The Millennial’s Guide to Retirement
Ok so you’re probably somewhere in your 20′s. Time to think about retiring! lol but seriously. It’s tedious to prepare and put money aside for something that will not happen for 20 plus years. The future you will THANK you, trust me. I’m a planner personality. I need a plan to start planning - yeah, that kind of gal. I just like the reassurance. I have this long end goal to retire by the time I am 45 years old. And it will happen. Personally I think we all should be able to retire at an earlier age. Retire doesn’t necessarily mean “stop working and sit on the the porch eating pastries off your Mackenzie Child china every day.” To me, Retirement means I am able to stop working for strictly the means of surviving. After my “retirement,” I plan on fulfilling my lifelong dream of building homes and taking on some bogus corporate job with a ton of benefits. Because ya know, I can’t JUST have one job. lol This is what I call “double dipping” in life. Where I have had already worked hard; blood, sweat, tears, and worries to maintain and build a life. And now in my later years, am able to take the reins on my life in almost every aspect. (excluding the acts of God, of course :)
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What the heck is a 401(k) ?!?!?
Having money sitting aside is one way of saving for retirement. But that’s the evil of it - it’s just “sitting.” Wouldn’t you rather have it DO something? For a while I couldn’t get my mind to fathom this amount of money I’ve saved up to just disappear. Visually, that is. The fact that this money is no longer visible in my account where I can see and know that it’s there. But if this money was set aside to begin with, then you do not need it to survive. This is the money that you set aside and are still able to pay your expenses and yourself every month.
So let’s start with a 401(k) - This is employer based. Where you take a percentage of your pay every period and invest it into your 401(k) account your employer has set up for you. I highly recommend, if you can, contributing the maximum amount your employer is willing to match you. Usually, you’ll want to contribute 5% yourself. Your employer will match the max, of 4%.
Example:
Say your paycheck is $1000/week.
5% = $50/week
4% Employer match = $40
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401(k) = $90/week for as long as you’re employed with them
The great thing about this is you don’t have to do anything else. This deduction is automatically taken out every pay period. AND! There are no taxes until you withdraw from your 401(k). (This is a great thing, trust me)
Along with a 401(k), I personally have another type of retirement investment as well. For some of us who have not begun a career just yet that offers a retirement contribution, you can still start investing. For me, the best product was mutual funds. Everyone is different depending on how much you can invest into your retirement at this time. You should talk to a financial advisor to see which financial products are best for your budget. Start educating yourself on the market and trying to accumulate steady gains. Because remember, sitting money is doing nothing. You want to make your dollar work for you.
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Okay so what if you live paycheck by paycheck and are just not able to set aside any extra cash you may have? That’s okay! Don’t ever feel like you’re behind because you are not at that point in your life just yet. Everyone has their own pace of life. Start little as $1 a day. Yes, you have a dollar to spare. Mindlessly this all adds up. I have a blog post on how I budget my finances. I know exactly what comes in and out.
And if you just “don’t wanna” start saving yet, then honestly, you are not mature enough to even begin thinking about retirement. There is no age limit, just mind set. Mentally if you’re not there, don’t do it. Don’t force yourself because you feel you are “supposed” to. The only right time to start saving for retirement, is as soon as YOU can.
Link to my budget post: http://thebrightyellowoffice.tumblr.com/post/138160062249/budgeting
