than that may be required if there is a plan for additional travel or unusually high hobby expenses.

If Social Security is still available, it should be considered as a supplement to savings.

Have Three Months' Of Living Expenses For Emergencies

Long gone are the days when someone in their twenties starts at a company and works for the same organization their entire life. In today’s society, we have become familiar with frequent job and even career changes and the possibility of becoming unemployed much more often. It may be an unfortunate myth to have only three months of emergency savings.

It is prudent to have savings enough to tide a person over during longer periods of unemployment. Whether this is due to job loss or for health reasons, a person should have at least three to six months of savings to cover living for any emergency or more. If a person is in a specialized field where it may take longer to find a suitable position, that range needs to be adjusted higher – perhaps up to a year – with the amount in savings adjusted accordingly.

These funds are best kept in a balanced mutual fund which will have a higher return than a savings account but not much additional risk.

Invest In The Stock Market To Leverage Your Nest Egg

With all the manipulation and meltdowns of the stock market, there are people who still believe in gambling their future on stocks is a prudent investment. This myth is surprising. When a stock crashes, all the stockholder is left with is a worthless certificate.

For this very reason, investment in real estate is much more advantageous to gain wealth and cash flow.

A lot of people have become uneasy about in investing in real estate due to the economic recession that was triggered by the housing decline in 2006. This recession is often attributed to the housing bubble and subprime mortgages that preceded the meltdown. Interestingly, when the stock market crashes and people lose fortunes, these same people are just willing to chalk it up to the risk of the market and are willing to say goodbye to their hard-earned funds.

Real estate investment purchases offer a future income stream from property and are quite undeserving of all the negativity to this investment’s reputation. One reason real estate is a great investment is that no matter what happens, the property will still be there. The property will be there and people will always need a place to live, conduct business or for storage. “What if the property is destroyed?” you may ask. Well, property insurance will usually give you a bigger, better, and updated property in its place. What stock has ever offered that feature?

Real estate offers collateral, in the form of a building. The price may go up or down, but the building will stand and be a tangible and marketable structure. It can offer income in the form of appreciation which is the increasing value of a property over time. This means the owner will have income through lump sum cash gains from the eventual sale of property. The asset may also be used for cash flow, or rent, which tends to be much more advantageous as this cash flow tends to remain constant no matter what the value of the property. The smart real estate investor can profit from the sale of the property or cash flow from rentals, or both. It also offers tax advantages that the stock market cannot match.

There are many different types of real estate investments a person might consider for inclusion in a portfolio.

How Well Did You Score?

Were you able to recognize the myth straight off?

As Lenin said, hearing something often does not make it true. Financial myths are no different. Repeatedly listening to outdated or incorrect advice can be financially devastating.

While saving 10 percent of income for retirement may have been great advice in the fifties or even seventies, it no longer holds true as a prudent amount of annual savings for retirement.

In our modern society, job hopping and layoffs are commonplace. Having a mere three months' worth of living expenses for emergencies is very tight. In an economy where replacing a lost job can take anywhere from three months to over a year, having sufficient savings will alleviate the stress of getting through a period without income.

The stock market can be glamorous and offers the illusion of an unlimited gain. This seductive quality can draw in investors without any foundation as a “paper” investment. Real estate is an investment that can offer rich rewards over a long period of time. It offers tangible assets, return on investment in the form of lump sum gain, cash flow or both. It also offers tax benefits.

Knowledge is power and updated knowledge is the most powerful of all.

It takes discipline, but living within one’s means is key to accumulating wealth. Being financially responsible in the present is a good way to ensure a comfortable future.

These steps are good places to start a more conscious and directed route to achieving your financial freedom. Read, reflect and take what will work for you.

Bottom line is that there is no blanket strategy. Each person must evaluate their own circumstances, needs, and desires. Get the help you need to achieve financial freedom.

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. 

-Jim Rohn


Above all, believe in yourself and believe that you will achieve your goal!


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Sources:


Lynda at Sonoran Sun | Private Equity Investments 

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The Tightrope To Retirement