Once you have become established and begun to progress in your career, you are into your most active saving and investing years. You will want to take advantage of every strategy to maximize your investments and make the most of your growing income.

As your income increases, remember to increase your investments proportionately.

To be sure you are saving and investing enough, it is important to calculate how much you will need for retirement, children's college tuition and other goals. With that knowledge, you can allocate your investments into different financial products suited to each goal. Making financial projections and choosing products may not be easy and straightforward for everyone - it may be helpful to talk to get guidance from an experienced financial professional

If you have children, look into tax-advantaged college savings plans such as 529 Plans. See our Preparing for College Life Events pages for more information on this and other college savings vehicles.

Remember that even though saving for both retirement and education funding are important, they are not equally important. There are many sources of college tuition aid, but there is no similar source of "retirement income aid."

Save For Retirement First

Certain retirement savings vehicles have particular tax advantages; you will want to take the fullest advantage of these to the greatest of your ability

Contribute the maximum allowable amount to your tax advantaged retirement plans before setting up additional retirement accounts.

If you are contributing the maximum to your retirement plans and still want to save more, the tax-deferral feature of AXA Equitable fixed and variable annuities make these a supplemental retirement savings vehicle you should consider.

You'll need to be aware of how your portfolio's asset allocation should change as you age - becoming more conservative as retirement comes nearer.

Because your various investments will tend to grow at different rates, you also need to "rebalance" them back to their recommended allocation periodically. Rebalancing can be automatically provided for you within some of the brokerage products offered by qualified AXA Advisors financial professionals. See our Investing Products and Services for more information.

Please be advised that asset allocation strategies do not guarantee a positive return or provide protection against loss.

AXA Equitable and AXA Advisos do not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult with your professional tax or legal advisors regarding your particular circumstances.