Before any journey begins, you check your dashboard, survey your surroundings for potential hazards and make sure your destination is set.
Your retirement planning works the same way.

• Is my beneficiary info up to date? If not, see Changes to Beneficiaries.
• Is the amount I'm contributing from my paychecks into the 403(b) Plan what I want it to be? If not see Changes to Contributions.
• Am I happy with my investment performance? If not, see Changes to Investments to make changes or sign up to talk to an advisor to review your investment strategy.

When viewing your retirement plan from this perspective, you will want to think about best practices for saving, to ensure your nest egg is substantial enough for your expected future financial needs.

• The Principal website has a tool to help you assess your Retirement Wellness Score.  This tool can be found under the "Planning Resources" tab. If you've never done this assessment we encourage you to fill it out and get your initial Retirement Wellness Score. If you've already done the assessment, review your score and look at the "My Progress" tab for tips.  Consider making some adjustments to improve your score. 
• The Planning Resources section on Principal's website has a section "Principal Milestones" - spend 5-15 minutes exploring these options, including some of the *Enrich educational resources. Enrich has some good tools to help lower the stress you may feel when it comes to the topic of money. *Disclaimer: Principal uses Enrich as an educational third party resource. We encourage you to use your own discretion when viewing the resources available through Enirch.  If there is something on the Enrich site that feels out of alignment with a Christian perspective on giving and saving, please follow your own Biblical convictions.

• Invest 1 hour on your future. Take 30 minutes to prayerfully think through the questions listed below. Then take 30 minutes to seek God's guidance in helping you meet your goals:
  • How much time do you spend each month thinking about your finances now and in the future? Do you feel like the time spent is sufficient to focus on your financial future needs/goals? If not, we challenge you to add a financial check-in every month or two to your schedule. 
  • Think back to where you were 10 years ago...if you could change some of your financial habits over the last decade what would they be? 
  • Consider what your older and wiser "future" self may say to you if they could give you some advice. What advice would your future self suggest to help you achieve Platinum status in saving for retirement? Consider making some changes now to ensure the next decade will be an important investment toward your future goals.
  • Pray and ask God to help you be faithful in this area of responsibility preparing for and protecting your future financial situation. 
• Bonus challenge - Tell someone about your dreams/goals and ask them to pray for you and hold you accountable in meeting these goals!