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Balancing Today’s Needs With Tomorrow’s Retirement Dreams Thumbnail

Balancing Today’s Needs With Tomorrow’s Retirement Dreams

P&G Retirement Planning

By Matt Held, CFP®

Planning for tomorrow but living for today can prove to be challenging when it comes to your money. However, there are strategies to help you balance paying for today’s needs and saving for tomorrow’s dream retirement.

No matter your income level, it’s not unusual to find yourself in a tug-of-war between getting the most out of life today and preparing for a comfortable and fulfilling retirement. But a conversation with a financial advisor at Clarity Wealth Management can guide you in creating a financial strategy that helps cover your present needs and still builds toward your ideal post-work life in the future.

Financial Planning for Today and Tomorrow

You can create a financial plan to take care of your current needs and future retirement goals. The success of that financial plan requires you to focus on budgeting, optimizing retirement savings, and adjusting the plan along the journey toward your retirement.

Let’s explore the steps on the road map to your financial goals:

Understanding Your Current Needs

You should not delay in preparing for life after work, but the first step to retiring when you want and how you want is to understand where you are now. You must know exactly how much money you have coming in and how and where it’s going out.

Start recording in writing every purchase you make, bill you pay, amount you donate, and debt you cover. Remember to include the payments you make to yourself in savings and investment accounts. Use the spending you track to create a budget along with all your income sources.

Your budget can show how well you’re covering your needs and wants and identify areas where you might be able to cut back or increase money going out to your savings. You may even find you can afford to live a little more. After all, the goal isn’t to shut down activities that bring you joy, but to enjoy your life now and your retirement later.

Maximizing Your Retirement Savings

With a handle on the money you have coming in and going out, you can set about building wealth and maximizing your savings for retirement. You can start by taking full advantage of retirement plans offered by your employer and consider opening your own retirement accounts.

Here are the retirement accounts you can contribute to:

  • 401(k): An employer-sponsored plan that takes pre-tax contributions
  • Traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA): Also takes pre-tax dollars
  • Roth IRA: Contributions from after-tax dollars

All three retirement accounts provide tax advantages on top of helping you save for retirement. Contributions to a 401(k) and traditional IRA have the effect of lowering your taxable income, potentially saving you money to spend on present needs. Your traditional IRA contributions may also be deductible. Both accounts can allow your savings to grow tax-deferred, and you won’t pay taxes on the money until you withdraw it in retirement.

While you do pay taxes on your contributions on the front end, a Roth IRA can allow your money to grow and be withdrawn tax-free.

Your financial circumstances, goals, income, and tax bracket can drive which account you pick or whether you choose all three.

Maintaining Your Balance

Your goal is to live for today while preparing for tomorrow. To experience your financial goals, you must monitor your budget regularly, adjusting along the way for changing goals or unexpected events.

Maintaining a balance means you’re covering your needs and feeding your retirement savings. It shouldn’t mean that you miss out on living as fully as possible today. As your financial priorities change, make the changes to your budget.

Following these steps can put you on the road to retirement and keep you whistling along the way.

Work With a Financial Advisor

You can pursue a full life now and still work toward a fulfilling retirement. Clarity Wealth Management understands your challenges, and we can help guide you along a clear path to the retirement you want. Interested in a no-obligation, icebreaker call? Schedule online here, call (513) 278-9420, or email Info@ClarityWealth.org.

About Matt

Matt Held, CFP®, is the lead advisor and a founding partner of Clarity Wealth Management, a boutique firm based in Cincinnati, OH. Since entering the industry in 2006, Matt has helped corporate executives, professionals, and business owners uncover opportunities and build long-term financial strategies. Driven by a desire to control his own future and create a lasting brand, Matt co-founded Clarity Wealth Management in 2012. His mission was to build a firm that would provide truly personalized guidance—and become a legacy for his own family. Today, Clarity serves about 100 households and focuses on helping clients simplify and navigate complex financial decisions, particularly those involving equity compensation, tax planning, and executive retirement.

Matt’s approach is rooted in trust, loyalty, and hard work. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, he is deeply committed to long-term relationships and believes that clarity doesn’t mean predicting the future, but having the confidence that your plan can handle whatever comes your way.

Outside of work, Matt enjoys time with his wife, Abby, and their twins, Henry and Kinsley. Whether it’s watching sports (they love their Ohio State Buckeyes), hitting the slopes out West, or squeezing in a CrossFit workout, he’s passionate about staying active and present. He also serves on the Rising Professionals Network at DePaul Cristo Rey Catholic High School and is a proud graduate of Moeller High School and The Ohio State University. Matt holds Series 7 and 66 licenses, is licensed for health insurance, and earned his CFP® certification in 2012. He has been named a Five Star Wealth Manager in the Cincinnati area each year since 2013.* To learn more about Matt, connect with him on LinkedIn.

*2013-2023 Five Star Wealth Manager Award, created by Five Star Professional. The 2023 award was presented in September 2023 based on data gathered within 12 months preceding the issue date. 1,649 advisors were considered, 240 advisors were recognized. Advisors pay a fee to hold out marketing materials. Not indicative of advisor’s future performance. Your experience may vary. For more information, please visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.