Resolutions and Responsibilities

January sweeps in with new commitments, new promises, and hopeful resolutions. To eat better, drink less, work out more, focus on family & make plans for some happy memory-making. By January 15th, our resolutions are waning and by February 1st, most are forgotten. Making resolutions always seems like a good idea to embrace the new year, but tend to fall flat if responsibility and commitment are not part of the plan.

The same goes for retirement planning. Often, employees will say ‘next year’ I am going to make a plan to review my account, shore up my investments, increase my contributions and meet with a planner. Year after year, this gets added to the ‘resolution list’, but life gets in the way, and planning for retirement takes a back seat.

Here are a couple of ‘quick fixes’ to help get you back on track in 2025:

• January is a popular month for pay increases and/or raises for the new year. If you are lucky enough to get either a cost-of-living adjustment or a pay increase of any kind, ‘pay yourself first’ and increase your salary deferral by 1%.

• Log into your 401(k) account and ensure that your designated beneficiaries are the people you intend to receive your retirement plan proceeds if something unexpected happens. This is just good ‘housekeeping’.

• Review your investments. Do you understand your tolerance for risk? What type of investor are you? If the market goes up, do you get excited? If it goes down, do you want to move to cash? Do you pay attention at all, or just wish your investments were on autopilot? These are all good questions, and understanding what type of investor you are, helps! Go to: My Risk Tolerance | My Retirement Plan - SUITE(k), a division of S.E.E.D. and answer a few short questions to determine the best asset allocation to ensure you are comfortable riding out the peaks and troughs of market volatility.

? You may need to adjust your current investment allocation according to the results.

? You may also set your investment allocation to rebalance automatically to make managing your accounts easier.

January 1, 2025, is your opportunity to make retirement planning resolutions and keep them! Your employer is offering you a Plan that allows for a systematic process for saving. Participating is your responsibility. If you need an accountability partner, go to: www.401ktime.com and ‘CONTACT US’. We can help get you back on track.

Happy New Year! Kerstin Driscoll-Witt