If you're between 55 and 64 years old, you still have time to set yourself up for a solid retirement. Whether you plan to retire early, late, or never, having an adequate amount of money saved can make all the difference. Your focus should be on building out—or catching up, if necessary.

If you discover that you need to put more money away, consider these six retirement savings tips.

1. Fund Your 401(k) to the Max

If your workplace offers a 401(k)—or a similar plan, such as a 403(b) or 457—and you aren’t already funding yours to the max, now is a good time to rev up your contributions. Not only are such plans an easy way to invest, but with non-澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roth accounts, you’ll be able to defer paying taxes on that income until you withdraw it in retirement.

Because your 50s and early 60s are likely to be⛦ your peak earning years, you may also be in a higher marginal tax bracket now than you will be during retirement, meaning that you’ll face a smaller tax bill when that time c🥃omes.

This applies, of course, to traditional 401(k)s and other tax-advantaged plans. If your employer offers a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roth 401(k) and you choose that option, you’ll pay taxes on the income now but be able to make tax-free withdrawals later.

The maximum amount you can contribute to your plan is adjusted each year to reflect 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation. In 2024, it’s $23,000 for anyone under age 50. If you’re age 50 or older, you can make an additional 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:catch-up contribution of $7,500 for a grand total of $30,500. In 2025, it's $23,500 for anyone under age 50. If you are older than 50, you can make a catch-up contribution of an additional $7,500; due to SECURE 2.0, if you are ages 60, 61, or 62, you can make a catch-up contribution of $11,500.

2. Rethink Your 401(k) Allocations

Conventional financial wisdom says that you should invest more conservatively as you get older, putting more money into bonds and less into stocks. The reasoning is that if your stocks take a tumble in a prolonged 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bear market, you won’t have as 🅠many years for prices😼 to recover and you may be forced to sell at a loss.

Just how conservative you should become is a matter of personal preference and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:risk tolerance, but few financial advisers would recommend selling all of your stock investments and moving entirely into bonds, regardless of your age. Stocks still provide growth potential that bonds do not. The point is that you should remain 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:diversified in both stocks and bonds in 𓂃an ꧒age-appropriate manner.

💫A conservative portfolio, for example, might consist of 70% to 75% bonds, 15% to 20% stocks, and 5% to 15% in cash or cash equival🎶ents, such as money-market funds. A moderately conservative one might reduce the bond portion to 55% to 60% and boost the stock portion to 35% to 40%.

If you’re still putting your 401(k) money into the same 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mutual funds or other investments you chose back in your 20s, 30s, orꦛ 40s, now’s the time to take a close look and decide whether you’re comfortable with that allocation as you move toward retirement age.

One handy option that many plans now offer is 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:target-date funds, which automatically adjust their asset allocations as the year you plan to retire draws closer. Target-date funds can have higher fees, so choose carefully.

3. Consider Adding an IRA

If you don’t have a 401(k) plan available at work—or if you’re already funding yours to the max—another retirement investing option is an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:individual retirem🤪ent account (IRA). The maximum you can contribute to an IRA in 2024 and 2025 is $7,000, plus another $1,000 if you’re 50 or older.

IRAs come in two varieties: traditional and Roth. With a traditional IRA, the money you contribute is pre-tax, meaning it reduces your taxable income in that year. With a Roth IRA, you get your tax break at the other end in the form of tax-free withdrawals, as long as it's been at least five years since you contributed to the account.

The two types also have different rules reꦓgarding contribution limits.

Traditional IRAs

If neither you nor your spouse has a retirement plan at work, you can deduct your entire contribution from a traditional IRA. If one of you is covered by a retirement plan, your contribution may be at least partially deductible, depending on your income and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:filing status.

Roth IRAs

Roth contributio🃏ns aren’t tax-deductible, regardless of your income or whether you have a retirement plan at work. The taxes on that money will be paid in that year.

However, your income determines whether you’re eligible to contribute to a Roth in the first place. The allowable contribution is reduced in steps through an income range, reaching zero at the top of the range. The numbers are adjusted yearly.

