Learning How To Overcome Your Biggest Retirement Fear
The most common fear people have about retirement is whether or not they will have enough money to afford retirement. If that is your biggest retirement fear stop worrying because there are ways to overcome this if you are willing to do things you never dreamed of doing.
#1 – Put Saving Ahead Of Spending
There is no doubt about it, it’s more fun to spend money than to save money, in the short-term at least. If buying stuff gives you an adrenalin rush and saving is drab and boring you need an attitude adjustment if you want to save enough money to afford retirement. If you have a 401k retirement account, good move. The money you contribute to this account is automatically being deducted from your paycheck so you never see or touch the money thus will not be tempted to spend it.
The only money that will be there when you retire is the money you sent ahead. Investing money into a retirement account is your young self taking care of your old self.
#2 – Try And Beat The Long-Term Benefits
Realize the financial benefits of investing as much money as you can afford to in a retirement account. If your employer offers a 401k plan, maximize your contribution to that retirement account. You will not pay taxes on your contribution money until you retire. You will reduce your current taxable income by your contribution amount. If your employer offers a match you receive free money which makes your nest-egg grow that much faster.
If there is no employer plan available open an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). You can open an IRA at a bank, insurance company or mutual fund company. As with 401k contributions, you will not pay taxes on the money you invest into a traditional Individual Retirement Account until you retire. Money invested into a Roth IRA has already been taxed.
#3 – Cherish The Value Of A Retirement Calculator
Your dream may be to retire early but if you are not financially prepared you may find yourself in a bad financial situation. One of the best ways to make sure you can afford to retire and do not outlive your retirement income is to do some pre-planning with a retirement calculator. By inputting specific information such as your retirement time-line, current investment values and estimated social security payouts a retirement calculator can help you narrow down some of your retirement goals. It can calculate if how much more money you need to invest before retiring, if you have to work longer or if you can retire sooner than you anticipated.
The best way to overcome your fears are to confront them. If your biggest retirement fear is about not having enough money to afford retirement you can overcome that by confronting it right now. Stop saving, start spending. Open a 401k or IRA account and maximize your contributions. Invest some time in a retirement calculator.
