What’s Your Preference: Financial Freedom or Retirement?

Published on July 15, 2021

A self-directed IRA can get you to both with investments in alternative assets

Retirement for American workers—how it looks, what we want and how we get there—is changing. Franklin Templeton’s recent Voice of the American Worker Survey* revealed that the majority of those surveyed said that path to retirement, and how retirement looks, is different for everyone.

In fact, 80% of survey respondents indicated “traditional retirement” is not an accurate expectation for most people, and 75% said their future financial goals have changed over the past five years.Of note: while more than three-quarters (76%) of survey participants said that the goal of achieving financial freedom appeals to them, only a little over half felt it was achievable. In regard to retirement, specifically—69% found retirement appealing, and 61% thought retirement was likely to be more achievable.

Financial freedom connotes being able to live the life you want with enough savings, investments and cash to do so; of course, this means different things to everyone. So does retirement, which could mean a full stoppage of work, or working part-time—perhaps trying out a new avocation—with time for hobbies and traveling; again, carrying different significance to each individual. This article in Forbes talks about these concepts in greater detail.

In the Franklin Templeton study, “financial independence” was reported to feel more empowering than “retirement” by 81% of participants, especially among women. Respondents also viewed retirement through the lens of their overall well-being.

• More than half (57%) of respondents say their financial well-being includes health and lifestyle rather than being all about the money.
• Along physical, mental and financial health criteria, nearly three-quarters (74%) said their current physical health, 70% said mental health, and 65% said financial health are associated with well-being.
• Many reported that they struggle to get a holistic view of their financial health, having to go to multiple sources (61%), and nearly 90% would like more planning tools and resources to track their financial health and achieve financial independence.

Financial independence and a comfortable retirement? Self-directing might get you there.

Where do YOU stand on financial freedom vs. retirement? At Next Generation, our clients are working on their financial goals using self-directed IRAs (and other types of retirement accounts) as a retirement wealth-building strategy. With a self-directed IRA, investors can include a range of alternative assets, building a more diverse retirement portfolio and meeting their long-term financial goals through these tax-advantaged retirement plans.

Whether you plan to completely retire, cut back on your work, or continue working well into your 70s or longer, you can map out your road to strong financial health by investing in assets you already know and understand, such as real estate, precious metals, private equity, notes, cryptocurrency and more. When you open a self-directed IRA with Next Generation, you’ll also have access to all your statements and reports to track your goals and make well-informed investment decisions—backed by a third-party administrator that handles all mandatory filing and a custodian that holds the assets.

As you work out a long-term financial plan with your trusted advisor—and determine what financial freedom means to you and the lifestyle you desire during retirement—we invite you to learn more about how and why a self-directed IRA could be a powerful part of your plan. At Next Generation, we’re here to help. You may schedule a complimentary education session with someone from our team, email NewAccounts@NextGenerationTrust.com or call 888.857.8058 with your questions about self-direction and the many types of alternative assets these plans allow.

*The Harris Poll conducted the study on behalf of Franklin Templeton in October 2020 among 1,007 employed U.S. adults, all of whom had some form of retirement savings.