NCJ Number
172964
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 21 Issue: 10 Dated: October 1997 Pages: 36-38-46
Date Published
1997
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Police officers who want to have a financially comfortable retirement need to conduct systematic and early planning and saving from their earnings.
Abstract
The retirement payments from the police agency may provide half of the dollars needed to maintain the current lifestyle. However, Social Security benefits are not guaranteed for the future. In addition, people are living longer; police officers may live in retirement as long as they worked full-time. The first investment police officers should make is into their deferred compensation plan, which is called a 457 plan. Police officers who work for university police agencies may be eligible for a tax-sheltered annuity, which is called a 403(b) plan. Those with a conservative investment outlook may want to consider Guaranteed Investment Contracts. Police officers should also consider investing the $2,000 maximum each year into a nondeductible Individual Retirement Account. A variable annuity is another tax-advantaged way to invest. However, police officers may not want to have all their investments sheltered for retirement. They can go to a fee-only financial planner or another advisor for help in making choices for investing retirement income. Those who are willing to invest more time before investing their money should consider no-load mutual funds. Photographs and list of suggested readings