This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Neighbor News

Why Not Shop for Retirement on Black Friday?

This Black Friday, take a fraction of the energy you'd spend in the stores, and spend time shopping for a better retirement. Here's how.

Would you get up in the middle of the night, drive to an overflowing parking lot, and stand in line for hours on end, all to save a couple bucks on one Christmas gift?

Plenty of people do that every year on the day after Thanksgiving. To me, that is just too much stress and hassle.

I realize that everyone today is busy with their daily lives and the lives of the ones they love. I am sure that is a large part of the reason that so many people go shopping together on the same day every year.

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What I can’t figure out is why those same people don’t spend an equal amount of time managing their company 401(k) retirement plan accounts.

If you are willing to spend the better part of an entire day shopping on Black Friday, could you spend 30 minutes on your home computer looking up exactly what you currently own in your company 401(k) retirement plan?

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now would be a good time to spend those 30 minutes.  The stock market volatility in the last few weeks has been truly historic.  There have been 5-10% ranges between gains and losses for the last several months.

Pull your quarterly company 401(k) retirement plan statement out of the drawer you keep them in.  Take a look at exactly what mutual funds you currently own.  If you have a question, call the 800 number on the statement and ask whoever answers the phone to explain what you currently own.

Buying Christmas presents happens every year.  For most adults, the magic and mystery of that process has long disappeared.

You could be retired for 30 years after you quit working.  The more company retirement plan principal you stand to lose in the current stock market decline, the higher your odds of running out of money in retirement.

What you need to do this Black Friday is to begin thinking about spending some time shopping for a better retirement plan investment management strategy for yourself.

Providing yourself with a safe and comfortable retirement could be the best present you could ever give your spouse or children after you retire. If your retirement income is safe and assured, that would change the lives of everyone in your family.

Ric Lager
Lager & Company, Inc.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Golden Valley