Posted on 02/14/2015 7:34:46 AM PST by Kaslin
We've heard a lot about how far behind Americans are in saving for retirement, but we don't often hear many solutions that the average family can actually afford. That's how we landed on a $300 a month figure. It's a challenging number, since few of us can find an extra $300 a month without some effort and sacrifice. But it’s doable, and it's enough to make a real difference in your nest egg by retirement.
1. Deal With Realities, and Control Your Emotions
A lot of folks are debating whether or not they'll ever be able to squeeze anything out of their budgets for retirement savings. We get it. One of the main reasons people hesitate to save for retirement is that they're focused on meeting day-to-day obligations.
Christina is a mom of five kids in Alexandria, Va. Two of her children have special needs, so she knows what it's like to be wary of "spending" money on retirement savings. "It's been hard to save for retirement, because I always feel like I need to have more money in the bank since we don't know what's coming with the kids," she said.
"But I know that if we don't save now, we won't be able to take care of ourselves in the future, let alone them, if they need it," Christina added. So she and her husband have made retirement savings their priority. They're debt-free, have an emergency fund and watch expenses like a hawk. They've also come to the tough, but correct, decision to save for their retirement instead of building up a college fund for their children.
"We feel that the best gift we can give our children is a strong work ethic, good money sense and not having to care for us when we get old," she said.
2. Refine Your Budget and Work Toward Your Goal Over Time
Making up your mind to put retirement savings at the top of your to-do list is just the first step. Now you actually have to find the money. Dave Ramsey, along with many retirement experts, recommends you invest 15 percent of your income just for retirement. That can sound like a huge chunk of cash, especially if your budget is so tight it squeaks.
When Katie quit work to stay home with her kids, her family in Mason City, Ill., had to learn to live on just one income. After such a drastic cut, they had to face the fact that they could not afford to put away 15 percent of her husband's income for retirement. But they didn't stop investing just because they couldn't reach the 15 percent goal.
"We were just doing as much as we could," Katie explained. "However, each month we were able to tweak the budget a little more — stuff like changing his W-4 and our cell phone package. Now, we can afford 15 percent for retirement, contribute to college funds and increase our fun money!"
Judy from Spring Branch, Texas, started her retirement savings plan nearly 20 years ago by contributing just three percent of her salary. Then, each year she received a bonus, she diverted most of it to her 401(k), and every time she received a raise she put a third of that into her 401(k), as well.
"It did not take long to max out my 401(k)," Judy said. "At age 51, my husband and I have two kids in college with the costs completely funded. We are at the point of severe wealth building, and our giving has increased significantly. It’s a great feeling to know that I could retire at age 60 if I choose.”
3. Let Go of Past Regrets
This is where a lot of people get stuck. They see saving for retirement as a mountain that's too large to climb after a certain point in their lives. They give up before they even begin.
If you're overwhelmed by the prospect of building a nest egg at the eleventh hour, go back to the first step and separate your realities from your emotions. One of the best ways to do that is to get all the facts. Where do you really stand now, and where could you be if you started saving with gazelle intensity?
*Used with permission from Ramsey Solutions. For more information, visit www.daveramsey.com.
First of all stop getting scared when the market goes down. So many stupid people sell when they see a down day. Big deal if the market goes down. Keep your money there and continue buying. I have been in the market since 1987....June of 1987....guess what happened in October......yowsa....quite an experience. I am glad it happened because it taught me to just keep it there and continue sending money every money. Have done this since then and have never taken a penny out of the market no matter how badly the market gets. I know that in 25 years, I will probably have to start thinking about taking out some during retirement but I will worry about that then. Everyone should be investing SOMETHING if they want any decent retirement. But the biggest thing is stop trying to beat the system....you can’t.
Always pay yourself first, to the extent that you can. Lie with many things, this becomes easy to do once you get used to doing it.
