Your Future is Worth Saving For
Accelerate Your Savings During National Save For Retirement Week
National Save for Retirement Week is a perfect time to look at your retirement goals and consider how you plan to meet them. When it comes to saving for retirement, you’re in the driver’s seat. Use your workplace retirement plan to navigate the road to your future security, or get back on track if your savings plans have hit some bumps. In either event, you may only need to take three simple steps to move closer toward your goals.
Hit the savings road.
Save as much as you can now by contributing to your workplace retirement plan – a good starting place is to save at least at the level of the employer match, if one is offered, remember it’s free money. The best part is that your contributions have the potential to grow on a tax-deferred basis.
Turn up the savings.
Aim to eventually save at least 10 percent to 15 percent of your pretax salary. You don’t need to do this all at once. Try increasing your savings rate a bit at a time – for example, an extra two percent a year. If you are regularly increasing it at the same time every year – perhaps on your birthday, at the New Year, or when you get a raise, you won’t notice this in your paycheck. A small increase in savings rate won’t make a huge difference in your take-home pay, but it may make a huge difference in how much you save down the road.
Draw yourself a financial road map.
Thanks to online banking and mobile financial apps, it’s never been easier to see where your money is going. These tools can help you see if you’re spending more than you thought on discretionary items, such as clothing or eating out. Once you identify discretionary spending habits, direct some of this “found” money to your retirement savings.
A final tip: Put your roadmap in writing. Research shows that people who write down their goals are more likely to meet them.* Writing down your goals helps to move them from the “wishing” stage to an “action” stage.
Learn more about retirement savings in the U.S. in our infographic below.
To download a PDF of the infographic, click here.
Aldrich Wealth LP helps our clients protect and grow their financial assets for the future, by helping them make smart financial decisions today. If you would like assistance in determining your retirement needs, please call Aldrich Wealth at 888-299-3102 to speak with a financial advisor.
*Dr. Gail Matthews, Dominican University of California
