Back in the day, saving up for retirement meant working at the same job for most of your career (if not all of it), adding to your retirement plan and taking advantage of a pension, if one was offered. It might not have even occurred to most banking customers that they had options to help save for retirement at their local financial institution.
“In some ways, it has actually gotten harder to use traditional banks for some of the more interesting retirement saving and planning strategies,” said Nilus Mattive, a safe investing analyst at Weiss Ratings. “For example, back in the day, I was able to buy paper I bonds for my entire family through our local bank. The Treasury has since stopped allowing banks to sell them.”
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Nowadays, it’s fairly well known that a bank can help you plan for retirement with various strategies and tools, although some still remain not as popular as others.
“In a world where people are struggling to save enough for retirement, why not use every advantage available – especially one with a guaranteed return that stacks on top of everything else you might be doing with the money?” said Mattive.
GOBankingRates asked Mattive and a few other experts about the top lesser-known ways your bank can help you save for retirement. Here is what they had to say.
Create a Roadmap to Retirement
“The first step is to know where you are right now financially and what your retirement goals are,” advised Nick Campanale, private wealth financial planning manager at Citizens Wealth Management. You can do this with your bank and a financial advisor on staff that you trust, as well as have open and honest communication with.
“If you already have a financial plan, talk to your qualified advisor/planner about updating it to align with your early retirement goals,” Campanale said. “If you don’t have a plan, speak to a qualified professional about how to get started.”
Campanale shared that it is best to begin contributing to a retirement account — 401(k) or Roth IRA — as early as possible in your working years, especially if you’d like to retire before age 65. This is particularly true for younger people, such as millennials and Gen Zers who are fresh in the workforce.
“This allows your money to grow and compound as you continue to work,” Campanale added. “And, don’t forget to consider Health Savings Accounts (HSA) if you have access to a high-deductible health plan. Healthcare can be one of the biggest expenses in retirement.”
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Utilize New Account Incentives
Mattive shared that one very simple tactic that people should consider is taking advantage of some of the very lucrative new account incentives that various banks offer.
“In some cases, this can amount to hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars in ‘free money’ with relatively simple requirements,” said Mattive. “Why don’t more people take advantage? In some cases, they don’t know how to see the current opportunities that are available. In other cases, they simply fail to follow through out of laziness.
“But if you consider the financial payoff relative to the work involved, it can be a slam dunk,” continued Mattive. “And if you want to get really aggressive, the process can be repeated several times over with different institutions.”
Put Money Into CDs
Noting where interest rates currently stand, Mattive shared that he is also a big advocate of building a laddered CD portfolio.
“However, I would once again tell people that it pays to shop around,” added Mattive. “Indeed, you can find some banks offering substantially higher rates than others. It’s also worth comparing the rates that banks are offering directly versus the rates those same banks are offering through brokerages.”
Mattive’s research has shown banking customers will quite often get higher rates through the brokered version of a CD, even when the issuing bank and duration is the same.
“There are slight differences to be aware of with brokered CDs, but all the main advantages and features are typically in place, especially if you’re going to hold until maturity,” said Mattive.
Make a Post-Retirement Roadmap
Just like how you can make a pre-retirement plan, a financial advisor at your bank can work with you to make a roadmap for what your money and life look like after working.
“Your estate plan should include key documents,” said Campanale. This could include a will, trust documents (if any), durable powers of attorney, letters of intent, healthcare powers of attorney, guardianship designations and backups.
“It’s essential to ensure these reflect your most current wishes for your estate and are accessible by the right people,” said Campanale. “The plan should be clear, signed, notarized and executed. Often, investors complete an estate plan only for their executors to discover that it was not executed or properly filed.
“Rules for estate planning are expected to shift at the end of 2025, absent intervention by Congress. Take any necessary steps now to ensure your estate plan is ready for any changes that might significantly impact your future estate,” Campanale concluded.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 4 Lesser-Known Ways Your Bank Can Help You Save For Retirement, According To Experts
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