[ad_1] According to a retirement study released by Stanford University, only about 50% of American workers have access to a 401(k) or equivalent employer-sponsored retirement plan. And many who have a retirement account, aren’t making sufficient contributions to meet their targeted retirement goals. Retirement savings is a life venture where the stronger you start — and the earlier it happens — the better you’ll finish. If you work for an employer and have access to a 401(k) plan, do all you can to maximize your contributions, especially while you’re young. 401(k) plans are one of the most generous retirement plans available. You can contribute up to $19,500 per year, or up to $26,000 if you’re 50 or older. You’ll also get a tax deduction for your contribution and full tax deferral on your investment income between now and retirement. Early in life, fund your plan with reckless abandon, especially if your employer offers a matching contribution. How Much You Should Have in Your 401(k) There’s no heavy science here, since much of the progress you’ll make with your 401(k) plan is dependent on your personal circumstances. However, there are general retirement savings guides to know, based on your age. One way to gauge this is through the Fidelity Retirement Widget. When using this free tool, enter your age, your expected retirement age, and what you think your lifestyle will be at reach retirement. The results will show you how much savings you should have in your 401(k) plan at various ages. For the example below, we input age 25, a retirement age of 67, and an average expected lifestyle. Age Annual Income Approximate 401(k) Income Multiple Recommended 401(k) Balance 30 $50,000 1X $50,000 35 $65,000 2X $130,000 40 $80,000 3X $240,000 45 $100,000 4X $400,000 50 $140,000 6X $840,000 55 $150,000 7X $1.05 million 60 $150,000 8X $1.2 million 67 $150,000 10X $1.5 million The recommended 401(k) balances are just approximations and can be adjusted higher or lower. For example, if you expect your lifestyle in retirement to be below average, the widget will recommend having 8X your annual income in your 401(k) plan at 67. If you expect your lifestyle to be above average, it will recommend 12X your annual income in retirement. How to Manage My 401(k) Plan Investments If you don’t know how to manage your retirement plan investments, that’s not a problem. There are services available to help you get the job done. One example is Personal Capital. The free version comes with a 401(k) analyzer that discloses fund fees in your plan so you can switch to funds with lower fees. If you use the premium version, you’ll also get the 401(k) Fund Allocation, to help you learn where your money should be invested. Get Started With Personal Capital A more direct approach is available through blooom. For $10 per month, it provides direct management of your employer-sponsored retirement plan, whether it’s a 401(k), 403(b), 457 or Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). After a brief questionnaire, blooom sends you a recommended investment strategy for your plan. And since the service doesn’t actually take custody of your retirement account, you don’t need your employer’s approval to get started with blooom. Get Started With blooom With the investment management services that are now available for 401(k) plans, lack of investment knowledge is no longer a reason to avoid investing through your retirement plan. 401(k) and Retirement Tips Although the focus on retirement planning is almost entirely on the numbers, discipline and knowledge are equally important. When building your retirement plan, implement a few strategies. 1. Set Goals You can certainly use the savings suggestions from the Fidelity Retirement Widget, but you need to work within the scope of your own financial circumstances. The important point is, whatever method you use, have goals in place. Those goals determine not only how much you’ll contribute to your plan, but also how aggressively you’ll invest the money. For example, if you can’t make the full $19,500 per year contribution allowed, you might need to invest your plan portfolio more aggressively. One option is placing a higher allocation in stocks. This strategy is recommended in the early years of your plan participation since you have more time to bounce back from aggressive investing. A popular rule for your stock portfolio allocation is calculating 120 minus your age. Here’s an example: 120 – 25 (years old) = 95 (% of stock allocation) That means 95% of your retirement portfolio should be invested in stocks, and the remaining 5% in fixed-income investments. As you get older, the formula reduces your stock allocation as your investment time horizon shortens. The advantage of a heavier investment in stocks is that they’ve averaged 10% returns since the 1920s. The larger stock allocation will result in a faster accumulation of investment earnings. 2. Start as Early as Possible This is best demonstrated by two examples. Investor A begins investing $10,000 per year into a 401(k) plan at age 25, with an average annual rate of return of 7%. By age 40, their plan accumulated $260,722 — but they stop further contributions. Nonetheless, since Investor A continues earning 7% per year on their investment balance between the ages of 40 and 67, they reach retirement age with $1.62 million in their 401(k) plan. Investor B begins investing $10,000 per year into his 401(k) plan at age 35, also with an average annual rate of return of 7%. Because Investor B started later than Investor A, Investor B plans to make annual contributions straight through to age 67. But by retirement age, their 401(k) plan has grown to just $1,143,545. Even though Investor B made $10,000 contributions for a full 32 years — while Investor A contributed for just 15 years, then stopped — Investor A still ended up with a larger 401(k) plan at retirement, and by nearly $500,000. This example illustrates why it’s so important to start saving for retirement as early in life as possible. 3.