No matter what age you are, the best time to start planning for your retirement income was always “yesterday.” You look back and say to yourself, “I wish I had started doing this when I was 18.” The older you get, and the nearer your retirement looms, the more you will be challenged by the seemingly uphill battle that saving for retirement entails. That’s why Income for Life is here. We specialize in retirement income planning with the goal of allowing you to not only get retired, but stay retired. Here are some of the challenges that our customers in Denver are facing, but no matter where you live, you may relate to some of these challenges.

1. Property values are skyrocketing

Buying a home is a great financial decision, especially if you can do it on favorable terms, like securing a low interest rate and having a down payment of at least 20 percent. However, the more that housing prices go up, the more that takes away from what you can save for retirement. Every extra hundred dollars that you put into your mortgage means a hundred dollars that you aren’t investing for your retirement, and if you look at the compound interest charts, that hundred dollars every month will make a difference over the course of 20 or 30 years.

What to do about it

• Buy a more modest house. If you’re at the verge of being able to save enough for your retirement, don’t max out on the square footage and amenities that you can afford. Pare down and be content with a smaller, simpler option.
• Buy a house further out in the country. There are still areas near Denver that offer relatively affordable options, but they require you to commute further, meaning that you should calculate what you are paying in gas and wear-and-tear to see if it swallows up the savings in your house payment.
• Ask your retirement income planner from Income for Life how you should balance your retirement savings with your mortgage payment.

2. Jobs aren’t paying what they used to

While some industries in Denver are holding strong, others are stagnating, making it harder for the middle class to keep up with the cost of living. Unless you work in the oil industry, marijuana, computer technology, or a handful of other industries, you might be finding your yearly salary raises to be less than they used to be, in some cases not even covering the amount of inflation.

What to do about it

Your job gives you your income, and that’s the number one prerequisite you have to have in order to even start planning to have income for retirement. You may not think that you have the disposable income to invest for retirement, but we are confident that our retirement planners can help you find the way. Contact us to get the conversation started.



If you haven’t started your retirement income planning yet, then start today. After all, tomorrow, you’ll be able to look back on today with satisfaction and say to yourself, “I started yesterday.” You won’t be sorry. Sign up for our FREE 10-part series on retirement income planning, and contact one of our financial advisors today.