Saving for retirement is a daunting task to say the least. People that are attempting to make enough money just to survive paycheck-to-paycheck may find it impossible to put any extra money away in a retirement fund. Perhaps your car just broke down, or your child is going away to college, for whatever reason most of you always seem to find an excuse. Regardless of your actions now, you will age and you will crave retirement at some point in your life. Unfortunately the power of compounding interest diminishes year after year and in order to effectively save money you will need to set aside larger portions of your income. After all, time is our best friend, use it wisely now and you will be happy later on. Let me provide you with a few pointers on how to build up that retirement fund the right way!
Keep a balanced portfolio, and don’t day trade your retirement account away. There are fees when making moves, just like any other type of account, the fewer and more calculated buy and sell transactions you make the better off your fund will be years down the road. Keeping a balanced portfolio means watching your asset allocation every few years and making sure it is still in line with your appropriate age. The younger the riskier your investments should be, and vice versa the older you are the less risky they should be.
If you’re employer provides matching retirement funds, and a low-fee (or fee-free) account then you better jump on it! This is a great benefit that should never be passed up, but sadly many often do. Make sure you contribute up to the maximum matching amount, soon you won’t even notice that money is gone. Remember, as I said before time is on your side, meaning the sooner you start contributing to one of these funds the better off you will be come retirement time.
We have bank accounts, pre-tax retirement accounts, post-tax retirement accounts, and the list goes on…so much so that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of them all. Many of us have had multiple retirement funds in the past – and many of us have forgotten about them. There is billions of dollars in these forgotten funds waiting to be claimed. Lost superannuation is a thing of the past. Click here for more information.
Follow these few simple and easy steps towards saving for retirement and you will find yourself well prepared for a long and health future.
