Retirement Planning As Easy As 1-2-3
Why Is Retirement Planning So Hard?
Planning for retirement can be difficult because the particular financial event you are planning for is years and years away. And, your current financial needs are more pressing. Sound familiar? It is common for retirement to be one of those future financial needs that fall off the radar while we try to meet our current financial needs.
Your Retirement Is Coming
Benjamin Franklin once said that death and taxes are the two things no one can avoid…he should have also included retirement. Since you know that 10, 20 or 30 years from now you will eventually retire, why delay preparing for it? Why not face your retirement preparation head on?
Starting Early?
It’s never too early to start retirement planning. Even though retirement is probably 40 or more years away when you start your first job, that is actually the absolute best time to start saving for retirement. If you start the financial habit of living on less so you can invest a bit of every paycheck, you are sending money ahead to your future.
Automate It
To help yourself save more money for your future, put your retirement planning on autopilot by automating your investing. You will improve your savings rate by having your retirement plan contribution automatically deducted every month. You will avoid making the decision whether to invest or not invest.
It All Adds Up
The big advantage of living on a smaller paycheck is that money has a new meaning. Investing money into your future instead of wasting it on current expenses becomes more important; financial pinches are less painful. You start to understand that saving an additional one percent of your salary every paycheck is a huge step towards your future.
Monitor Yourself
Self-monitoring is another good financial habit that will serve you well. If you are making retirement investing a financial goal you need to track yourself. Write down how much money you want to save each year. Post it where you will see it every day (on your mirror, the refrigerator). In the process of achieving your goal, avoid focusing on the ups and downs of the market, just stay focused on your personal financial goal.