For the 2024 tax year, the income phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions to a Roth IRA is between $146,000 and $161,000 for singles and heads of household. For married couples filing jointly, the range is $230,000 to $240,000. For a married individual filing a separate return, it's $0 to $10,000.

For the 2025 tax year, the income phase-out range increased. For single taxpayer and head of household taxpayers, the phase-out range is $150,000 to $165,000. For couples filing joint returns, it's between $236,000 and $246,000. There is no change for couples filing separate returns.

Note, too, that married couples who file their taxes jointly can often fund two IRAs, even if only one spouse has a paid job, using what’s known as a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:spousal IRA. IRS Publication 590-A provides the rules.

4. Know What Income Sources You Can Expect

How aggressive you need to be in saving also depends on what 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:other sources of retirement income you can rea🔯sonably expect. Once you’ve rea🍌ched your mid-50s or early 60s, you can get a much closer estimate than you could have had earlier in your career.

Traditional Pensions

If you have a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:defined-benefit pension plan at your current employer or a previous one, you should be receiving an individual benefit statement at least once every three years. You can also request a copy from your plan’s administrator once a year. The statement should show the benefits you’ve earned and when they become vested (that is, when they belong fully to you).

It’s also worth learning how your pension benefits are calculated. Many plans use formulas based on salary and years of service. So you might earn a bigger benefit by staying in the job longer if you’🧜re in a position to.

Social Security

Once you’ve contributed to Social Security for 10 years or more, you can get a personalized estimate of your future monthly benefits using the . Your benefits will be based on your 35 highest years of earnings, so they may rise if you continue working.

Your benefits will also vary depending on when you start collecting them. You can take benefits as early as age 62, although they will be permanently reduced from the amount you’d receive if you waited until your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:full retirement age (67 for anyone born after 1960). You can delay receiving Social Security up to age 70 to get the maximum benefit.

To put it in some perspective, let's take two people, both of which retire in 2025. The average monthly retirement benefit for one person (age 62) in 2025 will be $2,831. The average monthly retirement benefit for the other person (age 70) will be $5,180. Note that these figures are as of Nove﷽mber 2024.

Keep in mind that you'll lose some portion of your Social Security payment to income taxes if your total income is as little as $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for a couple. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网ꦚ:Social Security benefits aꦗre taxable, and they have been since 1984.

5. Leave Your Retirement Savings Alone

After age 59½, you can begin to make penalty-free withdrawals from your retirement plans and IRAs. With a Roth IRA, you can withdraw your contributions—but not any earnings on them—penalty-free, at any age.

There is also an IRS exception, commonly known as the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Rule of 55, that waives the early-withdrawal penalty on retirement plan distributions for workers 55 and older (50 and older for some government employees) who lose or leave their jobs. It's complex, so it's best to talk to a financial or tax advisor if you are considering using it.

But just because you can make withdrawals doesn’t mean you should—unless you absolutely need the cash. The longer you leave your retirement accounts untouched the better off you are likely to be; however, you must begin to take 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:required minimum distributions starting at the age of 73 if you were born between 1951 and 1959, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. This is an increase from the previous age of 72.

6. Don’t Forget About Taxes

Finally, as you total up your retirement savings, remember that not all of that money is yours to keep. When you make withdrawals from a traditional 401(k)-type plan or traditional IRA, the IRS will tax you at your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:rate for ordinary income (not the lower rate for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:capital gains).

So if you’re in the 22% bracket, for example, every $1,000 you withdraw will net you just $780. You may want to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:strategize to hold onto more of your retirement funds—for instꦑa🔯nce, by moving to a tax-friendly state.

The Bottom Line

Retirement should be an enjoyable period in life, yet it can 𝔉be stressful for thꦕose who have to worry about money.

It’s never too early to start saving, of course, but the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:l🍒ast decade or so before you retire can be especially crucial. By then you’ll probably have a pretty good idea of when (or if) you want to retire and, even more importantly, you'll still have time to make adjustments if you need to. Planning for your retirement early and understanding the available plans and strategies can help 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:make retirement a fulfilling time in your life.