Many of you have a retirement strategy that is simply not going to work. Too many of you are counting on Social Security Benefits to see you through your retirement years. Social Security was established to cover only 40% of your retirement income. The remaining 60% is up to you. Some of you might think that you won’t retire at 65. You feel you can keep working into your 70’s or even 80’s. This is highly unrealistic.
As you age, you can become seriously ill or heaven forbid disabled. You might have to take care of a family member. You could face a layoff due to downsizing. Perhaps, your job becomes too strenuous for you to be able to handle.
If any of these or all of these scenarios occur, what will you do? In order to become prepared, you need to start saving now and keep saving. If your employer offers a matching retirement account, invest up to the match, usually 3% to 6%. Your initial goal is to save up to 15% of your income for retirement. Once you reach the match, open up a ROTH IRA or an IRA and invest the remaining 12% or 9%. If you are not yet able to invest the 15%, at least do the match. Start your Money Blueprint, track your expenses, payoff your consumer debt, including student loans. This will free up a ton of money if you have debt. Then, use the freed-up money to invest for your retirement.
Don’t get stale in your job. Keep up your skills or learn new skills. If your employer doesn’t have on-the-job training, then check online for Open Courseware. These are free and provide you with great knowledge. Check your local community college for low-priced courses in your field.
Stay fit. Healthy people don’t get sick as often. If you’re overweight, you are setting yourself up for serious medical problems, such as diabetes, high-blood pressure, heart attacks, etc. Walking is the best place to start. It’s absolutely free. Don’t waste your money on a gym membership. Most people who sign-up for gym memberships fail to use it. Save yourself money.