April is Financial Literacy Month! All month long, we’ll be sharing helpful financial tips and insights. Today we'll be talking about how to save for retirement.

It’s important to know your options for retirement accounts. A 401k is a tax advantaged retirement fund offered by employers, and often the employer will match your contributions up to a certain percentage. An IRA, or an Individual Retirement Account is a tax advantage account for individuals.

A traditional IRA, or 401k, means contributions are tax-deductible in the year you make them, but when you withdraw in retirement, that money is taxed. A Roth IRA or 401k means you pay taxes on the funds you contribute now, but not when you withdraw them in retirement.

It’s also important to diversify your portfolio, by investing in stocks, bonds, real estate, etc... to manage risk, rather that just putting all your money into one investment.

At WFCU, we offer IRA certificates, which are essentially CDs housed within your IRA account. These certificates follow the tax rules of the IRA type you choose. IRA certificates are a great low-risk option for saving for retirement. Check out our current rates under the "Consumer Loan Rates" tab.