Successful Retirement Plans Are Built on These 5 Pillars

There is so much that goes into preparing for retirement, sometimes it's hard to know where to start. Having a comprehensive plan or blueprint will make the process easier by outlining the major areas you need to address.

Planning for retirement is like building a house. The fundamental features of any home are the foundation, walls and roof. Of course, there are the details of electrical, plumbing, finish work, etc., but unless the core components are constructed properly, in the correct order and working together as designed, the other components can't be expected to perform as intended.

Just like you need a blueprint to build a house, you should also have a blueprint when building your retirement plan. The retirement blueprints we design for our clients include:

• The Foundation: Principal-protected, "safe" assets.
• Walls: Designed for growth and income, composed of assets not generally tied directly to the stock market.
• Roof: Typically growth-oriented equity investments with exposure to the markets.

Along with those