we're in alameda county california a place you know well because you work here as an employee of the alameda county government home to the raiders and the a v some of the finest parks in lakeside in america are famous university in some of northern california's most beautiful ocean beaches and so much more but the journey we're taking today isn't a place on the map it's about finding the right road to the kind of retirement you've been dreaming about and we're going to help you right now to draw a road map to reach your retirement just like the one you've been mapping now in your imagination maybe for some time now i'm done why treasure of alameda county sooner or later we all have to start thinking about our return as administrator of alameda county deferred compensation plans and trustee on the alameda county employees association board when i say that we have to start thinking about retirement i am thinking about my own retirement as much as i am thinking about yours please watch this short video to learn more about the alameda county deferred compensation plan and what a valuable benefit it is to you pay employees alameda the very first thing you need to think about when planning your retirement is how do you see yourself spending it if you're like a lot of other americans thinking about how they'd like to spend their golden years you're probably imagining doing things like playing golf visiting family or friends traveling taking up new hobbies doing the things you always wanted to do these dreams of retirement life yours are attainable the key is to have a savings plan for getting where you want to be financially by the time you retire and the alameda county deferred compensation plan is an important step you should consider to getting started in the right direction after all you need money to support yourself but whatever that money come from social security pension your savings or your earnings something else like other sources of income from part time work think about it will you have money for the necessities in your retirement years like health care housing food and transportation that's what's so helpful but the alameda county deferred compensation plan because it lays out the basic steps you need to take to get heading in the right direction for your retirement all it really takes is five simple steps step one is to enroll in the plan as soon as you can step two is to decide how your money will be invested step three is to simplify your financial life by consolidating your savings into the county's retirement plan step four is remembering to increase the amount of your contributions as regularly as you can and step five as they catch up on your contributions if you're over fifty years old or by using the three years prior to normal retirement age and meet the requirements of the plan you can enroll in the plan if you are regular employee of alameda county services as needed workers intern and contract or per d m employees are not eligible to participate once you receive your first paycheck as a regular employee you're able to enroll at any time there are many reasons you should join the deferred compensation plan if you haven't already once you're in rolled your savings come right out of your paycheck automatically so you never need to remember to write a check or make a deposit and when it comes to tax benefits you have your choice you can decide to contribute pretax and enjoy tax benefits now or after tax enjoy tax benefits later in retirement one of the major benefits to investing in your deferred compensation plan is that your contributions are tax deferred this means that each dollar you save is one less dollar that your employer reports to the i r s as income this lowers your current federal tax liability and as a result does not impact your pay as much as you think earlier you can make a profit after tax contributions which come out of your pay after you pay taxes then you take money out of your account in retirement you may not have to pay tax on it when you enroll you'll need to decide how much you want to contribute or save in the plan you can contribute up to one hundred percent of your annual pay or a minimum of twenty dollars biweekly and you can change your contribution amount at any time let's look at the tax benefits let's say you're earning forty thousand dollars a year and you're by weekly contribution to your retirement plan is one hundred dollars so one hundred dollars per paycheck but look what happens to your paycheck it is not reduced by one hundred dollars the amount you're contributing rather it's only reduced by seventy five dollars that's the power of tax deferred contributions over one year that small contribution will grow to two thousand six hundred eighty nine dollars and in thirty years your account has the potential to grow two hundred sixty five thousand three hundred seventeen dollars considering all of this can be set on often enough that the sooner you start saving for your retirement with the alameda county deferred compensation plan the better here's why let's take a look at sarah if sarah started saving in at age twenty five and she saves one hundred dollars by weekly into her account for forty years until retirement age at sixty five she how over five hundred seventy one thousand dollars saved but if there are waits until she's thirty years old to enroll in the plan also saving one hundred dollars bi weekly she'd have saved just a little over three hundred ninety one thousand dollars after thirty five years of saving so you can see why it's starting sooner in saving for your retirement is definitely better than later so you're in the plan and you're saving for the future the next question is how do you invest your money it's an important subject so be looking at the sort of investment choices you can put to work the plan has a variety of investments that offer different risk and potential rewards some of the more conservative options include fixed income funds these invest your savings in bonds which are basically loans to companies or government agencies and preferred stock in companies at a fixed rate of return on your investment stable value funds are offered by financial institutions and pay a certain rate of return on the money you invest in them for a stated period of time and then you have stock funds which invest your money in company shares which you on and where you participate in those companies profits or losses the best approach is to find a way to balance your investment risk with your potential reward that's called asset allocation it's how you allocate or spread your assets or savings across the different types of investments available to you when it comes to your asset allocation choices with the plan you have two routes you can take you can do it yourself or you can do it would help if you're a do it yourself style investor the alameda county deferred compensation plan offers you top performing investment funds in four categories to make the choices that suit your own investment style if you like it done for you however the plan offers a great solution called goal maker this is a way to have a professionally allocated portfolio of investments designed to suit your retirement goals based on your investment style getting started with goal makers easy decide on your personal investment style and when you want to access the money for your retirement that's all the information you'll need to be guided to target for your retirement goals so you're doing the right things you're in the plan you're saving a bit each paycheck and you've picked out how your money will be invested that's great but remember to do more while making the same regular contributions toward your retirement will add up over time it's even more powerful if you increase your contributions year over year and watch your retirement dollars grow if you're one of the lucky ones who are getting close to retirement you are allowed to do even more if you're age fifty or older you can contribute more than the legal i r s limits each year the plan also offers a special three year catch up provision for certain eligible participants call one eight five five nine six nine four five seven two today for more information and if you're like most people and would appreciate simplicity the plan also allows you roll over money into your account and any amount from another qualified retirement plan that's a great convenience because if you have retirement accounts with past employers you can put that money into your account here you'll get the same tax benefits and you'll simplify things by having all of your retirement savings in one place where it's easy to track retirement savings manager retirement investments and understand your retirement picture so are you ready to get started it's easy to spot all the simple steps one enroll in the plan now to choose how much you'll save and how you invest your savings three invest your contributions as regularly as you can for catch up on your contributions by making additional payments into the plan if you're over fifty years old and five consolidate your contributions into one easily managed account once you're in the plan you have helped  in the way like a comprehensive monthly statement a toll free hotline stuff i realize retirement counselors and all the help and information you need online including help calculating how much you've saved keeping track of how well your investment plan is probably resting and keeping an eye on whether you're saving enough to reach your investment goals as the years go by with easy to follow online tutorials contributions calculators frequently ask questions in an online help line this will give you all the every step of the way toward your retirement and if you need more help understanding the plan the investments or if you need help joining or deciding how to plan for retirement just contact your financial guidance professionals mark  they're here to help you there's a lot to think about when it comes to planning for retirement but the plan makes it easy but if you stop and think about how important it comfortable and financially secure retirement is to you and your loved ones with the residents of this great county of ours i want you to be rewarded for your years of hard work and service to the community might enjoy a happy and secure retirement when you're ready what we've talked about here today is just the start going online to joy or to learn