Retirement Savings and IRP, Getting Started Right: Easy-to-Follow Step-by-Step Guide
One of the future concerns for office workers is “preparing for retirement.” National pension is not enough, and we need to grow the money we’ve worked so hard for. The first step is retirement savings and **IRP (Individual Retirement Pension)**. Today, instead of complex financial product descriptions, I’ll create a guide on how to use retirement accounts, tailored to step-by-step difficulty. If you read to the end, you’ll gain practical know-how that you can implement right away.
1. Just Put It In
– Start with Safe Assets
If you don’t know what to do after opening a retirement account, start by putting your money into the safest financial products.
- MMF (Money Market Fund): A fund that invests in the short-term money market. It’s a product with high safety.
- Deposits: Especially in IRP accounts, savings bank products with high interest rates are advantageous.
- ELB (Equity-Linked Bond): A principal-guaranteed product provided by securities firms.
Tip: To maximize year-end tax benefits, you only need to meet the deposit criteria, so you don’t have to choose an investment product right away. Let’s safely deposit it for now.
– Why Start This Way?
- Retirement savings receive tax deduction benefits based on the amount deposited in one year. (Deductions are possible up to 4 million won.)
- When you lack investment experience, it’s best to keep your money where there’s less risk of losing it.
2. Start Simple Investing with TDF (Target Date Fund)
– TDF, A Fund That Invests for You Automatically
Think of TDF as an automated version of a fund + pension. Because the fund handles asset allocation and rebalancing, no special investment effort is needed.
- Features: TDF gradually shifts assets from risky assets (stocks) to bonds based on your retirement date (e.g., 2040).
- Advantages: Very suitable for long-term investment. Once set, you can worry less for 20-30 years.
– No Need to Mix Other Products, One TDF Is Enough
TDF is already a over-diversified (diverse asset allocation) fund, so there’s no need to add other products. The important thing here is to carefully choose the year (target year) and the management company of the product.
3. Build an Asset Allocation Portfolio
– Basic Principles of Asset Allocation
If you want to be more active in investing, let’s create your own asset allocation portfolio. This can include various assets such as stocks, bonds, gold, and dollars.
- 6:4 Portfolio: Consisting of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. A strategy that appropriately balances stability and profitability.
- Permanent Portfolio: Consisting of 25% stocks, 25% bonds, 25% gold, and 25% dollars. Stable and good for long-term observation.
- Include Dividend Stocks & REITs: If you value cash flow, add dividend stocks and REITs.
– Why Asset Allocation?
- Risk diversification is possible through various assets.
- Even if some assets suffer losses due to changes in the economic situation, the remaining assets compensate for it.
– List of Available ETFs
In retirement accounts, it’s more efficient to invest in **ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)** rather than individual stocks.
- “SPY” (US S&P500 ETF)
- “QQQ” (US Nasdaq ETF)
- “TLT” (US Bond ETF)
- Gold ETFs, REIT ETFs, etc. are also worth considering.
4. Aggressive Investing with Stock ETFs
– The Courage to Go All-In on Stocks
If you decide to manage your retirement account aggressively, you can build a portfolio centered on theme-based or sector-based ETFs.
- Theme ETFs: Secondary batteries, Metaverse, Healthcare, etc.
- Sector ETFs: IT, Renewable Energy, Semiconductors, etc.
- Key Tip: Don’t focus on just one or two sectors, diversify. For example, mix domestic and overseas markets.
– Why Recommend Stock ETFs?
- The upside potential of the stock market for long-term investment has been proven.
- By using a retirement account, you can defer taxes on capital gains, maximizing the compound effect.
Conclusion: Choose Based on the Increase in Difficulty
- If you’re a beginner → MMF, Deposits, ELB: Protect your money safely.
- If you’ve built the basics → TDF: Simple, yet optimized for long-term investment.
- If you’re familiar with investing → Asset Allocation Portfolio: You manage your returns directly.
- If you’re confident in stocks → All-In on Stock ETFs: Structured by sector and theme.
- Crafted by Billy Yang
- [Related articles at next-korea.com/]
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