Millions of Americans need to do more to prepare for a secure retirement. Those are the results of the newly-released 2018 Planning and Progress Study from Northwestern Mutual. Nearly 8 out of 10 Americans are concerned about their own retirement security, and more than two thirds are concerned about outliving their retirement savings. Self-Directed IRAs may be the key to securing a nice retirement.

Key Findings:

One out of five Americans have no retirement savings whatsoever.
33 percent of Baby Boomers – now nearing or entering their retirement age, have $25,000 or less in retirement savings.
Three out of four Americans believe it is only “somewhat likely” or “not at all likely” that Social Security will be there for them in retirement.
Almost half of all Americans have not taken any steps to help ensure they will outlive their retirement assets.

More Americans expect to be working longer into their traditional retirement years. Nearly 4 in 10 (38 percent) expect to be working at least to age 70 – well past the traditional retirement ages of 60 to 65 years. Only 33 percent expect to be able to retire during that traditional age range.

Additionally, fully 55 percent of respondents – more than half – expect they will need to work past age 65, with nearly three quarters of them reporting insufficient savings as the primary driver of the decision to keep working. Other contributing factors include the expectation that Social Security will not be around for them in its present form, and concerns over increasing health care and long-term care costs.

You can read more about the study and its methodology here.

What To Do About It

The gap between retirement income needs and the capacity of individuals’ assets to generate retirement income is substantial. Experts recommend increasing savings and investment. Here are some of the things you can do to help maximize the chances of having a secure, successful retirement:

1.) Start saving early. The sooner you begin saving in earnest, the more compounding can work in your favor, and the less investment risk you will need to take to meet your retirement income needs.

2.) Maximize tax-advantaged saving and investing opportunities. Save as much as you can in Self-Directed IRAs, Self-Directed Solo 401(K)s, Thrift Savings Plans and other tax-favored account types. If you have self-employment income or own a business, start a retirement plan of your own, and contribute as much as you can.

3.) Start a Self-Directed IRA. These increasingly popular Self-Directed IRAs are designed to enable investors to expose themselves to a wider variety of asset classes not readily available from traditional investment companies, which focus on stocks, bonds, mutual funds and annuities. Self-Directed IRAs enable you to take direct ownership of hand-selected real estate, gold and precious metals, tax liens and certificates, private placements, venture capital and other assets not normally available from retail brokerages and investment companies.

4.) Own real estate. Real estate offers a powerful combination of current income, increasing income potential, capital appreciation, leverage and downside risk protection. We recommend owning at least some real estate within a Self-Directed Real Estate IRA, which allows for both income and capital appreciation on a tax-deferred basis, or in the case of Self-Directed Roth IRA accounts, tax-free.

5.) Reduce the fees you pay. The average actively-managed mutual fund can sap your portfolio of 20 percent or more of its value over a lifetime, thanks to high mutual fund expense ratios and other hidden transactions. Consider migrating some of your assets to index funds and pull assets from accounts with expensive “wrap” fees and assets-under-management fees to firms that charge a much more reasonable flat rate for services rendered. For example, if you are a long-term, buy-and-hold investor, it makes little sense to subsidize other investors’ trading by paying a high expense ratio, which can eat away at your retirement nest egg like termites.

This can cost thousands of dollars per year in a good-sized investment portfolio. A flat rate, menu-based fee schedule may cost a small fraction of the fees and expenses you’re currently paying to a traditional broker or investment company.

6.) Start taking positive steps today. For example, open a Self-Directed IRA or Real Estate IRA with American IRA, LLC. American IRA is one of America’s leading providers of administrative services for Self-Directed IRAs of all stripes. Once your account is open and funded, it is very easy to purchase assets – including entire houses and apartment buildings – for your retirement portfolio.

To get started, call us today at 866-7500-IRA (472) or visit us on the Web at www.AmericanIRA.com.