Show Running the K Dont Don't let time get away from rom you when running down the career path toward retirement By Hannah Features Does the term tenn 40 1 lk k seem more like a jumbled combination of letters and numbers rather than a term tenn of value and consequence to o your future Tiffany Bass Bukow the founder of a Web site that teaches people the fundamentals of financial financial financial finan finan- cial health wealth and life skills spoke to J Job Week about that overlooked often-overlooked but t crucial financial planning planning planning plan plan- ning vehicle aka a.k.a. a retirement retirement retirement retire retire- ment plan While a is important to think about for any employee Bukow says her message is one that women especially need to get hip to Why you might ask f A. A Women take takei on average average aver- aver age 11 years out of the workforce often during their prime earning years for children and earn a third less than men The confluence of these factors the San Francisco- Francisco based Bukow says makes See K Page 3 of the Job Guide K Tick tock took time to get ready for CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 OF THE JOB GUIDE it absolutely imperative for women to save more aggressively aggressively aggressively ag ag- for their retire- retire ment merit Bukow uses what she calls her tactic scare image image image im im- agea age a woman eating cat food out of a can in her as as' as asa a visual to drive home the importance of of that mes mes- sage According to Bukow for fora a woman to maintain even evena a middle-class middle lifestyle in her retirement she needs to have invested into a retirement fund by the time she is 35 Although it sounds like an ambitious goal with the k matching plans that many companies offer that t 11 va I is If your company offers a matching plan take advantage advantage advantage tage of it For example if you contribute 2000 a year to your your company will match it it and then you'll have at atthe atthe atthe the end of the year Its It's like free money Bukow says And for those who are self employed a growing growing growing grow grow- ing segment of the female workforce an SEP IRA allows you to contribute 25 percent of your pretax income into it Bear in mind however that you'll incur penalties if you cash out of your k before you retire Its It's not meant to be used to pay your credit card card bills Tf a mortgage or rf for 1 that new new dress youve you've been eye ball ing Since contributions are discretionary Bukow advises women especially in the early years of their career to stretch how much they put in each month As for the actual logistics of investing in your k or SEP IRA Bukow recommends recommends recommends mends taking advantage of ofa a simple banking tool the automatic deduction of cash from your paycheck to your retirement vehicle Its sort of like dieting If you have a candy bar in your pocket you are going to be more to eat it The same goes for money Its It's a lot harder to spend money that was never there therein in the first place she says After youve you've mastered the automatic deduction Bukow Bukow Bukow Bu Bu- kow implores women not to gloss over the fine print Women often dont don't read their k material My advice is to take an afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon write down a list of questions and then take those questions to your human resources benefit coordinator You want to feel confident about v how your money is going to be invested Bukow says Typically your money can be allocated in low- low medium- medium or high risk funds A risk low-risk fund is one that consists of blue chip stocks such as Intel IBM or Microsoft or long lasting companies such as Johnson J Johnson These are the kind of stocks that wont won't have that much fluctuation They are what people call a safe investment Bukow says i t. And dont don't let your in inexperience inexperience in- in experience with the stock market deter you from taking charge financially either As a female investor green or seasoned you can take solace that women's investment ment groups consistently outperform male investment groups I tell wom women women n to invest in products that they use in their everyday lives since women are very savvy and powerful consumers Bukow says The burning question to ask yourself when deciding which risk group to invest stocks in What do I want my retirement to look like To JL h O you want to sail satt around the world on a yacht Or will you be content with a more amore modest retirement Regardless of your retirement retirement retire retire- ment ent goals Bukow says the math should reflect your age the younger you are are the more risk you should take or allocating ting more money to the medium- medium and risk high-risk stocks risk Medium stocks are usually size medium-size companies companies com com- companies anything from fashion fashion fashion fash fash- ion to travel to consumer risk High-risk stocks are those companies that dont don't have havea a lot lotof of data behind them but could offer a big pay payoff payoff off for investors When you are younger say 25 to 35 tit i uJ M f t Wt a aik 4 i b be be b bold ld and invest in In some riskier stocks You'll be glad you did says Bukow CT V Features Hannah is a writer based in New York Her first book New Girl on the Job How Notto Not Noi Notto to Cry at Work will be released in 2007 |