“Lie with many things”
**********
Opps typo. Should be “Like”. But with some people, maybe it applies as written. ;)
Why save for retirement? Just qualify for disability and collect Social Security for the rest of your life.
Convince (nag) your spouse that you really don’t need to live in a nice house. Then sell your nice house and buy a rusty old RV for a few grand. It doesn’t even need to run — you can just tow it if you need to move it.
The biggest change in my income was when it went from zero to $10,000 per year. Fortunately, my company provided a savings plan that allowed me to have up to 10% of my salary deducted for that plan, and I never even saw it go away. Believe me, going from zero to $9,000 compared with going from zero to $10,000 isn't noticeable. I agree that I was fortunate to work for a company that automatically deducted the savings, rather than forcing me to have the discipline to do it myself. Nevertheless, the biggest opportunity to save for retirement comes when you're 20, not when you're 45.
In my opinion, the best approach is to simply pretend that you only have 90% of your take-home pay. If your paycheck is $800 per week, then figure out how to live on $720 per week. And don't say it can't be done ... because if your paycheck was $720 per week I'm sure you'd figure it out!
Our Welfare State government has created a system where they take the money that people should be using to save for retirement and blow it. Then the people are dependent on Social Security and need it to be increased to live. Then the government raises it and raises taxes to pay for it. They claim they will only raise taxes on “the rich” but the reality is that taxes have to be raised on pretty much any person who earns money to support the system so everyone is taxed and the cycle starts all over again. Its dependency at its worst.
There is no way to save for retirement.
Such a thing is only possible with sound money. There is no such thing. Evil men have seen to that.
Any money (dollars) you put into a savings account of any kind will have its value destroyed through inflation (or “quantitative easing,” the fancy new term for “theft”). It is still just the government stealing your wealth by printing dollars endlessly. It makes what you have saved worth less and less with each passing day.
You might try exchanging your increasingly “worth less” dollars for some things of real value:
In order of importance:
IMMEDIATE
1) Water supply and water filters or distillation units
2) Food (canned and other non-perishable)
3) Clothing (depending on your local climate)
4) Defensible shelter
WITHIN DAYS
5) Guns
6) Ammunition
7) Fuel (for heating)
8) Tools
9) Medicines, ointments, and other first aid treatments
FOR EXCHANGE
10) Alcohol
11) Cigarettes
12) Coffee and the means to brew it
13) Chocolate candies
14) Sugar
15) Salt
FOR EXCHANGE OR RECOVERY
16) Silver coin
17) Gold coin
An no, I am not kidding. This is not sarcastic advice.
And have zero self respect. I admit that many people have no idea what the term, "self respect" even means.
That’s the formula for success in the New America.
I am not boasting but IMO, the simplest way toward a good retirement is to work for it, save and invest wisely.
I have never been given or taken anything from anyone else. My wife and I are retired with zero debt, we live a good life and have enough money to carry us to the promised land. What more is needed?
I agree with your sentiments in large part. I did get scared out of the market almost 2 yrs ago though, not because it was going down but because it was continually in “record territory” with nothing real to support it. Currently I’m almost entirely in bonds and waiting for the crash to buy back in. My only regret is that I sold as early as I did; should have run it up another year.
However, the constant refrain of “record territory” kept giving me a Warren Buffet line in my head: “When people are greedy be fearful, when people are fearful be greedy.” After a month of this I had to sell.
With my plan I can only do this with my company stock, everything else is mutual funds which move too slowly for this tactic.
Mark as — To Do List:
I think you’re right. We got scared in 2008-2009 and got out of the market, and stopped contributing to retirement savings for a while. Looking back, I think that was a big mistake. Had we stayed in and kept buying, we’d be way ahead. It’s hard to play “catch up” later.
The real trick is to make sure you live long enough to retire. Life: no one gets out alive.
Make sure you live yours today!
Save for retirement so the leftist fascists can take it from you and give it to those who didn’t bother trying to save?
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