I’m a Retirement Planner: 7 Moves You Should Make Before Trump or Harris Is Elected

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The 2024 presidential election will be here before you know it and many of us are wondering how the results will affect our retirements. After all, as our golden years approach, our spending and investments comes into starker relief and we need to get serious about savings. 

Regardless of political leanings, it’s important to take steps now to safeguard your retirement before the next administration takes office. GOBankingRates spoke with a retirement planner to get his thoughts on the best way to be prepared — whoever takes the white house in November. 

Here are seven moves you should make before Trump or Harris is elected.

Know Your Spending

Wayne Maslyk Jr., CEO of Great Lakes Benefits and Wealth Management, said the most crucial step for both pre-retirees and retirees is to thoroughly understand their spending habits.

“You must know where your money went for a 12-month period,” he said. “Go back in time, to a rolling 12 months or a calendar year and look at what was spent in all categories of life.”

My Prediction for Social Security if Trump Wins the 2024 Election

These categories include:

• Housing (utilities, improvements, mortgage, HOAs, taxes)
• Insurance
• Childcare or parent care
• Automobiles
• Food and household supplies
• Online shopping (such as Amazon)
• Clothing and furnishings
• Healthcare
• Loans and credit card payments
• Dining out and entertainment
• Hobbies and travel or vacations
• Charity or tithing
• Gifts for family and financial support for adult children
• Pet expenses
• Miscellaneous items like weekly cash allowances and life insurance premiums

Maslyk stresses the importance of accuracy: “This exercise works well if you are truly honest and accurate with your historical spending. Some folks use numbers that they guess at or numbers that they ‘think’ will be their numbers in the future, this can destroy one’s retirement and future security when trying to fool oneself or rationalizing numbers that aren’t true and historical.”

Evaluate Your Income Needs

Once you’ve determined your annual or monthly expenses, compare this number to your fixed income. If there’s a shortage, Maslyk suggests the following: “Using a 3% withdrawal rate from your life savings as a subsidy if you want to preserve your nest egg for your heirs or a 4% or 5% withdrawal rate if consuming or eating into your nest egg is okay.”

If you’re still short after this calculation, you may need to:

1. Change your lifestyle
2. Continue working and delay retirement
3. Subsidize with a part-time job

Maslyk said there’s one exception. “If you anticipate an inheritance down the road. This may ease up the need for more income, change of lifestyle or worrying if you’re withdrawing too much.”

Additional Strategies To Consider

Maximize 401(k) and IRA Contributions

With potential tax changes on the horizon, maximizing contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts makes a lot of sense. For 2024, the 401(k) contribution limit is $22,500 if you’re 50 or over, while the IRA limit is $7,000 for the same age group. Make sure to max it out — and talk to a tax professional if you need help. 

Review Your Asset Allocation

You’ve heard it before and now you’ll hear it again: Make sure your portfolio is properly diversified. This is because certain asset classes tend to perform differently depending on the policies of the next president. Be prepared.

Consider Roth Conversions

If you have a large amount of savings in traditional 401(k)s or IRAs, you might consider a Roth conversion before the next president takes office. This involves transferring pre-tax retirement account funds into a Roth account for tax-free growth. (Again, ask a financial professional to see if this is right for you.)

Review Social Security and Medicare Strategies

With potential changes to Social Security and Medicare on the table, review your strategies for claiming these benefits. Depending on what happens, you might want to delay your Social Security claiming date or even look into alternative healthcare options.

Prioritize Paying Down Debt

Here’s something that’s in style no matter who’s president: Paying down outstanding debts. This includes mortgages, car loans and credit card balances.

^{Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.}

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