According to Money Magazine one would need 70% of a pre-retirement annual salary to live comfortably. Assessing your retirement goals is the first step in determining how much you should be putting away. Not everyone aspires to live in their dream home on the water with a boat and travel extensively upon retirement. If you are in good health and your mortgage is paid off, living off your retirement savings might not seem like such a stretch.
After all these years of discipline and investing your hard earned money, how can one ensure that those funds will be there for you when they really count? As we have seen over the past two years the economy can be turbulent and unpredictable. All were adversely affected and felt the loss. From parents putting away college money to older, established couples ready to finally cash in on their retirement savings - values decreased greatly no matter what your portfolio looked like.
Credit Union’s are using new insurance provisions to assist their members in protecting their nest egg. While federally insured financial institutions offer limited insurance guarantees up to $100,000, Credit Union’s can now provide an additional $250,000 of share insurance coverage to further guarantee the safety of members' funds through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. This is a result of The Helping Families Save Their Home Act of 2009 that was signed into law on May 20, 2009.
For example, a member with savings, checking and CD accounts totaling $350,000 has $100,000 insured by federal coverage with the remaining privately insured. Private insurance is a viable option to insuring the safety of your investment. This should give you some comfort given the past chain of financial events. Your insured accounts include regular shares, share drafts (checking accounts), money market accounts and share certificates.
The National Credit Union Association’s Share Insurance Fund was established in 1970 by National Credit Union Association. Much like the FDIC’s insurance fund, the NCUASIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government, meaning as long as the US government is around, depositors at credit unions are guaranteed to get their money.
Don’t let the headlines on the news distract you from your long term financial goals. Slow and steady wins the race, right? We have long advocated a disciplined approach to investing that embraces such strategies as asset allocation and long-term investments.
