Don’t forget your annual checkup (of your retirement readiness)

Checkups — they’re something we all know we should do and they’re easy to postpone. But whether you’re considering your physical health or your retirement readiness, it’s important to get a regular review of your vital signs so you can make any needed changes.

The good news is that you don’t have to schedule an appointment for a checkup of your retirement readiness. You can do it yourself at any time on empowermyretirement.com. Start with the following:

1. Check your Lifetime Income Score¹ – Your Lifetime Income Score is a helpful estimate of your future retirement readiness. When you log in to your account, you can immediately see whether you’re on course to meet your retirement income goals. Choose the “Other Assets” link to add other retirement income like a pension or IRA for a more realistic score. Then you can experiment with how a change in your planned retirement date and your contribution rate affect your retirement income. And you can get recommendations for other things you can do to achieve the retirement you want.

2. Consider increasing your contribution amount – If you’ve never changed the amount you contribute to your retirement account from when you first enrolled, it may be time for an update. Your contribution level is one of the most important factors in reaching your retirement goals.

3. Review your asset allocation^2,3 – Does your retirement investment portfolio have the right balance of risk and return potential for your age and situation? In general, people reduce their investment risk as they get closer to their retirement date. They want to protect the assets that they’ll soon rely on for retirement income. But if you still have years or decades to go before you retire, investing too conservatively could limit your ability to capitalize on compounded growth potential.

4. Designate — or update — your beneficiary information – A beneficiary is the person you choose to inherit the assets in your retirement account in the event of your death. If you never designated a beneficiary — or if you need to update your choice — take a few minutes to log in to your account and complete this important task. It can make the process of settling your affairs a little easier for the people you care about.

If you have questions about any of these areas — or if you’d like other suggestions for your retirement readiness checkup — schedule some time with your retirement plan advisor, Tom Ferguson, by contacting him at 720-538-6864 or [email protected].

^{1 IMPORTANT: The projections, or other information generated on the website by the investment analysis tool regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes, are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. The results may vary with each use and over time. Healthcare costs and projections, if applicable, are provided by HealthView Services. HealthView Services is not affiliated with GWFS Equities, Inc. Empower Retirement does not provide healthcare advice. A top peer is defined as an individual who is at the 90th percentile of the selected age band, salary range and gender.}

^{2 Asset allocation does not ensure a profit and does not protect against loss in declining markets.}

^{3 Diversification does not ensure a profit and does not protect against loss in declining markets.}